GusMac

They'll be fine with just one Carl!

Amsterdam to Liverpool is a fair stretch for a first stint. Thought they might have stopped somewhere on the east or south coasts to break it up a bit. Orkney and Shetland are definitely worth the trip with all the Viking and earlier settlements. It's crazy at Skara Brae on Orkney to think that it was already 2500 years old when the Great Pyramid was built!

Newcastle to Ijmuiden?

Slow but steady progress on this one. Underwing centre section is attached with the chunky spar to ensure the dihedral is correct. I wasn't convinced by the amount of gluing surface available, so this is attached with BSI 5-minute epoxy to make sure it's going nowhere. As Ernie emphasised in his build, you've got to dry fit everything before you commit to glue - I had to thin the top of the spar on one side to stop it catching on the bottom of the cockpit floor but everything seems to be lining up correctly now. First round of filling on the gaps with some Bondo. Next is a second round with Tamiya grey filler, then a proper sanding and reinstating all the detail. Also got the initial resin parts in place for the wing fold mechanism. Thinning the inner surfaces sufficiently was stressful and tedious - you don't want to go too thin but the tolerances are so tight that you've got to push it a bit. If anyone has this set you'll notice that there is supposed to be an inner set of spars 1cm in from the edge (at the marked line) but these will be totally invisible and serve no structural purpose so I made an executive decision and ditched them as the thought of fiddling with tolerances twice was too much to contemplate!

Looks great, did you apply the zimmerit yourself?

No going back on the wingfolds now! 😆 Seems wrong taking a razor saw to a kit like this but the deed is done now.

Fuselage is together now and the seam clean-up is completed. Just a tiny amount of filler and CA needed as the fit is very good - the spar for the tail fins and the firewall line everything up nicely which compensates for the lack of location pins. There's a fair bit of rescribing to do but that's a task that I have to be in the mood for, so it'll wait for a bit until it's time to join the wings to the fuselage. That'll be a while away as I think it's going to take a bit of time to get the wing fold mechanism all done.

Hi Jani Yes, Dunnottar is definitely worth seeing as the location is stunning and you can get nice fish and chips and ice cream in Stonehaven! If you have time it's worth popping in to the castle at Glamis as well - many interesting connections to the royal family and Macbeth. Gus

Thanks Rob. Looking from above and the side, the IP does sit straight. I see what you mean in the photo though. I wonder if it's just because of the combination of straight and curved edges in that area. I've dry fitted the fuselage and it all fits really nicely with no issues which is a pleasant surprise given how busy the sidewalls and cockpit floor are.

Just about ready to join the fuselage halves. Everything fits nicely so far, so hopefully the rear spar and tail wheel bay don't screw that up! Definitely a fun build so far.

Love the paint job, looks great in that scheme and a bit different to the usual worn look.

Definitely tempted to get one of these to accompany the Attacker I finished earlier in the year. Would show the FAA transition from prop to jet nicely. The price seems very reasonable for what's being offered.

Hi Jani No, you're not really missing any others with that list. I'd agree that the Solway museum is the better of the two in the south but they're only about a 45 min drive apart so definitely possible to visit both in one trip. The Montrose museum is only about 10 miles from where I am and definitely worth a look if you're close by but I'm not sure it justifies a 2 hour plus drive from Glasgow. East Lothian is definitely the best of the bunch. For 'non-aviation' stuff, Loch Lomond is always worth a trip and Stirling castle and the Wallace Monument are fairly close to Glasgow. The Burrell Collection out in Poloc at the west end of Glasgow and the Kelvingrove museum are also worth a visit. Loads of great places to eat and drink in Glasgow as well to show that Scottish food is not just pies and deep-fried Mars bars! Cheers, Gus

I should've mentioned I used Gundam markers for the first time on the cockpit dials and switches - very impressed with most but the red is too dark and translucent for my taste.

Got the instrument panels done with some detail painting and Airscale decals. Flat coat and gloss over the dials to come.

Got the detail painting and some dry brushing done on the cockpit components. Next up is a gloss coat then some oils and a pin wash and we'll see how we're looking. The small detail parts really become apparent after they're painted and I'm pretty happy with it all goes together so far.

This kit was gifted by Ernie as the prize in the GB last year, so I'm using his build as inspiration. If mine looks half as good as his I'll be happy.

Have had some decent bench time over the last few days as the weather here has reverted to more typical Spring weather, ie rubbish! I've got all the cockpit sub-assemblies ready for priming and painting. Lots of very small parts to attach but thankfully managed to get them all on without any losses. The plastic has a slightly strange texture being hard but waxy and some of the parts needed a fair bit of clean-up but it's not difficult to put together, just needs time and no rushing. So, next it's primer and the Kawanishi interior green then lots of detail painting.

That really does look stunning under the natural light Rob. I know it maybe didn't go quite how you'd hoped but I'd still be extremely proud of how it finished up.

Looking forward to seeing a WIP of the Lightning Carl. Having conquered my 'fear' of resin kits thanks to Ernie, a vac would be the next step but watching Tom's builds of things like his Stirling and Sunderland I'm not convinced my scratch building skills are there yet.

Rust effects look really cool Martin.

Life has been a little 'interesting' for the last week or so, so bench time has been minimal. However, got half an hour or so tonight to make a tentative start on this. Got the micro chisels and a sanding stick out to remove the raised detail from the instrument panel ready for the photoetch which is in the detail set. Ernie very kindly included the full detail set with the kit prize so there's also the resin engine, bombs and the wing fold set. Plan is to use all of them. I'm hoping life is settling down again and I can get properly into this.

Enjoy it Carl, it's the closest to building Lego you'll find in a kit. Everything just fits perfectly.

Definitely worth the grief Rob. You couldn't get that realism with anything other than actual metal. Does look horrifically fiddly though!

I thought you'd disappeared fully down the motor vehicle rabbit hole, Rob. 😁