GusMac

Update time. I've got all the resin bits attached now other than the nose so I can do a final assessment of whether I need to add any weight before I seal the front. Everything fits really well with only minimal filler required to smooth things in. I thought getting the canards off the casting blocks might be a nightmare given the curved surface where they attach to the fuselage but John has done a superb job at the casting stage and a few passes with a sharp blade were all that was needed. In an effort to get a good strong join with the nose I've blatantly copied what Mistral did on his build on LSP and glued a thin styrene disk to the back which will be joined with Tamiya Extra Thin and hopefully give a good strong weld. Again, looks like it shouldn't need much filler so hopefully primer soon!

Nice. Always had a soft spot for these odd Soviet swimming tanks

Superb work Hubert

There's a bench in there?

That's the tail of an extrovert!

Stunning work Kai.

Thanks chaps. Rob, another advantage of the conversion is that John supplies new main undercarriage legs with a metal core within the resin, so hopefully they will more than do the job. I've got the resin tail on and I'm trying to get all the resin pieces added that are aft of the main gear so I can check the sit with the big resin nose taped on. That way I'll still have the chance to add some weight around the front wheel well, if required, before I attach the nose. I'll post some further pics soon.

Looks great Gaz

It's a nice kit Bill and goes together well. The shape issues are well documented and I also used the Zacto intake but it looks like a SLUF to me. Looking forward to seeing what you do with it.

Glad to hear the Tonka is better. I quite fancy one to build as one based at Leuchars beside where I grew up but I'd prefer a Spey Phantom so I'm holding off in case that EVER appears.

Thanks Kai. l'm fairly happy with where it's at and looking forward to adding all the resin extras. Carl, l reckon the D should be easier as you get an entire resin front section so the intake join should be a lot better. John's bits fit better than the kit parts!

Meant to post an update quicker on this but once I kind of got into a rhythm with joining everything up it slipped my mind. Anyway main fuselage joints are done and the conversion intakes are on with lots of plasticard, filler, sanding and bad language! This is the first Italeri aircraft kit I've bit and I'm in no rush to try another. You wonder if they ever test fit anything - the fit at the shoulder of the intakes is farcical. The gap must be 3mm if you line everything up correctly elsewhere which leaves you looking to see if you've missed something but no, it's just crap execution. I'm happy with where the intakes are at now. Just some extra rescribing and should be ready for primer. The rear end also needed some plasticard shims to get everything lined up but it's looking okay now. There are a couple of nice big resin pieces to go on here which should take the eye away from anything else, I hope. So next job is the rescribing and getting this attached.... Hopefully shouldn't be too bad as so far John's conversion resin has fitted better than the kit parts! Main casting block is removed but will need some careful trimming to remove the rest especially around the thin section around the base of the rudder. Thank god for razor saws! Kai and Alberto you have my deepest sympathy for trying to do this straight from the box. At least I knew there was going to be lots of fettling because of the conversion but you thought you were just going to build a nice simple kit. Ha!!

Our friend had a dog with similar 'appetites' - he said 'I don't own a dog, I have a sentient, ambulatory bin!'

Nice view!

Doesn't look guilty in the slightest! Ha

Wow, congratulations Tony. Great to fulfil a dream like this and involve your folks. Just hope the quality of the kit parts is better than some manufacturers.... as one of the three masochists building the Italeri Mirage here at the moment, it couldn't be worse!

Looks good Alberto, especially the seat.

Thanks guys. Didn't get anything done today as I got an SOS from my parents to help with a couple of DIY tasks that are now beyond them (they're both 80+) so couple of hours driving and a good few hours of labour instead. As Phil mentions it's a Bank Holiday in the UK tomorrow so hopefully I'll get some peace then.

Well Kai, I've glued the rear sections to each upper fuselage half and joined these. On a quick dry fit it looks like the rear and wing areas will join nicely with the bottom with little or no filler. BUT the front doesn't look so clever. I've trimmed the sides of the tub and I think it'll glue up okay if done slowly, section by section. May have to adjust the sidewalls as well but hard to tell until one side is glued but that's tomorrow's entertainment!

Looks comfortable!

Looks great Kai. What's surprised me is how long this thing is!

Thanks guys. Rob, I think I was lulled into a false sense of how hard this kit is by the work of Mistral on LSP who's built 5 or 6 of these and seems to know exactly how to solve all it's issues. Kai, I'm kind of following the steps that the conversion requires you to take. The dogtooth inserts really need the wing halves joined first but they're only glued along the leading edge to allow a little flexibility for the fuselage join. I've just glued the wings to the lower fuselage tonight and fit was okay, although needed a bit of trimming round the wheel wells. Joining the upper fuselage halves and test fitting the tub is this weekend's task. I'll let you know how it goes but looking at yours I suspect, 'not well' will be the answer!

Thanks chaps. Can certainly recommend the quality of the conversions Carl and John is a good guy to deal with.

Just realised I hadn't updated this. Been too busy having fun with the conversion. So the current status..... Cockpit all painted and weathered and attached to the front wheel bay. All the resin bits fitted nicely but the kit decals for the instruments were poor. Main gear bays assembled, painted and weathered. Engine painted and assembled. The resin burner can has been primed but still needs painting, Just attached it here to check the fit - perfect as all the conversion parts seem to be! First scary bit done! Chopped out original leading edges and added the big dogtooths. Also filled the gaps in board and will add the plates where the wing fences go from .5mm plasticard. All sanded and rescribed, so next job is to attach these to the lower fuselage part. Will try and post more regular updates from here. Looking at Kai and Alberto's excellent builds, there's still lots of cuss factor to come.

Yeah, saw that on the news. Glad the crew are fine and hope they can get the money together to rebuild it. Doubt it was insured as premiums seem to be idiotic for these things.