Dragon

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Thanks everyone!
 
I had read that the parts of this kit are thick, and they definitely are! One plus of the excessive thickness is greater surface area for gluing the parts. 
 
First issue of the kit to deal are the gun port panels. I have the AMS Resin replacement panels, but after comparing the dimensions of the resin replacement panels against the kits panels, I felt the replacement panels would be more work (and frustration) than they would enhance the look. So, I decided to try and improve the kit's gun panels. To fill the gapping holes in the kit's gun panel (on the right), I glued pieces of styrene strips to the backside of the gun panel (on the left). I think this simple fix helps tremendously. I did the same for the right side once I saw how it improved the appearance. This next step for improving the gun panel was taking a drill bit and routing the gun ports out a bit to improve their shape. 
 
 
 
After completing the gun panels, it was closing up the machine gun panels. Not a fan of open panels. The panel fit wasn't bad. The only issue was a slight warpage to them, but nothing that was too difficult to deal with.


 
Next up will be the wing assembly and the wing tanks.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Mike

(4)-Tamiya F-4
(3)-Tamiya F-16
(4)-Trumpeter Intruders
 
Have no idea where I’ll display these once built. 

3 F-4s

Props:
DHC-2 with floats
P-47 
A-1 
 
Jets:
F-105
F-5
F-16

April 11/24
 
Here is the problem that Niels has pointed out.  Also, after looking at many pics I have of F-16’s, I couldn’t find one with these panels on any of them either.
 

 
Although the lens is a bit too deep, the real fit culprit is the diameter, so I carefully sanded down the outside edge to get it to fit into the hole without removing the fastener detail, but also the depth quite a bit.  These are position lights that are clearly red in Jake’s book (P 21), but the red color is almost at the surface.  By making the lens thin and painting it red from behind, the red is shallow like it should be.  There is also a tiny InfraRed Emitter light at the front of the light (left), which I will likely add later as a decal.  Once the lights are cemented in and painted, you will only see red from the area covered with liquid mask on the right.
 

 
Since I was on to lights, I decided to attack the little navigation lights on the wingtips as well, which are part of the launchers with rods holding them in place.  As Pete mentioned earlier, the lenses are not tinted red and blue/green like those on the intake, but have a small bulb in each with those colors instead.  To accomplish this, I usually just drill a small hole from behind, then place a dab of the corresponding paint color in the hole as a bulb replacement.  Unfortunately with these lights that are almost directly on top of each other, a hole from the bottom interferes with the other light, so as a compromise I just drilled holes from above, filled them with paint, then sealed them with clear CA glue.  Not very accurate if you want the bulb look, but a lot better than a painted lens.
 

 
The Kopecky LAU-129 launchers need a notch cut out and holes drilled to fit the wingtip, so I used the kit parts as a guide for exact width and pin location.
 

 
A view from the side, showing that the top light is always a bit offset to the rear.  Not exactly the true bulb look, but this still looks better than painted lenses.
 

 
More lights and more detailing options.  The rear navigation light is red, but only at the very back with the side’s painted fuselage color.  Here I painted just the insert that goes into the tail, which is slightly scratched from repeated insertion.  I'll fix that later....
 

 
From the side, you won’t see any red when the tail is painted.
 

 
But from the rear, like a fiber optic, you can clearly see red.  Above that light is an oval recess for 4 more tiny InfraRed light emitters where Tamiya placed an outward oval instead, that many modelers just cut off.  Here I dug a small recess and added outside fastener detail, where I will again add a small decal inside later to replicate the lights.
 

 
The anti-collision strobe light for the top of the tail has a silver light housing for a white light bulb.  After drilling a hole from behind to replicate this a bit, I just left a used drill bit in the hole and glued it in after trimming it for size.  I then painted the insert silver so that you can see some of that from above, much like the rear navigation light.
 

 
I had to be very careful about how deep I drilled the hole, because the lens at the top is tapered and very thin at the top.  This about is about all I could do without risking ruining the part.
 

 
Recall that I was looking for something to sort of replicate all those small “No Push” placards that are on the engine nozzle petals.  What I found is a compromise of what I knew would work, but a bit too shiny for accuracy.  Since you can’t read what the placard says on 80% of the P&W nozzles, even at 1/1 scale, I wasn’t too worried about 1/32 scale.  I ruled out paint masks because you can’t fix flaws and paint bleed without making a mess, so I used some Aluminum ANYZ decal film that I’ve used many times before, but in other colors like black, red and yellow.  While I was at it, I bought some new hose clamp film that will come in very handy with my next build, which is likely the 1/24 Airfix Spitfire Mk IX, if my new JetMads 1/32 AJ37 Viggin doesn’t call me to another jet! 
 

