Fanes

The engine Inbetween finishing up the Zipper and a lot of stuff at work the Wildcat's engine recieved some paint. Alclad Aluminium for the cylinders, Tamiya black for the push rods and Gunze H308 (should be close to engine grey) for the crankcase. The next task can be seen right in the background: the ignition. I added the one piece spark plugs from Anyz and the braided line 'copper' - well more like yellowish brass Since the engine isn't really visible once the cowling and prop are on, this was used as a testbed for future builds. What w

New windscreen in place! Well it's there now. Fit isn't perfect but at this point it was way too risky to wrestle it into a perfectly smooth fit. Afterwards I started adding all the small stuff and big stuff like the drop tanks. Here's a quick shot from the bench. I really need to look for a photo backdrop for this big beauty

Little too late Derek. I saw your response about 10mins after applying the CA. Sanding after around one hour was okayish and drilling the rivets with a 0.35 mm bit worked a charm. Not perfect but much better now. Next up: repainting the inside dark gull grey and the outside with RAL 7012!

Thanks Aaron - that reminds to revisit my Spitfire build Just a quick update today: The F4F-4 features an intercooler and therefore has two scoops in the cowling. Trumpy added two lumps to the clear cowling but no ducting. I added the duct on the right side from styrene More to come soon!

Fantastic idea Rainer! I'll try that after filling the odd rivets with CA.

Rescued from the SoD After a long wait and quite a lot of money for a small sprue, the replacement clear parts from Italeri have arrived. I was playing with the idea to redo the canopies as well since they have some mishaps on the frame but the replacement parts were horribly distorted. Luckily the windshield was okay so out with the Tamiya tape And quickly afterwards Alclad's black primer The rivet detail on this part is really odd. They are really inconsistent and even disappear completely on the lower frame. Wth? I just checked my butc

Max, will your masks find their way over to scalemodelpaintmasks? Asking for a friend Joachim

Yes and no - I guess. Yes, the kit's engine is quite basic and there seems to be a replacemenct from Vector (which is more expensive than the Trumpy kit). On the other hand not much will be seen through the cowl.. Just had another look at it: https://northstarmodels.com/product/132-pratt-whitney-r-1830-86-engine-vector-resin-32-009/ What a beautiful beast - don't make me pull the trigger on this one. Good question, Alex! My first plan was to try a butt joint . The one piece spark plugs are incredibly tiny and fragile. They might even break if there's a drill ju

The engine Behold, he's not starting with the cockpit! I wanted to tackle the hard bits up first. Since the cockpit is practically invisible no super detailling will happen there. First bits assembled: What have we here? The ignition ring had some nasty ejector pin marks. I thought that was an exclusive of the brand with a name close to Sh*tty Maug. What would I do without my punch and die set? The ignition ring only features 26 connectors for the 28 spar plugs. Made two from stretched sprue. The push rods are a nightmare. They're around 0,5

I would add Anyz spark plugs and braided lines for the ignition harness to the kit's engine

It's time to start something new! With the Rata done and in the books (have to do the RFI photos!), the Zipper waiting for its replacement windscreen (should arrive in a week) and the photo recon Spitfire waiting for the Mojo to come back, this group build is a perfect oppurtunity to another small project inbetween. I had to choose between three Navy subjects in the Stash: Trumpeter TBM-3 Avenger: as an ASW Avenger in the cool looking dark grey over white camo - everything but a small project ICM's Sea Gladiator - tough choice but I'll postpone my first biplane

Eye candy it is!

Thanks for the clarification Brad! Now I have to choose between the Sea Gladi, a Wildcat and the Avenger

Would a Malta based Sea Gladiator apply to the GB's theme?

Finally - the finish line Well, one week too late but I'm finally happy with the result. I'll take more pictures soon if the lighting is less harsh. Enjoy: