tucohoward

Just started on mine as well. Jay

Hi Vlad. The Aires cockpit seems fine to me. I have used them as well as the MDC which is also very good. Personally I never do anything with the wheel wells as I don’t think anyone really looks at them. One of the most common upgrades people do is the spinner. Since you are in Russia I would check out A.M.U.R. Reaver. BarracudaCast also makes a really nice one. One of things I always use is RB Production seatbelts. I think they make a huge difference. There is a ton of good AM for that kit. Good luck, Jay

That’s a while ago but I can’t imagine it would have been anything but Mr. Color. Jay

I freehand them as I do all the rivet spacing. After doing thousands you get the amount you need to move programmed into your wrist. If you are off slightly no one will notice anyway. Jay

Fantastic result, Peter! Really well done all around. You definitely have the Mr. Color mastered. Jay

Thanks, Peter. I am glad Mr. Color is working so well for you. Really great paint. Jay

I thought I would try one of these before I get back to repairs on the Mosquito. I followed Gaz's build so I knew what to look for and pay attention going in. Very enjoyable build overall. Lots to like but for me the real highlights were the radiator flap mounting and the main landing gear and wheels/tires. Both for their very secure mounting methods and assured perfect alignment. The decals are much thinner than previous Tamiya issue and were used throughout. The only thing I really didn't like was the decal seatbelt harness. I used it because I went into this planning to build it with whatever came in the box, but would definitely use AM if I build another one. Jay

Hi Martin, I use MM Acryl clears over Mr. Color all the time. Not sure if that's what you are speaking of. Mr. Color is fantastic paint. Jay

Hi Gaz, the mottling looks good but still a little too hard-edged to me. Have you thought about or tried just going back with some 76 afterwards to get rid of the unwanted overspray? Just a thought. I am at the painting stage on mine and definitely your tips on this thing. Yes, a lot of masking if you do the opened up version. Jay

Thanks, Gaz, for doing this thread. I just started throwing a Tamiya 109 together last night so now I know what to look out for. It's been a while since I have done a 109 in this scale. Seems very small. I have liked everything about it so far except the seatbelt decal. Used it anyway as I am building it straight OOB. Really hope they do one in 1/32. Jay

Great job on a very interesting scheme! Jay

Thanks a lot everyone! In the end I decided to just use the Master barrels and close up the nose gun bay. I didn't think I was going to get a good fit of all the pieces without gluing them and I like the lines of the nose closed up better anyway. I thought I would do a little painting last night but felt good so I just kept going and did all the camo. This morning I continued with markings using the excellent Maketar mask set for this kit. Really nice set that gives all the markings from the kit decals plus canopy masks and a bunch of other stuff. Highly recommended. All paint is MRP. They even have specific RAF marking colors. Of course now I have just noticed a seam visible on top of the fuselage so have to fix that. Doh!!! Jay

Hair dryer is an essential tool. For me I throw out any kit that's not going well or isn't turning out like I envisioned. Anything that's stealing my enjoyment of the hobby. Sometimes it stings for a minute but then you feel the weight lifted off of you. I tossed a WNW DVII. Just wasn't feeling it and had some issues. Life is too short. Sometimes builds just don't go your way and I can accept that. I don't force it just because it cost X dollars. I guess what I am trying to say is for me it's usually things not going well that cause a loss of mojo, not that I have ever lost interest in the hobby. Jay

Awesome result, Rick!! Very nice indeed. Jay

Thanks, fellows! Pace has slowed a bit as my wife is back from Italy and I was away most of last weekend at MosquitoCon, IPMS New Jersey's event. Nice show and fortunately I picked up a set of Master barrels for this since when I got back I couldn't locate the kit part for the cannon barrels. Glued them to styrene rod, painted, and installed. Also finally assembled this stand. Saw a number guys here using them and got one a few years ago but never really needed it. Very helpful with the size of this plane. Jay