 
After carefully cutting the aluminum decal film, applying the “placards” and spraying a dull coat, this is what you get.  Like I said, the placards are a bit too shiny and pronounced, but I think the overall look is still an improvement on overall accuracy.  I’ll see if I can dull them up a bit without wrecking them, but at this stage I’m really getting tired of showing this nozzle time and time again, which is entirely self-induced!
 

 
On to other things….
 
Cheers,
Chuck

April 9/24
 
Lots of small updates, but mostly an introduction to 7 different after-market items you might not be aware of for this and the Block 50 kit.
 
First some housekeeping, to remove that panel line around the AOA probe on both sides of the nose cone.  While it’s usually stained this way due to the protective cap that's placed over the probe when parked, it isn’t a real panel line, so I want to remove it. Same thing holds true for the Tamiya F-15 kits.
 

 
This kit has a removable nose cone to show off the radar stuff like the Block 50 kit, but it doesn’t have the radar screen anyway, so it should be glued into place instead.  The nose cone join isn’t very strong as a result, so to reinforce the join I glued Part F-35 to the nose cone first, then a styrene spacer from scrap that was sanded down to size to fill the gap behind it.  I used thick CA glue to weld it to the metal weight at the front, which gives you about 5 minutes to wiggle it around to get the best fit from all sides and angles with ordinary Tamiya ETC applied around the margin.
 

 
The nose cone join was then sanded down where needed, with eroded fastener detail restored with the usual tools to do so, like a Mega Tool for the big fasteners.  For the AOA probes I cut off, I’m using Master brass replacements which I’ve used a few times before on my other jets.  I think they really “kick them up a notch”.
 

 
The other side.  These probes fit into small holes that I drilled, so I can leave them off until the end of the build.
 

 

 
Another addition to this build is Kopecky horizontal stabilizers, which I heard about from our friend Marcel about 18 months ago, so I ordered a set for this future model.  The Kopecky resin I’ve used so far is excellent and probably on par with ResKit, which is saying a lot!  The service is excellent and their website is here:
 
Kopecky Website
 
This set comes with nice subtle rivet detail, but if you want almost no rivets, they now make a smoother version (32028).  Although most of these stabilizers are quite smooth, there are a few where you can clearly see the rivets like on Page 30 of Jake’s book, so I’m happy to stick with these instead.  As usual, trying to photograph this snow-white plastic is a real struggle, but next to this dark resin, it’s even tougher.  As you probably know, those moon craters next to the stab axle on the kit parts are way too deep, while the Kopecky rivets are at the surface where they should be.
 

 

 
The Kopecky stabs also have really nice recessed hollow internal detail that is missing from the kit.
 

 
Even if you don’t care for the resin stabs, you should buy this kit for the super fine brass static wicks that come with it, also made by Master.  The kit one in the middle sure looks crude and chunky when set next to them.
 

 

 
As an added bonus, there’s enough wicks for the vertical stabilizer and the rear tips of the wings.  The little resin wick holders fit the kit parts perfectly.
 

 
While we’re looking at the vertical stab, that top panel line at the front should be filled and rivet detail added, while a static wick should be added, right behind the top light assembly that will be added later.
 

 
Kopecky also makes really nice LAU-129 missiles rails, which thankfully come in a set of 4, because you’ll need all of them.
 

 
And a really detailed center-line pylon, which comes in two parts, just like the real deal.
 

 

 
This will be added at the end of the build, along with the landing gear cover piece it attaches to, Part C27.  It looks so good from the bottom, I may not add the fuel tank, so that you can see all the work I did in the landing gear bay unobstructed.
 

 
I have struggled for years to find a decent ACMI pod, because up until recently, the only resin ones available were poorly made and it’s hard to keep up with all the new versions that seem to come out every second year.  Here’s the one on my subject, which I took in 2022.
 

 
Thanks to 3D printing, we now have a few good options, like Phase Hanger Resin (1 ordered) and a new aftermarket supplier I found in the UK, Bandit Resin Factory.  This supplier doesn’t have a full website yet, but they do have a Facebook presence, where you can see some of their products and contact the owner below, who will send you his catalogue.
 
Bandit Resin Factory (Facebook)
 
Apparently the ACMI pod above is a “Type E”, so I ordered 2 of them so that I had a spare for the stash.  This is the nicest ACMI pod I’ve ever seen and it even comes with decals.  Highly recommended!
 

