Rick K

Possibility of replacing screw heads does exist. TBD Not sure about a light. Certainly giving it some thought.

This build has special meaning to me. A Christmas gift from my son. Sat in my stash for 2 years. A few reminders recently...here we are. Finally. Lots of aftermarket surprise, surprise. EagleCal decals, Barracuda wheels, Eduard PE, Ultracast Prop, Vector "Turtleback", Vector Cowling detail and HGW belts. Yup, gonna be a "clipped" wing bird. I discovered there are about 3 different measures used on RAF FAA Corsairs of course I cannot locate the source and I did not save the link. I went with 8" clip each wing. A piece of sheet styrene closes the tip. Clip job is done.

Tail Boom's 1:1 resin Revi-12 gunsight will provide me with an all resin project clearly testing my skill-sets. I purchased this in 2016. This was a very limited run and to my knowledge are very hard to find. h A little over 2 dozen parts. Lots of cleaning pour stubs and flash. Sunglass support opening up mounting holes with a 1/8" drill. Provided part to fit is 5mm rod and the opening needs some work. I do not have 5mm drill so I used 1/8" drill as I also have 1/8" rod. Hand turned so not to break the part. Lens holder will need opening to allow the lens to fit. Using my Dremel tool I carefully opened up the lens opening. A dampened towel laid out collects all resin debris and dust Perfect lens fit achieved. Pour stub removal on main body. Pad support locator opening is enhanced with 1/8" opening Pad support locator pin on main body is removed and drilled 1/8" opening. 1/8" rod inserted and the pad support is fitted yielding a firm fit. Crash pad dry fitted. All good. Glass holder, lens and crash pad dry dry fit is encouraging. I am learning this build process takes "test fitting" to new level. Gets redundant at times, but very necessary.

