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Rivets! I have to say these are extremely easy to use. Woody (Archer Fine Transfers) has done his work on these and they’re definitely worth the effort to upgrade your Dauntless. Cut the decal tight to the rivets, water, then apply. Move them around where you need them and push the water out with your brush. Super thin film that will disappear as work progresses. The only issue I had was of my own making, aka dust on the surface which didn’t let the decal adhere properly. Anyway, here’s about 5 hours of work so far....as well as some pictures from Dinosaur National Monument over the weekend. sometimes I miss that a decal moves...but that’s why we start with the bottom. Loads more to go, but making progress. And some Dino.....

Just to give everyone an idea of the work Woody has done for these skins, here's a shot of the instructions and some of the sheets of rivet decals. The instructions include placement for all of the rivets, top and bottom, sides and flaps. They also include step by step instructions and tips to get the most out of the skins. Pretty impressive....and again, they lay out beautifully, especially that thin carrier film. If only Tamiya could figure out thin carrier film

Hi folks, I'm afraid work has kept me off the bench for the bulk of this month so no updates but a bit of progress. As of my last update, I'd decided the subject of this build will be a Nakajima-built A6M5 based at Meiji air base in late 1944. Deciding on a land-based bird has allowed me to make some decisions on the cockpit layout, particularly the radio equipment set up. Zeroes carried 2 radio systems, one for voice communication and another for radio direction finding. The Type 1 ku Model 3 RDF system consisted of (from left to right in the image below) a control box located in the cockpit, a receiver/signal processor box which sat on the rack on the starboard side of the fuselage aft of the cockpit bulkhead, a loop antenna (sitting on top of receiver in photo below), and a dynamotor. The RDF system was most important for carrier-borne aircraft to find their way home to a small target in a vast ocean, so was often removed from land-based aircraft in the interests of saving weight. As my subject is land-based, I'm going to represent it as having been removed. By late 1943, the Type 3 ku 1 radio for voice communication was in use which consisted of a control box (first image) located in the cockpit and a transmitter/receiver that was suspended by bungee cords between the fuselage roof and a horizontal spar just behind the pilot aft of the cockpit bulkhead. This was also sometimes removed from aircraft in the interests of saving weight, but I'm going to say it was retained on this aircraft. The locations of the racks for the various controllers are shown in this picture of an A6M5 cockpit that I borrowed from Sean's excellent A6M2 build thread. The rack on the left is for the RDF controller box, the rack with the 6 lightening holes for the radio controller box, and the small rack with the single lightening hole for the loop antenna controller. The racks are represented on the kit with locating tabs for the separate controller box kit parts, a thoughtful design feature from Tamiya allowing different radio configurations - a bit of surgery still required though. Speaking of which, another thing noted in Ryan Toews' tweak list for this kit is that, following introduction of the Type 3 ku 1 radio, the fire extinguisher system control box located on a platform on the port cockpit wall was relocated to the aft cockpit bulkhead next to the pilot's left elbow. So, out with the cutting and sanding tools... The locating tab was removed from the RDF control box rack and screw holes added with the point of a sharp pin. The cockpit lamp was removed from the kit RDF control box part and attached to the side of the rack. The radio control box rack was left as the kit control box will be added later. The loop antenna controller was removed from the kit part and a single lightening hole drilled out of the remaining rack and the part attached. The fire extinguisher control box was carefully removed using my Tamiya PE saw, leaving a stringer behind - this was fiddly! Finally, the kit Type 3 ku 1 radio transmitter/receiver is a fairly bland affair with just a couple of randomly placed plugs. As it will be quite visible behind the pilot's seat, I thought something had to be done about this. Using the old photo above as a reference, panels and screws were scribed, knobs and meter faces added with styrene rod and card. and finally wiring added. If you're going to do some work on this part, beware the lower spar, it breaks easily Looks better I think. Thanks for stopping by and hopefully not as long until my next update!

Well, out of the 350 unbuilt kits in my stash, I really want to build about 600 of them. Kev

A mammoth sanding and test fitting session has been completed (almost), to the point where I think I can begin to lay some paint down. I added some tiny slivers of waste resin cutoffs to the side panels and the rear cockpit deck to allow for a more seamless fit, and leaving me with less filler to fill in the gaps. The instrument panel has been sanded to among paper thin, allowing the instrument faces to disappear, needing no masking before paint. I intend to build the office slightly different to normal, fixing the sidewalls directly to the fuselage sides rather than the tub. Mainly so i can do any filling and touching up of paintwork without spraying paint into the cockpit tub. I’m also going canopy closed, hence me sticking the driver in as well.