 
I also bought a travel pod that I’ve never seen before, which is also excellent with a door that opens.  I didn’t open it yet, because I’m not likely to use it on this particular jet.
 

 
As mentioned before, the front flaps on F-16’s rest a few degrees in the upward position when parked for some reason.
 

 
So I decided to cement mine in permanently now, just in case I struggled with the fit and angle later.  With a microbrush holding up the flaps while the glue dried, they seem to be roughly correct.
 

 
Rear flaps were attached as well, but these ones can still move up and down.
 

 
The next aftermarket parts I used were the CrossDelta external reinforcement plates that I showed earlier, which for Block 25 and Block 32 Vipers have the “lawnmower blades” to reinforce the vertical stabilizer base and the big 5-piece plate at the wing root to reinforce the fuel tanks.  Tamiya includes a decal set to replicate these plates, but they are too thin and the rivet detail won’t show, unless you leave them unpainted white.  I thought these CrossDelta plates would be metalized plastic, but they are actually made from real metal and are self adhesive.
 

 
Tough to see on the white plastic, but this is where they belong based upon the instructions and Jake’s book (P. 23).
 

 
Since they are super glossy and metal, I scuffed them up a bit with 1000# sandpaper to help with paint adhesion, which isn’t too rough to leave scratch marks.  I will need to use a metal primer as well if I want the paint to stick.
 

 
Not in the CrossDelta instructions or in Jake’s book, Block 25’s like my subject have a small reinforcement strap just below the canopy hinge on both sides, so I cut up one of the bigger plates to create 2 of them.  Since they are so small, I wicked a little thin CA glue underneath them to hold them securely, then cleaned up the edges with CA glue remover.
 

 
On the starboard side, the strap is just aft of the panel hinge.  I also opened up that tiny vent on the side, which I should have done earlier from behind before the top fuselage Part B28 was cemented into place.
 

 
One thing that’s a little surprising to me with F-16’s is that there’s a small gap at the base of the vertical stabilizer, unlike other jets.
 

 
This small gap is perfect for the very tight fitting kit stabilizer, which is friction fit, so you don’t really need to glue it on, so it can be painted and decaled off the fuselage for ease of handling.  Note that the small air duct on the base was cut off, which Block 25’s don’t have.
 

 
Well that’s it for now, but I thought I would throw out a question that I’ve always wondered about.  If F-16’s have 16 static wicks trailing all the control surfaces, why don’t other fighter jets like F-15’s and F-18’s have them as well?  Hmmmm…….
 
Cheers,
Chuck

Here is my design for the intake interior as it turns and goes into the fuselage. Splitter plate is incorporated into the duct. I was going to design an engine front but you would not be able to see it....so not!
 

 

 

 
Dan

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Thanks everyone!
 
I had read that the parts of this kit are thick, and they definitely are! One plus of the excessive thickness is greater surface area for gluing the parts. 
 
First issue of the kit to deal are the gun port panels. I have the AMS Resin replacement panels, but after comparing the dimensions of the resin replacement panels against the kits panels, I felt the replacement panels would be more work (and frustration) than they would enhance the look. So, I decided to try and improve the kit's gun panels. To fill the gapping holes in the kit's gun panel (on the right), I glued pieces of styrene strips to the backside of the gun panel (on the left). I think this simple fix helps tremendously. I did the same for the right side once I saw how it improved the appearance. This next step for improving the gun panel was taking a drill bit and routing the gun ports out a bit to improve their shape. 
 
 
 
After completing the gun panels, it was closing up the machine gun panels. Not a fan of open panels. The panel fit wasn't bad. The only issue was a slight warpage to them, but nothing that was too difficult to deal with.


 
Next up will be the wing assembly and the wing tanks.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Mike

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Thanks everyone!
 
I had read that the parts of this kit are thick, and they definitely are! One plus of the excessive thickness is greater surface area for gluing the parts. 
 
First issue of the kit to deal are the gun port panels. I have the AMS Resin replacement panels, but after comparing the dimensions of the resin replacement panels against the kits panels, I felt the replacement panels would be more work (and frustration) than they would enhance the look. So, I decided to try and improve the kit's gun panels. To fill the gapping holes in the kit's gun panel (on the right), I glued pieces of styrene strips to the backside of the gun panel (on the left). I think this simple fix helps tremendously. I did the same for the right side once I saw how it improved the appearance. This next step for improving the gun panel was taking a drill bit and routing the gun ports out a bit to improve their shape. 
 
