bdthoresen

Brian- so sorry about your Mom, it’s a club that we all seemingly gain membership to, but never ask to join. I lost mine just over a year ago, so I understand about losing one’s mojo. I lost all motivation for most things, and am slowly “emerging from the fog.” But things still aren’t right, and my modeling has suffered hugely. Just can’t seem to get into gear. 
 
All the best, broski. In due time……
 
Thor

Brian- so sorry about your Mom, it’s a club that we all seemingly gain membership to, but never ask to join. I lost mine just over a year ago, so I understand about losing one’s mojo. I lost all motivation for most things, and am slowly “emerging from the fog.” But things still aren’t right, and my modeling has suffered hugely. Just can’t seem to get into gear. 
 
All the best, broski. In due time……
 
Thor

Brian- so sorry about your Mom, it’s a club that we all seemingly gain membership to, but never ask to join. I lost mine just over a year ago, so I understand about losing one’s mojo. I lost all motivation for most things, and am slowly “emerging from the fog.” But things still aren’t right, and my modeling has suffered hugely. Just can’t seem to get into gear. 
 
All the best, broski. In due time……
 
Thor

Sorry about your trials with your kit, Brian. That is pretty much how all my builds have gone as of late! I feel your pain!

Now, I had a thought about that wing riveting problem...... Perhaps you could use some thin 3" masking tape or the like to stick to the wing, and make a template of the rivet pattern on the affected wing. Then you could do your typical wizardry with Mr. Surfacer 500 and fill the existing lines. Realign your tape to the correct position on the wing, and use it as a template to put the rivets back...ie, poke them through the tape. Then it would be a matter of rescribing the inspection panel shapes into their respective postions? Just a thought......would be a bit a bit of tedium, but nothing a solid day could not whip into shape....

Cool kit though- Looking forward to more updates-

THOR   

Brian- nice work so far. I drive a 2018 Gen 3 with the G series Lexus engine. I have owned Chevy, Ford, Dodge and Nissan pickups before, but the Tacoma beats them all hands down. I will never own anything else……
 
Keep the updates coming in the Tigercat. You are so close! 
 
Thor    

I would like to see a TU-2 and a Pe-2....top of my list.....
 
THOR    

“Too Dangerous”?  YHGTBFKM………clearly a statement from “non-airplane” people. I hate this aspect of aircraft conservation. 
 
Last time I was at Duxford they had a late model Firefly in storage that was a target tug at some point. She was easily accessible, and appeared complete. You might try reaching out to them? 
 
I love this project. Your work is stellar. I am currently gathering references for a scratchbuild of my own of the Fairey Barracuda. You have inspired me to no end. 
 
Thanks, Peter.
 
THOR    

Jeff-
 
Love the work so far. I am curious- I know you said that you have been using Liquid Nails to assemble the Litho aluminum parts, but how will you use that stuff to glue the ribs to the well surfaces? If memory serves that stuff is pretty thick adhesive, and it does not look like you have a lot of gluing surface. Will you thin it down or something?
 
Beautiful work anyway. Please keep it up!
 
THOR

Ironwing......
 
I hate you....JUST KIDDING!
 
but not really....
 
Stunning work on those ailerons........Looking great!
 
Keep on trucking!!!!!!
 
THOR

Jon-
 
The Bandai Zero and George kits are far superior to the Mustang kit- I have one, and, Like Christian said- There are a lot of issues with the kit- The biggest problem is the wing chord thickness- It is far too thick- Another problem is the way Bandai molded the bomb/ droptank racks as part of the lower wing- right in the middle/over the shell ejector chutes-
 
The cockpit is basic- The floor and bulkheads given are more like puzzle pieces with their lock tab arrangement-
 
The tail is not as bad as it seems, but it does need some reshaping, particularly on the vertical stab-
 
The Merlin looks a bit like a squared off version of itslef- It needs major detail and shape issues addressed-
 
The fuselage is ok overall, some minor shape discrepancies, as well as panel line discrepancies- but usable-
 
The wheel well is not very good, just like most other kits of the Stang-
 
If you can find one cheap, it is a good kit to practice the Frankenstein skills on- But if you are looking for an accurate OOB build, this ain't it.....
 
FWIW
 
THOR

Jay, I can’t share the link via my phone, but if you use the search function in “In the Works” and use the search term “Revell F4U1” and author “bcauchi” it will come right up. Well worth your time. Brian is one of my favorite modelers of all time. Some excellent scratch building in that thread!
 