Thanks Marcel, your words mean a lot. In a strange way, seeing all the structure underneath with my 'Chuck Wash' is interesting isnt it. Although I am looking forward to paint. I thought when I started this I would have had the cockpit finished and the lower wing on....nothing like a few hurdles to slow you down aye? That's a real compliment from another modeler I look up to. Thanks very much. Ok, now this is purely an 'info update' for those building a Tamiya Phantom which, may or may not help. Tonights job was to put a spacer inside the heat shield section. This piece is exactly 40mm long and seems to allow this section to just 'drop in' without needing any filler. My original Tamiya fuselage is so chopped up I cant tell if it is a result of grafting the 2 together or will fix the std kit. Anyway, I thought it might be of interest/use for others. As you can see....she aint all pretty on the other side! Here illustrates where I stretched out the lower section with plastic card as a base to build up the new shape above the reheat cans. I glued (the only piece I ended up using from the WH heat shield area) the circular mounts for the cans as this helps keep the diameter and sizing correct for where the 3D printed cans will eventually go. I also reinforced it with thick plastic card to stop any flexing or changing of shape etc. Started working on the area at the base of the tailhook too. The rest of tonights efforts were mixing a 2 part epoxy to sure up the grafts in the fuselage so I dont potentially crack anything later on. Not a lot of visual progress considering I only got a couple of hours in after work, then a haircut then dinner. Thanks again for all your kind words, you have no idea how this spurs me on to do something every night. I had no idea there was so many Phantom aficionado's, especially for the British one. Thanks guys, it's nice to know I am putting something back into LSP considering how much I have learnt from you all! Cheers Anthony

I couldn't resist this one even though I don't know thing one about modeling aircraft that lack propellors. I saw a really slick photo of a Hellenic Air Force F-4E on line. Then discovered that someone made a decal set for it. THEN discovered that Z-M was days away from releasing a new F-4E kit (in 1/48 - these modern fighters are big enough models without needing 1/32 scale). So the die was cast... My Training Day build is going pretty quickly, so maybe I'll slot this one in for this winter, before I head back to obsessing over WWII in the Pacific.

And now I've just ordered the BPK 1/72 B737-100 kit! Kev

Hi everyone. I want to share with you my new build - 1/32 Fokker E.V/D.VIII from Mikro Mir. Well, I wanted to have this build as a small quick vacation project, without any huge conversions or scratch builds, however the model's quality is so pure that, I think, this might take more than 1 week and more than 1 can of beer to build it )) As usual i started from the engine, it's not the first time I'm making Oberursel/Gnome engine, so no problems with it, i glued both sides, added cylinder covers, removed plastic sparking plugs and made them using a copper wire, small tubes and Vectorcut's nuts. - painted some interior parts and engine in black - then covered with aluminium - painted sparking plugs in white and added brown/black wash to be continued...

And I couldn't resist a little more dry assembling - can you tell what it is yet? And this is pretty well where we're at: Compared to my other recent modelling activity, it's a real pleasure to just build, rather than heavy-duty changes and corrections. Hopefully the assembled Wingnuterati of this parish approve of works so far - I can see this could become addictive. Good job I've got a few others in the stash! I can honestly say that if, like me, you have a few WnW kits stashed away and have put off starting your first - go on, crack one open, it's fun. Just don't ask about rigging just yet! Toodle-pip, Iain

Tail feathers, with re-positioned elevators: And 'rib effect': The blue is mixed - using Tamiya and MrColor acrylics. Doped linen is two shades of MRP Lacquer - with a coat of Humbrol Clear acrylic varnish. Iain

Thanks very much Anthony! Did a bit of painting: Not perfect by a long shot but it won't be around for long. This is step one of my quest to replicate the Coastal Command Special Duties Scheme used by some Strike Wing Mossies. This scheme seems to have come in two varieties. The first was a more thoroughly applied scheme with a pretty uniform coat of Extra Dark Sea Grey uppers with Sky undersides and and secondly, an "ad hoc" version which consisted of slightly lighter, thinly applied EDSG (or possibly just Dark Sea Grey) coating which allowed the original camouflage to be seen beneath. Often, the undersides of the ad hoc scheme were left in the original Medium Sea Grey. I'm going for version 2, so I've roughed on the dark green color. I'll go back and use some MSG to cover the bits of filler and tighten up some of the green overspray but don't think I need to apply it everywhere. After that, next steps will be to mask and install the canopy, compete the dark green application, do a bit of pre-shading and then go for the final top coat. That's it for now, thanks for checking in!