 
 
After completing the gun panels, it was closing up the machine gun panels. Not a fan of open panels. The panel fit wasn't bad. The only issue was a slight warpage to them, but nothing that was too difficult to deal with.


 
Next up will be the wing assembly and the wing tanks.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Mike

I'm joining this GB with the Kinetic F-86F-30 and AM. Not pictured is a AMS cockpit set for this kit. Somehow I've mis-placed the instructions for the set, but I've reached out to BiggTim for an assist. I also have several AM decal options to chose from, but I haven't made a decision on what plane I want to do. 
 

 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Mike
 
 

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Thanks everyone!
 
I had read that the parts of this kit are thick, and they definitely are! One plus of the excessive thickness is greater surface area for gluing the parts. 
 
First issue of the kit to deal are the gun port panels. I have the AMS Resin replacement panels, but after comparing the dimensions of the resin replacement panels against the kits panels, I felt the replacement panels would be more work (and frustration) than they would enhance the look. So, I decided to try and improve the kit's gun panels. To fill the gapping holes in the kit's gun panel (on the right), I glued pieces of styrene strips to the backside of the gun panel (on the left). I think this simple fix helps tremendously. I did the same for the right side once I saw how it improved the appearance. This next step for improving the gun panel was taking a drill bit and routing the gun ports out a bit to improve their shape. 
 
 
 
After completing the gun panels, it was closing up the machine gun panels. Not a fan of open panels. The panel fit wasn't bad. The only issue was a slight warpage to them, but nothing that was too difficult to deal with.


 
Next up will be the wing assembly and the wing tanks.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Mike

I'm joining this GB with the Kinetic F-86F-30 and AM. Not pictured is a AMS cockpit set for this kit. Somehow I've mis-placed the instructions for the set, but I've reached out to BiggTim for an assist. I also have several AM decal options to chose from, but I haven't made a decision on what plane I want to do. 
 

 
Thanks for looking in.
 
Mike
 
 

I was contracted by a gentlemen to make a custom B-24 model for his fiancé, in honor of her grandfather:
 
Claude J. Bouchard Sr - Ball Turret Gunner
761 BS - 460 BG - 15 AF - U.S.A.A.C.
Based in Spinazzola, Italy - 1944 - 1945
 
Claude was a lifelong resident of West Haven, CT, so eventually I will need to build this 24 in 1/72nd for the Hometown Heroes display I curate at the local air museum. 
 

 
 
 
Thankfully the client had photos to go along with the project. Which made it alot easier to remake his plane, B-24J - 44-48998 known as: “Dinah Might“.
 


 
Eagle eyed viewers will notice the inboard cowling was not painted, which is something I wanted to replicate but the client wanted it to look newer / less hodge podge. They decided on the reliable 1/48th scale Monogram kit. Since its a late war Ford built 24, I  purchased an aftermarket kit to convert the airframe. I also decided to commit to the process of subassembly, and try and finish as many simple "fun" things to do while I languished and suffered with the more tedious / difficult parts of the build. So I started with the wings...
 
  And then the cowlings. Which I had to repaint with a more accurate insignia red color.      Ands then the tails...     Before I knew it, the wings were basically done.     While I slowly started to tackle the most difficult part of the build, the fuselage, I kept up with the subassemblies...     Before long the landing gear was finished and installed...     Along with the tail...     I had originally painted the rear fuselage a yellow zinc chromate, that would have been okay for early D model Liberators, but then I decided to repaint it to bare aluminum. I was in awe of how much weight I had to keep adding in the nose area to get her to sit on her damn nose wheel!       Cockpit with custom dividing wall for in-between Flight Engineer / Top Turret gunner area, life raft seat cushions, and masking tape seat belts.     Fuselage finally buttoned up, puttied, sanded, and painted. Modifications I had to make were cutting of the original nose and getting this vacuform Ford nose to seat correctly, cut out the side nose navigator / bombardier windows and add vacuform square windows, enlarge / square up the waist gun windows and add vacuform square windows, and remove the waist side wind guard spoilers. I opted to use the kit gun turrets instead of the resin / vacuform ones since I wanted to deliver this model to the client sometime this year.       Being a graphic designer, I was able to find enough resource material to accurately recreate Dinah Might's nose art, as well as the two black panthers on either side of the nose, and the red "D" adorned on the rear fuselage. I had to print everything on clear decal paper, and a couple on white.     I always skip the primer stage and I always end up paying for it! Once the silver was dry I had to touch up some spots with more putty and sanding, before hitting it with primer, doing it again, and then finally the silver coat to seal it all in. Once the silver was dry and I hit the ground running with my decals.     Once I had the first nose art decal in place, I had a second decal of just the girl printed on white. I carefully cut out around her as best I could and then overlaid her on top of the transparent version.      Before I knew it I had the painted / touched up the fuselage, weathered it, and clear coated it. Then it was on to final assembly!     And the final result!       Hope you enjoyed this build! Shouldn't have taken 6 months from start to finish but, as always life and gets in the way!   

