AlbertD

Hey Chuck, it's looking great. It's obvious that you take the detail to heart. I also agree that having a build log with the talented people here looking in and commenting makes me a better modeler.

Thanks guys. I'll just go with the light grey underside color and dirty them up a bit.

As I'm painting parts for my Birdcage Corsair I was wondering if there might be any chipping or rubbing inside the wheel wells? I was thinking with the plane flying inverted or doing tight turns during a dogfight or whatever the wheels might rub and bump around inside. I can never find pix of these old planes showing that area.

I have learned that I am rarely disappointed if I have low enough expectations. In the case of Tamiya releasing a LSP any time soon I have very low expectations.

The cockpit is finished and fitted. The fitting to the fuselage was very easy. It was just a matter of removing the ribs from the inside of the fuselage sides and it closes right up. When you hear people say that these newer Tamiya kits are the best they have ever build you can believe them. The detail and fit are amazing. Here are the latest pictures.

They are a great company with great people. Glad everyone is ok. They have plenty of popular products and great service. I'm sure they do pretty well even in these tough times. They will bounce right back.

Thank you Duke. I will give it a try. I think I will practice first before I use it on a real build though. It sounds easy enough though.

Nice start. The WnW Albatros is a great kit.

Your engine looks amazing. May I ask the paints and chipping method you used on the zinc chromate frame around the engine? It's some of the most realistic I have seen.

What a great advertisement that would be for Sherman Williams. "We sell the only house paint that can stand up to mach 2 speeds and multiple carrier landings in foul weather".

Air shows were great back in the day. I used to go to the shows at NAS Point Mugo in Southern California every year. The F-14's would fire missiles right in front of the crowd out toward the ocean. In those days you could do a real up close walk around of the latest planes too. They would let kids sit in the cockpits. I use to love the rumble of the jet engines in the pit of my stomach.

I like it. Very nice.

I agree with Dave. Some are nice and others look real plasticy. Now that I have gotten the hang of it I like the PE panels with holes for the dials and the instruments sandwiched between. Put a drop of clear gloss for the glass and they look pretty realistic to me. I need to try a Yahu panel yet.

Sorry to see the issues with the paint. I had the same issue with the Alclad gloss black primer not really curing well. I started using MRP Super Gloss Black under Alclad. It dries hard in just a couple of hours and Alclad goes over it very well. It also goes on thin and levels out great. Any specks can be sanded out and re-sprayed and it blends right in.

Usually nothing. It's the only time I get real peace and quiet with no distractions.

Very nice cockpit.

Beautiful Zero. Thanks for posting it.

What do you guys think about the level of chipping and dirt? This is going to be a land based plane from about mid 1943 so it would be well used. I don't think I want to make it much dirtier but I could clean it up a bit if needed. Of course the pictures are way bigger then the parts. It's about ready to start putting together. It will still need some wires and other little details. I hope to have the cockpit done this week then I can start working on some kit plastic. I can't wait.

I would bet it's somewhere in the postal system. I ordered something from a place in New York. It was shipped to my hub in Seattle, then it went to the next town over from me then back to Seattle then to Tennessee then back to Seattle and I finally got it a couple of weeks later than I expected it. At least it was just hobby stuff and not some urgent medical supply. This time of the year can be really bad for packages.

It's really not a bad kit, especially for its age. The Vector engine set really does make the kit though.

Nice work so far on a great subject.

I hope he lives long enough to build all of them.

Just a real quick update. I made a bit of progress on the cockpit. As I said before the detail is really nice. Another thing is how amazingly well the Barracuda Cals decals go down. Just one application of Micro Sol and they lay right down over the details and look great. Right now the panels in this picture have no clear coat.

It's all yours as soon as I'm sure the Eduard set will work which I'm 99.9% sure it will. Looking at the Tamiya parts it looks like it's almost as detailed as the Eduard stuff. One thing I'm seeing though is that the Tamiya parts are a comprises to use the same parts with the F4U-1A kit. The Eduard set is Birdcage specific.

Thanks. I have no idea if it would fit. If you want to find out I would be happy to send you the kit cockpit sprue once I get the Eduard fuselage fitted. The Eduard kit did use a couple of the small kit parts though. Just a couple of little knobs and levers. All I would ask is for you to cover shipping costs.