Last update.

Hey Folks. This is the Kitty Hawk F-5E. Ok it is not the best kit and I recommend you to have great research before you begin. Dont do like me and build one of the examples in the box.. You will see that Kitty Hawk failed badly. I didnt have the time to correct all the errors for my interpretation of a IRIAF F-5. So " see is what you get". The most obvious are the wrong canopy, the fins on the exhaust and the sharkfin on the spine. But otherwise the build went just fine. I have used: Gunze Paints Eduard Photoetch exterior and interior. Eduard Masks SAC landing gears F.O.D Scratched Enjoy.

First step; Old Hasegawa s fuselage halves have raised panel lines. ( But the new mold wings have engraved panel lines, that s why I called it "hybrid") By using scriber , most of the panel lines became engraved.

Arm still hurts, but not as badly, thankfully. Both hands, and eyes , are at varying stages of operational capability, so back to the model. I've not got the engine to a point at which I need to mount it in the engine mountings, but one set of ignition wires have repeatedly eluded completion, so rats to them. I just won't display that side of the engine. As you can see, eighteen plugs have wires, which I think will be visible after the kit is finished. The kit inlet manifold is very poor, but I've gone with it as I think it's likely better than my scratch building might be. This part is complex as the manifolds then to snake all over the place. I've also modified the engine mountings and added detail to the firewall. The top mount is, I think, mounted too low, so I've modified them, moving the top part of the mountings about 3mm up on the firewall. If I go any higher, I'm sure they will fowl the exhausts. Here it is with one side done, so you can see the difference. You can also see that I've added a cross brace to the firewall itself. After doing the same to the other side, I've also added a brace to the left side, but not the right as I won't be opening that side of the cowling thanks to the problems encountered making the right side outer plug wires and harness tube. Next, I've added some plumbing and a bottle made from scrap resin to the left side. The left side mounting tab has been removed too as that mount is now redundant thanks to cutting way the left side cowling. Next up, I've added some more plumbing and photo etch to the wheel wells, as well as opened up the front of the wheel well walls. There will be a little more plumbing to add before I close up the wings. However, most of my work since the last update has been on the cockpit. After some head scratching (must stop doing that as one day, I'll go through, then both brain cells might escape ) I've decided to use the CMK resin allied to some of the Eduard etch. I may use some kit parts, or not. I'm making this up as I go. After looking at all the bits, I've worked out that both the kit cockpit, as we know, but also the CMK resin is not up to standard. The issue with the CMK kit is that the cockpit sides are wrongly shaped. It's almost like someone did the shape or outline, then someone else added the details to the wrong side, because the forward edge of the sides doesn't match the forward end wall of the cockpit. For the purposes of all current LSP kits available, P-40 cockpits were deeper at the rear than at the front because of the profile and mounting of the wing. Alas, CMK's side walls were the other way around, and when you put it together, you get something very odd as the front wall and instrument panel will be too low once mounted. Here's the cockpit sides as they come out of the box. I could make my own from scratch, and this I almost did until I decided on a better and easier solution. New sides were cut from 0.5mm stock plastic, which is the thinnest I've got. Then I took each of these parts and thinned them down as much as I could to maintain the detail, and glued each side to the correctly shaped home made walls. The protruding lower front edge was filed off, and more stock plastic was used to build up the lower rear part of each wall, and the resin cast ribs extended to suit. The right side turned out better than the left, as I went through when sanding the resin side wall, hence the filler. Here's the result. This now means that the cockpit is deeper still than the CMK kit and closer to the actual thing. I've also added depth to the rear wall. I've now started adding some Eduard etch to this lot to try and improve it further. Some of the resin detail has been removed and etch replaced these bits, and I've also added the Eduard floor to the resin to improve this. The part needed some severe modification, but once it's all painted, I think it should look good. Here's the various components of the cockpit as they are at present. More etch will be added before final assembly after painting. The rudder pedals will also need modification, and I may use the kit parts here as the resin part has broken in the package. Here's the parts taped together to give me an idea of where I'm up to, and what still needs doing before painting. The next shot is also to help me collect my scattered thoughts. You'll see where I'm headed, I hope. Because of the problems with forever breaking right side spark plug harness tube and wires, I've now decided not to cut off the right side cowling from the fuselage. This should also make alignment of the engine with the plane easier, as well as alignment of the lower nose. My thinking is that once I've painted the interior, firewall and cockpit, I can finish the engine and mount it to the firewall assembly, glue that to the fuselage and glue the fuselage halves together. The completed cockpit will then slide in from below and I'll fab a new mounting for it for added strength. I'm hopeful that I'll be able to have the interior painting done before the weekend is over. So that's it for the moment. Not sure when I'll be back with an update as this computer needs repair. RAM usage keeps maxing out causing it to crash after about an hour, so while it's in, I'm getting another 16GB of RAM installed so that I can run Microsoft's new flightsim better. In the mean time, work will continue. Cheers, and stay well, Michael

