BloorwestSiR

It's interesting that we had opposite issues with the fit. Hopefully the rest goes better. Carl

Really nice progress Joachim! I kept reading yours and Max's comments about the belly panel not fitting as I couldn't recall any such issues on my build. I went through my pics and found that I had shimmed the lower insert panel. This got rid of the step on either side at the wing root and the nose ended up fitting better too.

If you mean the tail, it has a different fuselage profile relative to the Matchbox kit. I tried it on my build and decided it was too much work to blend together. This was after cutting the tail off my Spitfire.

I've also got a Bestå which I didn't post earlier as the doors on it are discontinued. The top shelf has a 1/32 Mossie and I can fit (just!) a slat wing F-4E as well as a F-104. This one came with a mirrored back so it's not as dark but I think are no longer offered either.

Just catching up on this Brian. Great progress. It looks like you've got the power supply issues solved but did you consider any of the really tiny LiPo battery packs out there for the micro RC helis and drones? They do come with other concerns (exploding if over discharged) though. Here's some real world inspiration for your mounting choice: Carl

Here's my Detolf with the shelf mod. I used plexiglass for the additional shelves as that was cheaper than getting tempered glass. These are the wire anchors I use to hold the shelves up. I bought mine off eBay as they seemed to be the cheapest option. https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.com%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F153228367013 There's also a mod where you make your own base and top and Siamese two of them together, leaving out the glass in the centre. This is supposed to give enough room for three Spitfires per shelf. You'd need a router for this. I'm planning to do this later this summer hopefully. Carl

Sadly no, I may have a few laying around but that's it. I stopped playing when my classmates ended up spending their tuition on buying cards rather than paying for their classes. It got quite out of hand.

Neat! I didn't know that. I did play Magic back in university when it first came out.

Years ago I'd play the boardgame version of Civilization with my friends It would easily take a weekend to play so we'd set up and play it at the cottage where we could leave it set up. Right now with my boys we play Ticket to Ride as they're both big into trains. Carcassonne is lots of fun as is Settlers of Cataan. Robo Rally is fun but even more fun (and possibly slightly evil) if you play it as a drinking game. Carl

Here's the seam after sanding. I then installed the engine covers. These are supplied clear so I gave them a quick spray on the inside. The fit here was really good. Which was a nice surprise. Next up will be the nose turret and some of the various sensors.

Due to the left fuselage half having been badly bent and warped during shipment, I had to use some clamps to make sure the cockpit was in correctly. The warp also made it a challenge to close up the fuselage. I started at the rudder and worked my way forward. I ended up with a bit of a step on the bottom side. It took a couple applications of Mr Surfacer to level things out.

Time for an overdue update. I gave up using the Part PE set. It was just too fiddly for me this time around. I found an Eduard set and started using that instead. The set also came with belts so I took the easy way out. I later found out the seat cushions are the wrong colour. Oops With everything installed into the cockpit and that into the fuselage.

Thanks Brian! It's been a favourite of mine as well since the early '80s and made more so with the original Red Dawn. Thanks! This one has been in the stash for a while but once the DN masks came out for the Tiger Meet scheme, it moved up a bit in the pile.

The belts look great Fanes! The Eduard fabric belts are made by HGW as well but are the more recent laser cut ones. HGW also makes ones now that are printed on both sides. Carl

That's what I usually do when assembling belts. These are HGW belts. The only challenge is sometimes the fret attachment points are in the way so it doesn't always work on these and Eduard belts. Wako design their fret with this in mind and even show you in their instructions on leave them attached.

Hi Kev, nice review on the kit. The tube of grease is for the sliding canopy. One other sprue that's different and that's the one with the MLG legs and the blisters related to the E wing versus the earlier C wings on the VIII and IX kits. Carl

Thanks Dean! It is a shame to hide it all which is why I opened it on mine. Yep, that's the KH Kingfisher. I need to get back to it at some point. Just got too much on my bench. Carl

Even from the single pic you posted of the instructions, I can see they've fixed some of the Dragon instructions' errors. They've also done the engine cowls the way I did on my build which worked much better than what was suggested. As for the nose cowl, there is a seam on the inside to guide you in cutting them apart to show off the gun bay. It even fits in the closed position afterwards too! Carl

Lots of great progress there Chris. Carl

I would be up for an F6 conversion. It'll hopefully save me from trying to find an Echelon kit. Carl

It's so tempting but I've already got the 1/2700 Zvezda one and a bunch of AM for it. I might be convinced to change my mind once it's out though. Carl

Rick, they're only about 3" in length. They usually come in much smaller boxes and are box scale. This set has five of them in it. Here's a different kit from the same series to give you an idea of the size. I do have a 1/500 kit of the main ship and that's I think 70cm in length though. Carl

Maybe.... I've got the Yamato and Yukikaze already so it should fit in nicely.

Cosmo fleet in a box! There's three versions of the Andromeda class and two of the carrier version. Carl

I think I sighed loudly. Edward was 2 at the time so could hardly blame him. Afterwards he would ask me if I still had the one he flew. Thankfully he hasn't done that again. I had just brought it upstairs from my work bench and put it on the kitchen table to try and figure out were I could display it safely. I also wanted to do the RFI pics. This was about five minutes prior to its maiden flight. After the crash, I ended up packing up both the wreckage and the Tamiya Mossie I'd been working on at the same time. It was nearly a year before I came back to it.