dmthamade

Two wings? Don

You're brush painting them still? Great how you get a smooth finish. Don

Man, you're just a building machine!! Need to ask, how many builds do you have in progress at once? Don

Good to see it's going together well, in spite of the complexity. Have to ask, can it be built without all the inner details? Don

Sigh, the crosshair and bead gunsight....back to the bench....Thanks for the positives, guys. I do agree, the kit is very well done. Don

Well, i'm calling this one done. Tried doing some weathering with AK pencils, did not turn out. I guess i'll take a paint hulk and play. I'll call this a restored Bird. Time to take a break!! Don

I remember a while ago someone mentioned makeup sponges. Maybe "borrow" some from the ball and chain, see how they work? 128 Beauty Makeup Blender Sponge Cosmetic Wedge Triangle Facial Applicator White | eBay don

I can understand wanting to do a long tail version, seems to be more choices available scheme wise. Once again been busy with stuff, finally managed to clean off the Ultra Matt. I used a microfibre cloth and windex to scrub away the Matt, worked great without harming the paint, but did remove the panel wash, not a big deal. Redid the wash, hopefully will apply a matt finish tomorrow. Have to say, all the pics look the same with no obvious progress. Will try to apply the matt tomorrow. Don

Been like that for a while, sometimes works, usually not. Do miss it... Don

Already spoke to the nephew about this, i told him to trash it all. Don

Well, this build is stalled. The AK Ultra Matt is indeed very fragile!! Using the AK pencils, i found they easily removed the matt coat. Even handling it to do weathering removed the coating. I have to remove the stuff, and i've found soaking some paper towel and scrubbing will remove the coating without damaging what's underneath. I'll do this, then park it while i contemplate what to do..... What i'll do is use a dullcoat from AK Real, then go from there. Still going to take a break, think i'll build a car kit... Don

Yup, not as busy as when i was workin', but busy enough!! Had some time to add a wash and matte coat. I used AK Ultra Matt Varnish, this stuff is about as dead matte you can get!! Went on great out of the bottle, but seems to be pretty fragile. I want to try weathering with AK pencils, and they recommended a matt coat using their stuff. Will see how they work out. Slowly getting there...Busy again 'til Sunday... Don

So, i thought retirement meant lots of free time to do the stuff you wanted. Turns out, other things still get in between me and the bench!! I managed to clear the build last week, and finally got around to applying the decals. Originally i was going to do a sharksmouth build, but changed my mind to the markings depicting a plane from the 66thFS/57thFG based in Tunisia 1943 according to the kit instructions. Have to say, these decals worked really well, thin, in register, the white was opaque. Settled into the rivets and panel lines nicely. Accuracy is off, the white "X" on the nose art should have squared off ends and should be outlined in black. The insignia should be without the yellow surround. I did find one pic of this bird to confirm. I glosscoated the decals before remembering about the insignias, could have used the alternates included on the kit sheet...😠. Will do a wash on the lines/rivets, etc., then start weathering. Most all pics of these planes in the specific theater show lots of weathering, will have to be careful with that. Don

Will be a nice colorful change from warplane finishes👍 Don

That's a lot of weight!! Fingers crossed it behaves!! Are you going with metal gear legs? I have the other version by Revell so am interested to see how it builds up. Don