THOR    
 
 
 
 

Excellent Work as always, Jay. Love the accessories on the engine. You might take a gander at the great build of the old Revell Corsair by the legendary Brian Cauchi here on LSP. Although it’s 32nd scale, he opened and detailed a lot of the areas you wish to expose, and some of his scratchbuilt approaches to many of the parts might help you along the way. 
 
Keep up the excellent work!
 
THOR    

Alan, the cowling in the middle appears to be from the Trumpeter kit because of its odd shape. The two outside ones are the Hasegawa kit cowls by the looks. Quite a difference.
 
Love the work so far, Bill.
 
THOR    

Brian- nice work so far. I drive a 2018 Gen 3 with the G series Lexus engine. I have owned Chevy, Ford, Dodge and Nissan pickups before, but the Tacoma beats them all hands down. I will never own anything else……
 
Keep the updates coming in the Tigercat. You are so close! 
 
Thor    

I worked for them. It is Gruh-man…….
 
Thor

I worked for them. It is Gruh-man…….
 
Thor

Sorry, Anthony. I call bullsh$t on your previous statement. I check your thread all the time. I have been busy restoring the full size birds in my shop. Loving the work here dude! By the way, how is the Taylorcraft coming?
 
Thor   

Sorry, Anthony. I call bullsh$t on your previous statement. I check your thread all the time. I have been busy restoring the full size birds in my shop. Loving the work here dude! By the way, how is the Taylorcraft coming?
 
Thor   

Aren’t those the shell ejector chutes for the nose mounted guns?
 
Thor    

I will buy multiples of both…….without hesitation.
 
-Thor    

Aren’t those the shell ejector chutes for the nose mounted guns?
 
Thor    

Aren’t those the shell ejector chutes for the nose mounted guns?
 
Thor    

It is still alive.... Work continues on the wheel well repair. The panels were cut from .010” styrene, and bonded in with Tamiya Extra Thin. A coat of Mr. Surfacer 500 was applied and sanded out with a custom “paddle sander”. I believe the wheel well was painted dark blue like the rest of the airframe; I also plan to depict the aircraft immediately after a race, with inner gear doors closed, and elevators drooped. So, once I paint this area, at least half of it will never be seen. Looks ok!
 

Houston, we have a problem.......

Remember how I said that I acquired this kit second hand, and that I suspected that the previous owner had started modifying the lower wing to fit an Aires wheel bay? I was not sure of the extent of modification, until I cemented the center wheel bay into the lower wing, fitted the uppers and noticed this.....



It appears that Trumpeter split the "Main Spar" area of the wheel bay between the upper and lower wing parts. Being that the Uppers are intact, the missing parts of the lower has left this huge gap. At this point, I am not sure how I will tackle this......

Off to ruminate......

THOR  

And another small update-

Actual construction has begun. I started with the cockpit floor. Trumpeter has molded the floor to match the curvature of the wing center section; but it is my understanding that the B/C series Mustangs had flat floors. I have decided to leave it as it is, as I am planning on leaving the canopy closed on this build. I started by removing the fuselage fuel tank from the part.....An extra fine toothed razor saw made quick work of this....



I then fashioned a blanking plate shaped from .030" styrene sheet. It was then sanded to the original part's edge contour....



While that area was drying, I then shifted my attention to the main gear bay. The fit of the parts was o.k., but it did require some clamping to get a positive fit while the cement dried. The other issue I found was that the previous owner of the kit had started removing all of the  bay locators to try and fit the Aires wheel wells in it. This made it especially tricky to line the parts up correctly.....



I also received some of the aftermarket I will be using for this build-



I will be using the CMK resin wheels/tires with oval tread, as this seems to be the most common tire that Thunderbird flew with. It also allows me to ditch the horrible rubber tires that come with the Trumpeter kit.....



I also will be using the Quickboost prop picture above to imitate the uncuffed post-war H.S. that Thunderbird flew with. I will have to modify the prop tips a bit, being that they should be a bit more rounded than how the are presented out of the box.



I also will be using the Quickboost exhaust, as it is an improvement over the kit parts. These look a bit different than some of the photos of Thunderbird, but being that she used multiple different Packard-Merlins in her race life, I think I will let it slide. The resin parts are already hollowed out, and casting quality is top-notch.



Lastly, I will add the Eduard (HGW) set of fabric belts to the seat. This will be the only addition to the cockpit, as I said the canopy will be closed.

That's all for now gents. Thanks Again for stopping by-

THOR