GusMac

Nice job on the figure Gaz. You could give him a goatee to hide the chin but probably not allowed in the DAK?

Lovely job on the windshield and exhaust Kai. How was the windshield fit? It required a fair bit of trimming on mine but I put that down to the fit of the side panels with the resin dash and front coaming.

This is going to look absolutely stunning!

Just fitted the nose as a test fit showed there was enough weight in that big lump of resin to ensure it isn't a tail sitter. Bit of filler required and I'll post some pics after it's sanded to a finish

Lovely work Alberto, the seat is wonderful. As others have said, you've made a good job of fixing all the flaws in the joints.

Thanks fellas. To be honest watching Kai and Alberto fight with the base kit, I don't think the resin has added any extra work really. Certainly not enough to out weigh the enjoyment of the conversion.

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!