Kyrre

Thanks everyone for your kind comments. I have edited the OP to include a picture of the real deal - also posted here:

Here's my weary and confused T-33. The story goes that the rear part of TR-597 got badly burnt at some point - so they replaced it with a bum bit from some other aircraft. Unfortunately it has not been possible to establish which aircraft it came from. So I had to make up a serial. Paints were Tamiya and Extracrylic, decals came from Icarus, Vingtor and Italeri. The kit's rather painful to build, but hey, apparently you have to suffer for your art Here first is the original. Anthony was kind enough to let me post the picture here in this group.

Great build. It is important to remember that 99 out of 100 model builders wouldn't even know that this kit is "wrong" when it comes to the canopy and all. You've done the right thing in finishing it and moving on. Unlike me. For my Vc/trop I am planning a kitbash galore, with a bit of Hobbyboss, a bit of Hasegawa and a bit of Revell IXc. You will notice there's no build thread yet ...

I like the LSP forums so much that I feel obligated to contribute, though my work is slow and sometimes not even finished. Anyhow, here's my current project. For some time I have been looking for a "complete" Greek Hurricane, where I'd find documentation of markings, serial and all special features in the form of pictures or stories. Well, after a lot of googling I did find my aircraft. I found a website with a painting and some pictures of Georgios Plioni's Hurricane, from when he flew with 335 Squadron in Africa. Edit: Found the website: http://morisgeorge.com/portfolios/greek_hurricane_335_hellenic_squadron/ Most markings will have to be made from masks, which is fine, but I was a bit worried about the blue roundels. I have seen plenty discussions on this, with no conclusions, so I was thinking I should use the standard British roundels. When chatting with my good friend Lampros in Athen I found out he was friends with Plioni. A quick message and 10 minutes later I got the confirmation from the pilot himself: The fuselage roundels were painted blue in the centre - while the wings remained in British colours - to avoid being shot down by ground forces! So that settles that ... . And this is how far I've come. I don't like the Fly kit at all, I've found there is far too much work - the kind reminds me of early Special Hobby. But I'll soldier through, since I'm quite motivated. A question for the Hurricane experts. I assume that all IIb wings were prepared for 6 guns and that the two guns outside the landing light might have been removed. Would this be a standard "tape everything up after removal" situation or did they actually do a more thorough job with sheet metal to cover the hatches and the gun opening?

Thank you all. I did find a picture of FG-710, but it seems to have been taken after a fairly recent repaint. No stenciling, apparently. This picture was taken in '87, according to the caption. https://www.escadrilles.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/F104_1987_FG-710_.jpg

Hi all. I haven't finished many models lately - I'm maybe down to two a year. I did manage to finally finish my Italeri F-104G from HAF. The kit is really nice, but with some rather heavy panel lines. I also found it quite difficult to get the air brakes to fit nicely since I didn't want them deployed. Painted with various acrylics, with decals from the kit and from Icarus. After the flat coat I used pastels to weather it down as much as I dared, but as we all know I could have gone on and on forever. These planes looked decidedly grubby! Just a few pics. Hard to photograph such a long aircraft! This one is for you, Christos. RIP.

Late to the party, only saw this now. Nothing constructive to say, unfortunately. It's just awesome.

Thanks guys. I have actually done one of these before, albeit in 72nd scale. I completely overdid the chipping bit, but had so much fun doing it that I didn't want to stop. Will apply same technique - with some restraint this time around So, here's the tiny version.

Thanks! I cut the decal into the respective bezels and applied them one by one. Quick job, made it quite a lot better than applying the whole panel at once, since the detail of the panel is quite "bumpy" :-)

Since I do like'm dirty I am inclined do my kit up like this:

Sooo ... I have a thing for Greek stuff. With Kitty Hawk's release of a Sabre Dog I was hooked and had to start it almost as soon as I got the kit delivered. Now, a few things about my approach to modelling, having done this for 35 odd years: - Cockpits. Don't like'em, don't like replacing them with resin or etch, but will do what it takes to do them "nice enough". Will cheat, will omit parts, as long as it looks busy enough. - Fuselage. I like my kits to look representative - and will not open up stuff unless it was a typical feature of that plane. So, in this case, dropped slats are a necessity (as on a Bf109), opened air brakes? Not so much. You don't see many pictures of these aircraft flashing their innards, unless they just landed. - Exposed engine? Yeah right. See last paragraph. - Research, yes, accuracy, yes, but if it takes the fun out of the build - screw it. If the kit looks right - it is right. So, without further ado: The cockpit is quite okay straight from the box. I have no idea about accuracy. There should probably be some more seatbelt-stuff in there, but they will be painted greyish and then with a bit of added shadow, that's it. The cockpit decal is nice, but I thought I'd get into trouble if I tried applying it over the relief molded panel, so I cut them out and applied a coupious amount of Micro Sol, followed by some Future for the "glass". I gave the radar screen some typical cathode ray colour, I have no idea if this would be correct. With a bit of sanding and dry fitting the air brakes are a tight fit. Nice one, Kitty Hawk. As mentioned earlier, I have no interest in displaying the engine, so I attached the front and rear halves respectively, using some strip plastic to ensure that I got a fairly smooth joint when viewed from the outside. Worked quite well - shouldn't be much of a step along the fuselage. . That's how far I've come. I am enjoying this build immensely and have not encountered many issues yet - though a lot of time has been spent dry fitting before committing. Thanks for watching - oh, and do give feedback on any issues you might see with the build! I appreciate constructive criticism. Kyrre

This is a very inspiring build. Jättebra! K

You should check with Boa decal in the Czech Republic. They are cheap and good. And they do smaller batches. K

Just started mine - and while it seems there'll be some putty applied I did not get the impression it is going to be that bad. I will post some in progress once I start glueing. So far I've had to use some putty in the intake - as expected. KYrre

Interesting build. A question on the Trumpy spinner. Is there a back plate on it as well? Because if it is I would say it's pretty close to Danny's resin version - just that it lacks the base.

That looks good enough to eat. Crisp as proper French Fries.

Great job! I've started my own kit, but mine will be a lot more than 2 years in the making Kyrre

I'm from Norway and will build aircraft that operated over- or around our country during the war. I love researching and have found out that I prefer doing subjects that haven't been covered by any decal companies - to the point that if I discover that my build is also being done by others I lose interest. Even if the builder is across the world. I also appreciate a well worn Greek aircraft.

This is truly a fantastic build - I'm learning something from every picture! On the subject of photography, what is your setup? Kyrre

Nice start. An easier approach would be using toothpaste or honey for the chipping. And it's even cheaper! Kyrre

Thanks for the feedback, folks. One comment: The fuselage silver finish is a tiny bit shinier than what you see in the pictures here - from what I've been told by others it is fairly close to regular unpolished aluminium - which is kind of natural, since the paste I used actually is all metal. Right - on with the next build. I see a Thunderjet forming in the horizon. Kyrre

Thanks! Sure, publish away, Kev. 😊

Tamiya's initial P-51D with little extra except Barracuda Studio's wheels - a necessity since Tamiya insist on doing their awful rubber thing. Read about my struggles at http://forum.largescaleplanes.com/index.php?showtopic=37062&hl=

Ahaaaaa. First post on this kit was in 2011! It's done. And it only took me 4 years. Whooohoo. I guess the rest goes in the Ready for Inspection section.

What they said. Good luck getting into the hobby as a hobby again! Kyrre