GusMac

Sounds good Peter. my wife is okay with the Tamiya Lacquers so hopefully this'll be fine too. I always use my respirator and paint booth, so fingers crossed!

Too true! 😆

That's certainly how a lot of the oil industry wankers in Aberdeen seem to think they work. And you definitely don't signal to let anyone else have half a chance of knowing what you're going to do next!

Thanks Peter, looking forward to trying the Mr Paint. My only concern is how strongly they might smell as my wife is quite sensitive to anything too noxious. Bit more progress tonight. Intake trunking glued in place. You can see that very fine support I was talking about quite nicely in these photos - just amazed at what they can achieve with the 3D printing. Turbine fan glued in place at the back of the trunking. I haven't glued this to the back of the intake trunks as a bit of dry fitting showing that the RAT housing will have to be fitted first as the fit is extremely tight and I'd rather avoid the cursing and chances of breaking bits. Speaking of which, here is the RAT housing painted in Xtreme Metals Steel and the 2 parts (don't know what they are) that go inside ready for detail painting. The coils appear to be a strange greeny-gold colour so I've made an eyeball mix of Titan Gold and Park Green. I'll see how it looks tomorrow after it's dry.

Given that I think the JetMads Viggen will keep me occupied for most of this year, my main ideal buy is a set of paint masks for the splinter cammo! If it appears this year, the Border He-111 looks very tempting.

There's the reason for the shortages fellas - Carl has it all!! 😁

First parts primed, painted and ready for assembly. Trunking and fan in Tamiya X-2 and Xtreme Metals steel. The detail on the 3D prints is amazing. Rear trunking in X-2. Just noticed the hair in the photo, but it's so far back into the interior that I'm just gonna leave it. There's a support of some sort across the bottom of trunks which isn't much thicker than a hair - the quality of the 3D prints just makes me laugh. I know JetMads get some stick about print layers on some stuff, especially the Stiletto, but the detail is just lovely. Front intakes done in X-2 then masked and the anterior portions done in Xtreme Metals aluminium. It's hard to see if this correct in pictures of real airframes but it seems to be the consensus in other previous builds, so I'm not gonna argue! Rear wall of the cockpit done in aluminium as well. Have ordered Mr Paint colours for this build as they seem to be the best match to the Swedish colours. Haven't used them before but always seem to get a good write up and the 'no thinning' should hopefully make it a pleasant experience I hope. Paint is coming from Poland as none of the UK stockists had the necessary colours, so probably going to take a couple of weeks to get here. Plenty to get on with in the meantime....

Beautiful finish and the 3D printed pieces really add to the finished result.

Okay, explain how that Richthofen egg plane manages to stand like that?!? 🤔

Just the two completions for me last year but at least they follow a vague theme both being carrier aircraft. Tamiya F-14A Hobby Boss A6E Tram The Tamiya was certainly the easier build as it just falls together but I quite like the Intruder as it's the first folded wing kit I've done. Have a feeling the Viggen is going to take most of this year!

First progress with this. Removed the first set of printed parts for priming. Thankfully the supports come away very easily but you have to keep your eyes peeled not to inadvertently remove some of the detail as well. The resolution of some of the detail is amazing. First bit of Dremel action as well - cleaning up the inside of the resin trunking so that the printed pieces fit nicely. Not sure I'm a fan of having to wear my respirator for assembly as well as painting but it's better than breathing the dust. Hopefully get this all primed tomorrow as long as the household task list isn't extended!

Looks good to me as well, certainly matches the photo. 👍

Sorry to hear it's defeated you for the moment Carl. It does seem to be designed by someone who's never actually had to assemble something this fiddly.

Looks like a great kit Peter and nice progress so far. The moulded on seatbelts look really good once painted up.

Wow, I was sure that was a joke until I scrolled down the page. Great news, but if it takes as long as the Devastator I might have gone gaga by then.

Can definitely relate to the blackboard duster one! 😁

Made the first start on this yesterday by washing all the main resin parts in soapy water in case of any residual releasing agent. Aaannddd.... The first problem becomes apparent. The leading edge of the port wing has been broken in transit. However it looks a pretty clean break through the gear bay, so I'm hoping that it should be fixable using the 5-minute epoxy. Failing that the JetMads after sales service seems decent so I may contact them if it's not resolvable.

As everyone has said, have a great 2024 everyone. Here's to a better year all round. And, I'll reiterate all the thanks to all the mods for a great place to visit.

These were the two under the tree for me. The F4 was from my wife - she knew how much I enjoyed the F14 she gave me last year, so got me this one unprompted. Think I'll save it for after the Viggen - I feel I might need a nice simple build after it! The Mig was from the kids. I've always fancied doing a Fishbed and these Eduard kits seem to be regarded as the best out there.

Well, if you can't spoil yourself.....

Thanks for organising again Ernie. You seem to be determined to turn me into a resin modeller. That's a Viggen and an Attacker to do now!

Dettol, Germolene and Ralgex, the smells of my childhood!

Something from Border in 1/35 perchance?

I'd back up the comments about the black base, Tamiya lacquer is a far better option. Never had any issues masking on Xtreme Metals with kabuki type tapes but Montex vinyl masks ruined the NMF I did on my P47, leaving residue everywhere.

Looks like the Empire has given up on the Death Star idea and gone for the Deth Kat instead.