BiggTim

Mal, As others have said, I would be more than happy to offer up my LG after you get back from your break. I am seriously considering an in flight model anyway, so I may not need it. Taking a break is an awesome idea, I do that frequently myself. I go fishing, work on my car, the house, come back with renewed energy later. Any help you need to get this done, you've got, just ask. If you decide to walk away from this one for good, I'm sure someone here would be happy to finish such a nice build and display it. I know I would! Good luck, my friend! Tim PS: I installed the gear too early on my P-38, and snapped the front gear off after a ton of work. Pissed me off, and it's been benched since, so I know your pain. I will go back to it eventually, though.

That mask is great! How did you do the straps?

Dang it, now you've got me wanting to build another one.....very nicely done!!

Good on ya, mate!

Every time I see one of these monsters, it makes me want to try 1/24!! Very nice!

I actually wasn't planning to bring it with me to McMinnville, as it has a LOT of detail problems from when I first started it many years ago, so it would not be worth competing with. Maybe if they have a "display only" section, I suppose that might be possible.

Oh man, I am totally right there with you!!!

Thanks all, much appreciated!

Very impressive, my friend!

Sure, Kev, go for it! And thanks for the kind words.

This one shows the rivets nicely: and one more for the road!! It was fun, hope you all enjoy! Tim

Round two, some detailed photos:

I actually started this kit somewhere around 10-12 years ago, and had big dreams of super detailing and the like. But after fits and starts for a few years, I got overwhelmed by the all the scribing and gun bays, etc., and shelved it indefinitely. Last year, when I re-joined this forum, I was inspired by many of the builds I saw, and decided I should resurrect it. Then I bought my first Tamiya kit (Corsair), and decided to use this kit as "practice" for some of the techniques I have learned here, so I could use them on the Corsair when the time comes. A quick run-down on the particulars: Hasegawa F6F-5E Night Fighter kit # St-101 (built as F6F-3 standard fighter) Eduard's old, small PE set for a few cockpit details and a couple of tail wheel parts Master gun barrels from Victory Models a mix of Montex paint masks and Techmod Decals Mr Surfacer 1500 gray primer Alclad II Duraluminum basecoat (for chipping) Model Masters enamels (airbrushed) Model Masters clearcoats (rattle can gloss base for decals, flat with airbrush) RB seatbelts Scratchbuilt,: - most of the pit, except for a few PE parts and a few kit parts spruced up - tail wheel, except for PE arms with holes, doors were my first try at using brass sheet - gear bays - didn't go too crazy here, just some ribs and stuff, wiring and tubing, drilled out the kit wheels to make them look better - added a bunch of wiring and some aluminum tubing exhaust pipes to the engine Weathering: - really wanted to see if the chipping technique I learned on Doogs website would work with enamels instead of acrylics, so after priming (with gray, not black) I put down a coat of Alclad and then hairspray, then color. I chose not to paint the yellow primer. I found that window cleaner and a toothbrush did a pretty fair job of chipping the blue off, so I went with that - learned a really cool thing about rivets - if you scribe, then prime, then sand smooth, then poke your rivet lines with a compass needle in a pin vise, then paint over them, you can lightly wet sand the whole plane w/ 1200 grit after the glosscoat, and the rivets will show up very slightly. Maybe you all knew that, but I didn't! Worked out great, very subtle. - all pf the shading was done with pastel chalk and a stiff paint brush after painting, before final matte coat. So, here is round one:

Considering I just finished my HaseCat last night, that would be par for the course! Pics coming soon.

I am definitely going to hold out for the tamiya kit, it just looks fantastic!

I still have mine. It's in my daughter's room on her shelf. I have effectively raised a couple of genuine Star Wars nerds, even took them to Celebration 7 in Anaheim back in April.

Come on, man! If you really want them to make one, just get started on that puppy! We all know that right about the time it's all scribed and ready for paint, someone will roll out the kit.

Amen to that, Bill. I enjoy a bit of scratching, and would do a lot more of it if I had more free time. Since I don't, I would happily use a LOT more quality AM if I had the cash. As it is, I stick to using it only for things I can't effectively scratch, or don't want to spend the time on. Life is definitely a balance, eh?

Boy, that's nice! I sure wanna do that kit sometime!

I hear you Bill. Having broken down and bought the Tamiya Corsair, I have decided that will save up and buy only the Tamiya version of a plane if one exists, BUT, I really like many of the Hase offerings. I do not always feel the need to correct all the faults with AM, so the lower price and less complexity is really attractive to me and my budget. I like to scratch build a little bit and add some detail of my own, but that's usually it. While clearly not always the "best" they could be, I would go as far as to say that Hasegawa has proven to be my favorite 1/32 kit MFR overall. Tim

I've had that happen, too. I'd say yes, the pieces should bond well with the new stuff, but I can't guarantee that they will align as well you're hoping so the best I can say is to give it a shot. What do you have to lose, right? If works, then you saved a bit of mold rubber. If it doesn't, then you wasted some. All of who've tried resin casting have wasted a bunch learning the process. Tim

Very nicely done my friend!! May I ask what seat belts you used?

Come visit the Pacific NW USA my friend! It's 103 F today, and for the next 5 days, at least. Like December in the outback, eh?

I gotta ask...FOD?

I'm glad you guys cleared that up before I spent any time on it. I'm gluing mine up as well!