Now into loose 'dry fit' stage - having masked and painted the rudder stripes: Quite pleased I chose this scheme now - the blue contrasts beautifully with the 'wood' sections around the cockpit IMHO. Iain

Thanks for the interest guys, appreciated! Photos on the 'grown-up' camera, as promised - will do as several posts as I just created a long one that was 'lost' without a trace thanks to my touch pad screwing up... Ignore any dust/fibres, they were just 'visiting' to help with the photos, not... There is a fine grain there - photo hasn't picked it up too well: Gloss black areas are primer for a shiny metal look: Back in a mo... Iain

this is just filler, no sanding yet

I've built all my stash, plus a selection of upcoming releases, at least twice each in my head.

I have a short list. From there it's pure whim. Too much thinking makes my head hurt.

I tend to start new projects all the time, at least in my mind. Despite the fact that it'll never happen, I dream of eventually building all of my stuff and more.

350......I’d run out of space! I think I have 25 unbuilt and boxed right now, but I’ve already decided I will be selling a few. Though, a 1/32 F-105G with a bunch of aftermarket sits read in my cart at Sprue Brothers......

Finished all of the rigging attachment points, finally. The wires that run from the forward fuselage to the upper wing inboard of the cabane struts emerge from fairly large holes in the sheetmetal, obviously being anchored to some fitting within, as shown in photos from the walkaround that Max did: These holes are not represented in the kit, so I drilled them. I could have thinned the plastic from the back to get scale-ish thickness at the lip, but I'm trying to do this kit in less than the three months that the Zero took, so I'll just paint the interiors black when the time comes and call that good. I then glued some little pieces of plasticard to the back to close them up: And drilled smaller holes to glue the rigging (EZ-Line) into when I get to that step. You can kind of see them... I've actually done a bunch of additional parts prep such that almost every part I need is off the sprue and cleaned up. I keep feeling antsy to shoot some paint on something, but I still need to do the cockpit control linkages and wiring first. Then the thing should start coming together rapidly. I will also have to do a much longer session on the Silhouette software to make all the masks. Probably won't be able to fid time to focus on that until next weekend, though.

I've started buying kits again lately too, after a long time (many years) of rarely buying brand-new kits - though I did buy a smattering from swap meets and friends. And with an unbuilt stash of 350 kits, I hardly need any more! Only this morning I ordered the brand-new Kinetic Harrier, which I'm really looking forward to. Kev

Hi all, The rigging for the wings has been done, apart from weathering and sealing. Rigging line is 0.12 mm diameter mono-filament with 0.5 mm diameter tubing. The crossed bracing wires from the top of the front cabane struts to the top of the fuselage are not shown correctly in the kit instructions. In reality, the two lines crossed through an 'acorn', similar to that for the Sopwith Camel. The acorn was made from plastic rod and drilled through with a 0.3 mm diameter hole. Next is to fit and rig the main floats and after that, fit and rig the ailerons, Mike

Has anyone else built this with the Zacto’ canopy set? Its making me nervous to the point where I’m sanding it down mm by mm so I don’t take too much material away. Tedious but necessary just to be sure. Before After 2 hours of very careful sanding and repeated test fits have produced a near seamless fit. I’ll figure out how to add some exterior detail to it later down the line. For now it’s going back in its box away from things that can scratch the surface, I can’t imagine there’s many of these left on the planet, so I have no wish to need to replace it because I did something dumb. *breathes sigh of relief*

I'd suspect that's when the slides/photos were scanned and/or originally posted publicly.

I try to avoid acquiring more kits than I can ever build by rearranging my stash every now and then so that it looks like I have new stuff. So far this hasn't worked all that well.

I try not to think about the next build because I'll pull it off the shelf, open it up, scatter a few parts and then change my mind by the time current project is done. I have something like 2 or 3 kits open right now like this with an almost completed Skyhawk on the bench. Might start re-boxing things tonight and focusing on the A4.