Before I started working on the wings and drop tanks, I figured I better get a sense of what challenges I was going to have installing the resin cockpit. After cutting off the pour blocks and doing a bit of sanding and shaving of parts, I dry fitted the cockpit into the fuselage, and the fit of the cockpit is very good.
 


 
I'm going to work on the resin gunsight coaming next. A little plastic surgery is need to remove the kit coaming, and hopefully, the resin replacement will drop right in.
 
Thanks for looking in on my build.
 
Mike 

Thanks everyone!
 
I had read that the parts of this kit are thick, and they definitely are! One plus of the excessive thickness is greater surface area for gluing the parts. 
 
First issue of the kit to deal are the gun port panels. I have the AMS Resin replacement panels, but after comparing the dimensions of the resin replacement panels against the kits panels, I felt the replacement panels would be more work (and frustration) than they would enhance the look. So, I decided to try and improve the kit's gun panels. To fill the gapping holes in the kit's gun panel (on the right), I glued pieces of styrene strips to the backside of the gun panel (on the left). I think this simple fix helps tremendously. I did the same for the right side once I saw how it improved the appearance. This next step for improving the gun panel was taking a drill bit and routing the gun ports out a bit to improve their shape. 
 
 
 
After completing the gun panels, it was closing up the machine gun panels. Not a fan of open panels. The panel fit wasn't bad. The only issue was a slight warpage to them, but nothing that was too difficult to deal with.


 
Next up will be the wing assembly and the wing tanks.
 
Thanks for looking in.
Mike

Hello, all.  For this group build, I decided to do something a little off the beaten path.  I'd considered a couple different fighters in the stash that would be applicable, but ended up deciding on the B-24J that'd been sitting on my shelf of doom for years.  I think I originally bought it as a COVID project and, to the SoD it went after something else happened to catch my attention.
 
I typically don't like to do any of the markings included with kits as they often tend to be overdone.  And, with access to a mask cutter and decal printing paper, I usually like to try to do something unique.  To that effect, I've spent the better part of the evening scouring Joe Baugher's USAF serial number lists and b24bestweb.com trying to determine which ship to build and have ultimately landed on Nan.
 
If you're at all familiar with the B-24, you know that it still holds the title of the most produced heavy bomber aircraft in history.  As such, the modeler is left with a dizzying array of options and combinations as to what may or may not be appropriate for a particular build.  Best I can tell - and I make no claims to be a B-24 expert - the kit really won't make any B-24 correctly.  (This is, of course, ignoring the wing shape and other form issues.)  My primary criteria in my search were the nose window and turret configurations, and nothing I could find quite matched the layout of this kit.  Either a ship would have the right window layout with the wrong turret, or vice versa.
 
So, we're going to grit our teeth and do the best we can with what we've got.
 
Here's the subject ship.  She's B-24J-55-CO s/n 42-99949, nicknamed Naughty Nan.  On the right side of the nose, there's a Vargas pinup girl whose head has been chopped off in favor of ad hoc armor plating (See here).  She was lost in a mid-air collision with another B-24 on September 21st, 1944 over Belgium.  According to the Missing Air Crew Report, 5 of the 9 crew went down with the ship.

 
The most glaring issues between this a/c and the kit are the facts that the kit calls for an Emerson forward turret and also has side windows next to the bombardier's windows.  The latter are easy enough to smooth over.  The former, however, is a bit of a twist... but I think I have a halfway acceptable plan.
 
Here's what I'm working with so far.


 
Obviously, I haven't done a whole lot yet, but the build has been pain free.  It's a huge, chunky kit, but it seems to be going together fairly well.