Toy airplanes is definitely therapeutic for me. It's a form of mental gymnastics that keeps my intellectual edge relevant. My path to toy airplanes has been a fun journey. I wrote this a few years ago. Enjoy. ------------------------ I remember building my first model with my Dad, late 60's. I was about 10 years old and the kit was Monogram Gulfhawk 2 (F3F). Two things stand out was the retractable landing gear and those big decals on the upper wing. We went on and built Monogram’s Phantom Mustang. The working features just blew my mind. Those were such fun times. The Gulfhawk and Phantom Mustang are in my stash and I plan on building them in the future. Monogram, Revell and Testors (those chrome P51, F8F) were always the kits I was building. I stuck mainly to aircraft with a few moves to ships & boats. Glue oozing out of seams, fogged canopies, brush strokes (sometimes Q-Tips) and backwards decals were my typical finishes. Then around 13, I discovered balsa wood and tissue planes and those Cox 2 stroke internal combustion .049 glow plug engines. Before I knew it, I was all about Control Line flying. It was a life of building, crashing, re-building, crashing…repeat. Combat Flying was the next step. The ease of building one giant wing with a skinny fuselage made repairs and new construction quick and painless. Chasing a 10ft long piece of crepe paper was almost as fun as tangled control lines and spectacular crashes. Touched on model rocketry with the Estes rockets during the Control Line flying days. Gliders and Big Rockets with payload were the choice. We had a launch program called the “Mouse-Mouse Series”. That’s all I’ll say about that with exception after 23 launches there was never a fatal launch. Noting there were several broken eggs during some test launches. After reading my first copy of Scale Modeler Magazine I was ready to return plastic kits. With my Badger bottle fed airbrush with a Co2 tank for air supply I was cranking on 1:72 scale planes. Resurrected my Vac-U-Form for canopies, etc. Scratch building cockpits, gun bays with wire, tape, bent hypodermic needles. I remember my paint selection of choice was lacquer based Floquil. Had this awesome mixing chart for all WWII planes both Allied and Axis. My LHS always let me display my finished kits. I even did several commission builds to help offset my cost for consumables and kits. I was the only kid in the neighborhood who could buy glue without a note from parents. When I discovered Squadron Shop I was doing mail order to the Hazel Park, MI shop on a regular basis for a few years until the Washington, DC (Georgia Ave in Silver Spring, MD) shop opened. I remember chasing down the Postman on my bike to get my Squadron Shop delivery. Every once in awhile I would make the trip to Silver Spring, MD to the Squadron Shop from my hometown Gettysburg, PA with a load of cash and load up on kits. I spent almost every dime I made on models. Like a large percentage of guys the models faded with the interest in Girls, Cars and trips to Maryland (drinking age was 18) there was a college town about 6 miles from my house. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. My interest emerged again in “toy planes” shortly after the birth of our first child in 2005. I began picking up some 21st Century 1:32 scale planes. They were pretty cool. My sales territory was the South East and Mid Atlantic states and I found myself hitting Wal-Mart and Target when possible to pick up the latest release. Amazed these planes were under US$20. My plan was to paint a few and have some fun. Then I heard 21st was going under so I started hoarding as many as I could. I hit a Target in Virginia and picked up 10 planes at USD $4.00 each. After about a year I have almost 80 planes. In 2011 I decided to make a return to modeling so I posted and sold all my 21st Century planes on eBay and was able to finance stacking up on stash, tools and equipment. And here I am playing with toy airplanes again. My Dad passed in 2008 and I inherited a few kits he built in the 1980’s. They were dirty, packed in boxes and covered with soot from years in his smoke filled HAM radio shack. I decided to clean up a TBD-1 he built as a restoration project. After the restoration I was hooked. I am amazed on several points in this hobby: The Internet has provided me with an incredible amount of intel for my return as well as to build friendships on a global scale. Quality of engineering of todays kits Tamiya, Hasegawa, ZM, WNW, etc just blows my mind. Aftermarket…holy crap! PE, Resin Upgrades, Decals and Paints. Now 3D printing! Our local hobby shops have taken a hit due to internet sales. That said, here I am having a blast with my return to my childhood hobby. My kids have given modeling a try with much success. Best is sharing the experience with them. My daughter has no interest in models anymore. She applies what she learned with paints and airbrush with other artistic projects. My son is on and off with building. He’s got a pretty busy schedule with his buddies, ice hockey, tennis and his lawn mowing business. He’s got one WIP on the SOD. He’ll get around to it. I’ll never push him. I’m having a blast with my builds and really enjoy connecting and chatting with other skilled builders. Frequently, I’ll walk away a little smarter after a conversation or text session. Radio Control Planes? Not at this point but will not rule out.

I've won many a bar bet that Hurricanes were the main RAF fighter for BOB. Flew more and downed more Nazi a/c.

I built this immediately after it's release For me I had the following issues: The cowling frame work needs some attention Once I had the side cowling panels installed I removed the top braces got in the way of the top cowling panel. Exhaust has to be installed before buttoning up the fuselage. So I drilled out opening at nose so I could install the exhaust after painting. Pro tip. Make sure the exhaust will fit easily before buttoning up the fuselage. Also had to fill access panel as two panels were stacked. The rear cockpit bulkhead was a horrible fit. I wanted to display canopy opened so I had to do some rebuilding. A little surgery and some plastic card. I added the access door (sorry no pics) using scraps from original kit. Replaced Trim Tabs on stabilizers with plastic card and sanded down the really aggressive raised detail. Here is link to finished build. https://www.largescaleplanes.com/articles/article.php?aid=1904 No WIP post on this as I joined LSP after I finished this...10 years ago. Overall, it was a fun build. Some many fiddly parts on the wings and landing gear. Recommend Eduard Brassin. This was my 2nd build after returning to my childhood hobby after 30+ years off the bench, I've been off the bench for almost 6 months. Life, hockey coaching, teaching my son to golf and sending other kid off to college has taken priority. I'm soon to put my other Revell 109G6 on the bench and convert to 109-H using AlleyCat conversion

Nice to see you step out of your comfort zone with the canopy mask. Ya know good things will happen

Looking good Kev. Nice change up after your Buc 109.