Thanks, Bob. Okay, I'll try this again. A couple of pictures with a little color. I've painted the sides their basic colors. Now waiting for the oils to dry. Here is the seat assembly in a darker wood color. I switched to the lighter color, which I believe is more accurate. Thanks for looking in.

the master for the canopy is finished, i will pull a test part soon

after some sanding, no primer

almost ready:

You plan your builds? Wow! I tend to stumble over a box full of plastic while holding some glue in my hand, and somehow end up with a finished model - though usually years later. Kev

LOL. As soon as I see someone elses build on LSP and think wow...so cool.

Canvas is the right word. I'd bet there are more or as many different F4 schemes as there are 109s. I have couple of Acadamys and 4 old Monograms that are just for canvases. You guys do know this is a journey from which there is no escape.

I don't, I have enough planning at work. For me this is a hobby that I do what ever I want on the day I want to work on it. I do research, get thing organized and then it may site for years. I build what ever I want to build and refuse to make it a project of absolute perfection now. I just need the zen of building not the stress of being perfect.

I hear those ZM Phantoms are nice kits. I have an Academy F-4J in the stash and want to get a F-4C and will probably get the ZM. I agree the 1/32 Phantoms are huge but it sure is a fun build. It's a big canvas to work on and with your modeling skills Alex it would be a beauty.

Yep. Want to add a couple planes, and ships.

The physical space required for my stash is 8x8 and still 4 boxes in the barn. Well.....5.

I do the same thing, more or less; swear off buying kits, which never lasts very long, then go on a binge and buy several in a short time. Since the last time I swore off buying, I've probably added thirty, or more.

This is a big part of my plans for 2021, so stay tuned.

Thanks Check - you've made me smile - good to know I'm not alone! :) Thing is - the box of fresh casting supplies only arrived in July - and I don't use the storage boxes I found them in. My wife never goes up there - so I must have put them in there at some point. Oh well... Iain

posted by Lukasz on their FB page printed in one piece, all interior frame, wow

So after whining about the canopy for most of the build, I decided to take the bull by the..... horns and just get this over with. The Tamiya canopy is truly amazing, it's thin and the most transparent clear part I've ever seen in a kit. So, to recap - my goal is to cut out the overhead escape hatch. Here are some step by step pics. Please excuse the following set of pictures. They were taken indoors and are of horrible quality. However, they should illustrate the process ok. The canopy pre-surgery. It's so clear, it's tough to photograph well. Step 1, using a pin vice and a small diameter drill bit, very carefully drill about a hundred holes along the seam, being careful to stay just a hair inboard. Step 2, using a new X-acto blade (critical for any delicate work), very carefully cut between the holes. Don't worry about being right on the panel line. Then, very gently, pop the section out. If it doesn't release, go back and use the tip of the blade to cut any remaining bits. Step 3, using sanding sticks and small flat files (along with a little bit of cutting in the corners using the tip of the knife blade), sand your way down to the panel line. Go slow, make sure you are not putting any pressure on the very fragile canopy. Still have some cleanup to do along the frame. Step 4, pop it in place to see how it looks. Canopy fits perfectly. I had pondered cutting out one of the side windows as these are often seen opened but in this case, I'm afraid it might be a "bridge too far". At some point, I'll fabricate the removed escape hatch and display it on the finished model. Those blobs on the plastic are raindrops. Started sprinkling as I took this picture. I'll obviously clean and polish the canopy prior to installation. While I was "in the groove", I also painted the remainder of the undersides. I'll make a couple of touch-ups but I'd say this step is close to finished. That's it for now. Thanks for checking in!

BTT! Hey all, the question above still stands, if anyone has the answer. Otherwise, minor updates as I’m kind of on pause while Woody does some work on the rivet set. Assembled the main gear, thanks to Synthetic Ordinance Works. The oleos look GREAT with the real metal showing. I thought I had a problem with the left gear leg, but it turns out that Trumpeter molded the opening in the gear bay on an angle, at least on mine. See below picture of the strange kick out of the wheel. Easy fix though. Also started painting up the propellor, using Alclad chrome for the spinner and aluminum for the hub. My yellow orange tips might be resprayed as they aren’t quite even. The overall airframe has been gloss coated and stands ready for rivets and black basing! Soon Close up shots aren’t nice! Definitely reworking the tips, now that I see that ridge at the bottom.

Yep, I wanted to build a Lotus Type 79 formula 1 race car Mario Andretti won the championship with. So, I picked one up, next thing I know I’ve got 10 other F1 kits of varies teams!