 
As you can see, I have oodles of aftermarket to lipstick up this pig, including both an Emerson nose turret and a A6C turret from Cold War Studios.  Our subject ship has an A6C in the nose as well as the tail.  Technically, I have two A6Cs if I include the split-down-the-middle tail turret from the kit.  So, in an effort not to spend more money on more lipstick, I'm going to try to use the kit turret for the tail and the CWS A6C for the nose.  Crossing my fingers here that everything works out because I'm not yet sure if the guts of the Emerson turret from the kit will fit the A6C turret.  (See here for a lengthy discussion.  Bonus points for my giddy naivete in the 3rd post)

 
For Naughty Nan, the window aft of the bombardier's sighting glass will need to go.

 
And so it shall be done.  Plated off with a little plastic card.



 
Rivets around the area are filled with liquid sprue.  Once that's cured, I'll fill the recesses for the windows inside and out with epoxy putty and sand them smooth.

 
So, that's where we're at.  Time to finally get this going.  As I'm not doing any figures or ground work, I expect this build to go pretty quickly, so stay tuned!

Some goodies arrived in the post this week.  
 
The kit has some ok representations of most antennae to install, but the Total Air Temperature (TAT) probe suffers from a rather inconveniently placed ejector pin mark.  This extremely small part installs into a keyed opening on the lower fuselage.  
 

 
There is no way I want to try and clean this up - lost one in my first attempt, and not planning on trying again.
 

 
Seeing the boom in 3D printed parts emerging from small and large businesses alike, turning to Google gave me a partial answer to my problem initially - it did not look like anyone made a replacement.  I found PK Productions (Pascal) listing a TAT and Air Data Probe set and reached out to see how to find them.  He passed on that Wolf 3D Resin produced the parts, so I dropped an order.  A couple of weeks later, the trip from Austria concluded, and here we are.  He produces several sets for the F-14, F-15, F-16, and F-18 along with what appears to be a growing inventory and varied subjects.  
 

 
These are very well printed, and super sharp in detail.  As a bonus, a better-looking Air Data Probe will also be used.
 

 
These are razor thin - and carry incredible detail.
 

 
One-inch squares on the cutting mat for a good size comparison.  
 

 
As I eluded to in an earlier post, I prepared for this in advance by drilling out the keyed opening to 2mm and placed a backer to ensure the replacement could be installed at the very end.  This will allow the entire probe to have a natural metal finish including the round base - and be installed at the very end.  The current depth is a bit too deep to account for a small amount of epoxy to fill the gap on installation.
 

 
The Air Data Probe fits quite well on the nose also and will get the same treatment as the TAT for installation.  Pre-paint, and installed at the end.
 

 
Goal is to squirt some paint on the intake and start gluing some larger parts together.   We shall see how the weekend treats the bench.
 
Thanks for checking in.
 
 

Hi, everyone.  I guess it's time to get my membership card to the Kotare Klub as there seem to be about a million of these in the WIP forum right now. 
 
Since finishing my Corsair diorama, which took months, I wanted a quick, straight forward build as something of a palate cleanser.  My son said he thought it'd be neat if I did a Spitfire, I had the Kotare Mk Ia (mid) kit in the stash, I've never build a British aircraft before, and so, fate was decided.
 
I departed from my usual MO of recreating an historical photograph and decided to just do a fictional, but feasible scene.  I've wanted to depict battle damage on an aircraft since I was kid, but never really had the skills or practice till now.  So, being that this kit has a low parts count and went together really nicely, I decided it would be a good platform to try my hand at damage.  I thinned the interior plastic walls with a low rpm rotary tool, carefully punched and pried holes in the weakened area, then painted and streaked the area to look the part.
 
Aside from the rigging wire (EZ-line), figures (Black Dog Resin, out of the box), and the base (el cheapo panel board), the kit is presented out of the box.  I even used the decals in lieu of my usual gig of cutting masks and painting.  This experience reminded me that I'm way out of practice working with large decals, but after a few minor scares, they turned out okay.
 
This is a Spitfire Mk Ia of 610 Squadron sometime in the summer of 1940 before it was damaged beyond repair that August.
 
"Bit of a rough go today, eh, chap?"




 















 














 

Good morning to all
 
I would like to share with you my super detailed cutaway of the old Airfix 1:24 scale Ju87B.
I just love this kit and decided that I wanted to do something a little different.  I wanted to make a cutaway of the Starboard side plus the wing. After searching dear old Google for hours to get some sort of info I started.
I built this many years ago and sold it on, so the photos are from way back! ....so apologies for the quality of them!
 
I haven't been active on here for a long time as I have moved back to the UK from Bulgaria.. so I do hope I remember how to load the photos! 
 
Cheers......................
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 
Thanks a lot for taking a look!
 
Cheers
 
Fozzy