CANicoll

Speaking of Ernie, THIS ARRIVED TODAY! YAY!! Thank you Ernie! What could THIS be??? Its HERE!!! 🕺

PW: Whew! Looks terrific, especially the 'wood' fuselage and those home-made buckles. Nice job on that exhaust pipe, too. Cheers! Chris

Definitely looking good and those eyelets are amazing. I do like those Eduard kits - simple, but easy to detail at the same time. Looking forward to your next update. Chris

Hmm. Ok, good to know about the kit, thanks for sharing. I have the Revell 1:72 Type IX C/40 (U 190) kit in my closet. 183 parts! I'm almost afraid to open it up and start on it as I don't know where I would put it IF I finished it.

Zooming into the photo the two guys standing on the wing, behind the pilot, are not doing anything other than looking INTO the cockpit floor with their hands in the pockets. Very casual - as is the rest of the ground crew. The pilot seems to be adjusting something on his right hip. All three guys by the bicycle seem to be looking at the fuselage close to the front of the wing. Battle damage? Something from the front of the fuselage entered the cockpit? No clue what has generated so much casual attention. John, nice model of this aircraft! Chris

Great! Lots of really terrific detail shots. Thanks for sharing! Chris

Peter, Super work getting the plane together. The detail really does look awesome. Can't wait to see how this looks all buttoned up. So, are all the fiddly bits, and poor instructions, worth the aggravation, in your opinion?

That is excellent! Beautiful finish, rust and the flaked paint. The photography is terrific and really shows off your work. Put that with a museum background and it would not be possible to tell from the real thing. Gorgeous. Chris

PW: Looks terrific to me! I didn't know Bob's Buckles has closed. That's too bad. You did a marvelous job on the rigging and the weathering looks appropriate given the period pictures. Have never seen that particular aircraft, either. Nice work and thanks for sharing. Chris

Nice work on the, well, ALL of it! Fixing that warping was amazing, so the dihedral issue was simple, by comparison. But your work is flawless. What seatbelts did you use here?

Nice work! Tell us a little bit about it, too.

Ernie, Beautiful build! Nice and dirty, too! She sits perfectly on her wheels too.

Nice start, Peter, and a kit I am not at all familiar with. The level of detail is impressive for molded on detail esp in 1/48 scale. Your painting and washes really do pull out the detail. I was surprised the seatbelts were molded into the seat. Beautiful painting and detailing!

Peter, will do!

Thanks to @Mark31 for the gift card to Hobbynut Models, from the holiday raffle. Picked up some much-needed supplies and a chance to try out the AK Paneliner set. Thanks Mark!

Peter, Just beautiful! The wing fold really works and overall looks terrific. Great addition to your collection. Chris

Don't mess with old ladies! They have been around too long, they know everything, and they don't care anymore. That was too funny.

Also looking forward to putting 2023 behind me, but I'm grateful to have survived the year. Looking forward to a better 2024. I'm planning on making it that way, best as I can! Ernie, Thanks for all you do, as this site and the connections to a world full on great people means a lot to me. The positivity and support as well as the sharing of information is a wonderful tonic to life's challenges. Happy New Year! Chris

Extremely helpful, as always Peter! As we know, excellent paint work is as much an art, as a science. But the science helps!

Beautiful work, Peter! The shading of the paint is terrific beautifully done. And you are a master with the X-22. I've been pretty happy with Tamiya's decals as of late, but Cartograph is certainly the standard there. Looking forward to the next update. Chris

Nice haul!

Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to everyone! Thanks, Ernie, for organizing this (again!). Wahoo!!

I never even thought of wearing it when I'm gluing... Uh oh. Especially Tamiya Extra Thin, but all of the CA's as well...

Hoping this will be the case this year! THIS hood scoop works, however!! Several years ago I was driving back from a model show in Chattanooga, in a bad winter storm. Fortunately, I had swapped out the stock 'all season' factory tires for a new set of Firestone winter tires on new rims. Right outside of Chattanooga, there were three jack-knifed semi's including one on its side, and several destroyed cars. Snow tires really makes a huge difference, as does all-wheel drive and not being an idiot. AWD helps you go. The snow tires are only so good at stopping...