Mr Creosote

Gray Matter Figures have a retractable tail wheel. https://www.greymatterfigures.com/

I'm going to suggest the Hasegawa F-6F Hellcat. Its an old kit but even built out of the box its still very nice. Plus it has good bones for a detailed build. These kits can be had a good prices at shows.

I just picked up the Osprey book on the P-61 as well. Scanning the book I noted where the ETO flew with a 2 man crew and the PTO squadrons flew 3 man crews. Even with the fixed "turret" [barbette?] they carried the "gunner". If this is a generally correct assumption , I wonder if the 3rd crewman was a second set of eyes on the flight deck? My guess,as well, is that The Vigin Widow carried the fixed upper guns. I would like to see a photograph verifying that though. I'm following the build,it looks great so far. RD

I believe since you have the F6F-3 Trumpeter kit you can build it as a F6F-5. And paint it in the dark sea blue scheme. RD

Interesting news. I have been holding off on buying 32nd scale Mustangs until I see the ZMs. RD

Fisher's F7U Cutlass for its appropriate category. Resin or MultiMedia. RD

Nothing to add refernce-wise but I would be interested in either stickers or painting masks for No. 9 or No. 10. RD

Personally,I like the solid dependability aspect. RD

That looks really slick. As usual. RD

Its very nice doncha know. I'd give it three thumbs up for sure. I know that LHS as well. Its been a year or so since I've been in though. I'll have to stop in next time I'm down that way. RD

B-25 C/Ds. I have have four words for that: Warpath Across The Pacific. RD

This is an insanely cool kit. As for shipping , my Crusader conversion was shipped relatively quickly. The Cutlass seems to be well slower to ship. And no doubt understandably so. There is one NMF option in the box,its A/C #23 from VX-4 "The Evaluators". Very striking. Save your green and get one of these,I doubt you'd be disappointed. RD

Right on. Add coyotes howling in the distance. RD

It was right at 11 weeks from the time I ordered until it was at my door. I hope yours arrives directly. RD

I think the tackiness on my windscreen is from a coat of Future. I'm going to let it air out for a few days and see where it is then. RD

Peter That is slick. I have to say that is some very nice work on the cockpit and wheel wells. It looks like you're in the shorts rows and close to being able to paint. RD

Thanks Peter. One of the things that was interesting was that the canopy was inside the forward fuselage and the forward fuselage was inside the main fuselage body. I'm looking forward to seeing your Panther. RD

Ah. My image posting brain fart has gone away. Thanks Jennings and Kevin for you assistance.I certainly apprieciate it. Back to the Cutlass. Main mount wheel well detail. Wings. Top and bottom. Various cockpit and other detail parts bagged up as shipped. Landing gear struts. Mains cast in metal. All very nicely detailed. Intake and exhaust pieces. Compressor faces included. No need for covers. The photoetch fret. The stickers. Complete with insturment panel guages. 4 markings options are provided. 3 Gull Gray over White and 1 NMF. There is a very nice assembly guide,of course. From what I've seen so far this kit is absolutely top shelf. It does come with a healthy price tag thats for sure. But then again,that price is not too out of line when compared to some other 32nd scale kits on the market. In my estimation,this was money well spent. RD

Oh,FFS. Mods please delete this post. I'll try again once I figure out the hitch in the giddy up. Thanks. RD

I took some time today and shot some pictures of the parts breakdown of the Fisher F-7U-3M Cutlass. The box is plain with only some graphics on the ends. For what is going to be a large model,once completed, the box measures only 17"X10"X3". Once opened you'll see that the parts are well padded with tissue paper. Here you see the main fuselage and belly pan. The forward fuselage and canopy. The canopies are very bright and clear.My windscreen felt tacky so I have left it out in case it needs to cure some more. Of course the tackiness could be mold release that needs cleaned. The vertical fins with the main mount wheel well detail. RD

Thanks for sharing these. RD

That looks pretty slick. Very nice. RD

Very nice Spitfire.No doubt about it. Would you mind going into a bit more detail about how you employeed the "Hair Spray" technique.I understand how it works for say weathering an armor whitewash scheme. But I'm a bit fuzzy on what you did here. Thanks. RD

Looks good from here.

Alrighty. Many many moons ago I saw one of these kits. From what I can recollect the basic moldings looked good. There was no injection or resin detail parts. What you did get was all vac. With that said: I'm going to hold off for the Fisher Model and Pattern resin kit. RD