Great working on this stubborn build. Happy you are going to see this through.

A little work on QuickBoost Revi 12 C/D. Fun with tiny acetate cuts. Yup, nice out of focus iPhone pics.

It's been all about my kids these past 6 months. Over 120 practices, over 80 games my kids' ice hockey season is finished. Sometimes at a rink 7 days a week. Spring season begins in 2 weeks. My sons high school ice hockey team are Maryland state champions, his travel team 16u A finished the season with a dominate win with their last tournament of the year. Not to be outdone, my daughter will begin her studies this fall at a DI university (Environmental Geoscience major, Equine studies minor) with a nice merit scholarship $$$. She also earned a spot on the Women's Ice Hockey team roster, #2 goalie. Her new team was 1 win away for a slot at Nationals. But wait there's more! Daughters' HS Equesterian team participated in Interscholastic Equestrian Association Zones daughter will represent her school at IEA Regionals and with a top 3 finish will qualify for Nationals. To say bench time has been a premium has never been so spot on. Regardless, I'm a super proud Dad and would not change a thing. Back to my therapy...the bench. Work on the He100 has been nothing short of a MoJo sapping project. When I get to the point I want to throw this build in the bin, something nice happens and I get a jolt of rejuvenation to keep progressing. Cockpit is all scratch built with an imaginary layout, kinda mimicking a Bf109. Basic pit work competed with wires, spare 3D and PE parts. My prime directive is FICE. Eduard PE pedals always a joy to bend and shape. The canopy is too wide. You may have heard the screams. The fuselage is spread with a 1.0mm card. Sprue Goo is used to fill the gaps. More fun times! Some blending will be required on the windscreen and real bulkhead. Plastic card and Archer resin decal used for the interior real bulkhead.

Thank you for the replies. Ahem, Thomas.... it was a blinding glimpse of the obvious until I realized that was a solder paste tube.

Thanks Mozart. No Solder? Flux paste only?

Hey guys. I'm going to attempt soldering Master FuG220 Brass Antenna. Looking for solder Recommendations/Coaching. Solder Paste? Really thin solder wire? I have Dual Soldering Gun and Soldering Iron from my Archer Kit days. Both are 80's "vintage". Is it time for and upgrade? Thanks - Rick

Awesome finish Kev. The metallic paint, shading is excellent. I cannot imagine a build targeted as a "quick project" turns into a months long trek. Why I never.....

Great finish on this beast. If build angst is anything like the Mk.V kit then a well deserved bravo for pulling it together for a beautiful finish.

Thanks so much Mike. I have those pit images and are helpful. That line drawing is a gem. What is your source for this? I have copy of Hood's "He100 Record Breaker". Some nice reference images and good historical data. Lacking interior interior shots.

No shell ejector chutes on this so more cutting and swearing. Using a reference drawing I locate the shell ejector chute location. And here we go... Drill then cut. MDC ejector chutes are prefect for this. F.I.C.E.

Some work on the pit has been nothing but an interesting journey. I'm raiding my spares bin for detail. White stryene strips place to floor instruments. I seat will be glued to the floor. 30mm cannon cover is an Aires resin for Bf109. The white rods on seat will be used to guide the harness in position. The mount in front of the rod is the trim wheel borrowed from an Bf109. Instrument panel smoothed to accept pe replacement. The Revell IP is almost identical size as the He100. Mount tabs are thin stryene strips for the dashboard comb. There's gonna be plenty of this action through out the fuselage assembly.

Looks like the floor will spread the wing root area. Not perfect but clearly an improvement.

TBD if the cockpit will spread fuselage at wing root. There will be a spreader placed top of fuselage to accommodate the wide canopy.

Between yard work, walking the dog and Ice hockey I had some bench time and the test fit was as expected. Geeze. Stabilizers not spared. and the hits just keep on coming. Lovely lower wing and fuselage join. HORRAY!