mywifehatesmodels

Very nice Emil! Thanks for posting, John

Starting to come to life. John

I would go 76 on the underside, but that's just me. I doubt they repainted the undersides, but I could be wrong. Looking great, overall! While I do share some of the same concerns over this kit as Denis, I also understand that it's a matter of personal preference. Another big PLUS for this kit is that it eliminates that dreaded seam created on most kits by the inboard cannon covers. Man, those things are a bear to clean up and probably my main complaint about the Hasegawa and Revell kits. Great job, Tom. Keep on moving! John

Looking good, Tolga. You are giving me hope for my own build. John

I will certainly be following along, Denis! I don't have a Yak in my stash, yet. However, the time will eventually come and I just haven't figured out which variant I would like to do. So, watching you build this one will probably be enlightening. Cheers, John

Fantastic job, Denis! This build was fun to watch and a great example of your attention to certain details and not surrendering, even when fixing some of those details was difficult, or very inconvenient. Very inspirational! Thanks for posting. John

Fantastic work on everything. Happy to see you get back to the bench. John

Thanks, Thomas! I questioned that when I installed them. Instructions showed it just over the seat. I think I can fix it. Thanks again, John

It was more of a joke. Several years ago, when Revell was still making the 1/32 Ju-88 kits, there was talk of whether or not they would do a Do 17. Some seemed convinced it would happen. I remember seeing similar talk about a Ju 188. John

Denis, I believe the antenna lines on the blown canopies were generally not under tension when the canopy was rolled back. I'm not sure if they were all that way, however. Looking GREAT! John

Fantastic cockpit, Tom! You're moving along quite nicely. Enjoying this one. John

Thanks, guys! Spyro, I was already working on the details of the floor when you posted. The cockpit is now mostly complete, spare a few little details. I'm still not sure if I want put the larger electric ordnance panel in place. Not sure which production block would have introduced that? In any case, there's still a way to go and getting everything to fit as it should, will likely be the next challenge. Here's what it looks like at the moment... I have to say that I like the Quinta belts. They may not be as scale accurate as some others, but their flexibility and ease of application make them VERY appealing. I don't think I'll be buying their sets for all of my future builds. However, for a subject like this, with all of the cockpit placards and other printed items, the set really does a good job and makes the workload a bit lighter. The next step will be to be sure the cockpit is going to fit, once assembled. After that, I'll probably dive into riveting and start looking at the preventative measures required to get the engine and cowl attached in the right position. Then..... more rivets. Always more rivets. Thanks again, John

Nice work on the engine! It's my understanding that the Quickboost engine cylinders won't fit in the cowl without surgery. Your method looks like a nice way to fix that. John

Excellent work on the engine and cowl. John

Great work and thank you for posting your pics of the wing spar/platform and how you cut it. I'm also using the Aires set and was just getting to the same point that you are when I saw your photos. You saved me a headache. THANKS! John

Time for an update. The Quinta cockpit set arrived and I went to work trying to figure out how I'm going to piece all of this together. When I compare to various reference photos, things really start to go sideways. There are many variations and, to make it even harder, the kit, the Aires set and the Quinta set don't necessarily match each other, or many of the photos I've seen of the real thing. To make things even more interesting, the only Quinta set I could find was for the Trumpeter kit, so I was just going to have to "roll with it" (Now I'm singing Steve Winwood!). I didn't photograph every step, but as you can see in the photo above, some modifications needed to be made. Some boxes enlarged, others made from scratch. The end result is surely not a perfect replica of the real thing, but as close as I dared to go without performing major surgery. However, I did have to pull out the saw for one part, which was the wing spar piece that doubles as a platform for the cockpit to sit on. In Tolga Ulgur's current build, I noticed that he's also using the Aires set, but that he had to cut down this platform. I did a test fit to see where things settled within the fuselage and it became quickly apparent that the Aires cockpit will sit much too high, so out came the saw. Once that was finished, I started filling out the cockpit and painting, mixing the parts from Aires and Quinta, as I went. I tested out MRP's Olive Green fine primer on these parts. It doesn't seem as smooth as black, but it works. Next, I did a light coat of Mr. Hobby Yellow Chromate, then followed with a pretty solid coat of MRP's Interior Dull Dark Green. This green, in an opaque coat, does appear to be on the dark side. I went back and dry-brushed some of the Yellow Chromate in spots, to try to lighten it up a bit. If I had to do it over again, I would prime with the Yellow Chromate and build lighter coats of the DDG, which would also be closer to the original paint method. Next time... I still need to do more detail painting and some more washes, especially on the floor, but it's starting to come together. Thanks for following, John

Outstanding! Excellent job, in every way. John

Excellent results! I may try cutting some of those on the Cricut. I fear it may be too small, though. John

Fantastic build! It looks fast, even on the ground! John

I stopped in at the local trophy shop today, to order a nameplate for the base of this display. As soon as I have that and get it fixed to the base, I'll get some more photos to post it in the RFI forum. For now, I've been playing with my photo editing software, exploring more of it's features and figuring out how to edit the stand from the photos. Here's just a few examples. Thanks again to everyone for tagging along. John

Things have slowed down a bit on this build, as I wait for my cockpit stuff to arrive. So, I switched gears and started the riveting process, beginning with the upper wing panels. So far, the left wing top is pretty much done and just over half of the right side. I'm noticing some differences in the layout of the rivets and panel lines between some drawings, photos and the kit, itself. I'm sure the work I've done isn't perfectly accurate, but I tried to get it as close as I could, given the variations I'm seeing. I usually don't measure much, if anything, when I rivet models. This one was different, however. Given that it will be in a NMF, I knew things were going to stand out more and I won't be able to hide as much under the paint. While I didn't measure every panel, there were some of those variations that forced me to mathematically solve some of the discrepencies, to make everything look as even and symmetrical as I could. Still a long way to go.... Once the Quinta cockpit set arrives, I will likely dive back into that, just to get the cockpit done. Then I'll go back to the riveting. I thought about digging into the engine, but figured it was less of a priority, at this point. Like I said, a long way to go... but I'm enjoying it so far. John

Love the displays and the paint work is top notch! Thanks for posting, John

Thanks, Dave. I don't plan on using this as a base for any NMF. It will likely be for more general stuff, at this point. I guess I'll find out once I get a chance to play with it. John

She's lookin' pretty slick, Dave. John

Thanks, Michael! I've seen a couple for cheap, recently. Tempting myself, as well. Thanks again, John