Landlubber Mike

Looking great!  Nice paint job.

Hey Craig, great subject!  The kit looks really nice - I have the Tamiya one but this Miniart kit looks amazing.  Not sure if you saw, but Plasmo recently built this kit:
 
 

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:
 
- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:
 

 
- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:
 

 
- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:
 

 
At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:
 

 
The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:
 

 
I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Wow, just found out you finished this one Craig - amazing job!  That Mr. Color silver paint job looks fantastic - love it!

Dan, somehow I missed that you completed this one.  Another stellar build!  Well done!

Looks really great Dave.  Must be an interesting experience dealing with well-made kits that have tight clearances.  Most of the ones I've worked on recently have had big gaps to fill!

Nice job Jack!  Looks like it was a fun project.

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:
 
- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:
 

 
- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:
 

 
- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:
 

 
At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:
 

 
The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:
 

 
I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.
 
Thanks for looking in!

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:
 
- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:
 

 
- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:
 

 
- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:
 

 
At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:
 

 
The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:
 

 
I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.
 
Thanks for looking in!

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:
 
- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:
 

 
- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:
 

 
- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:
 

 
At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:
 

 
The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:
 

 
I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Looks really great Dave.  Must be an interesting experience dealing with well-made kits that have tight clearances.  Most of the ones I've worked on recently have had big gaps to fill!

Hey Craig, great subject!  The kit looks really nice - I have the Tamiya one but this Miniart kit looks amazing.  Not sure if you saw, but Plasmo recently built this kit:
 
 

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:
 
- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:
 

 
- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:
 

 
- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:
 

 
At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:
 

 
The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:
 

 
I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.
 
Thanks for looking in!

Looking great!  Nice paint job.

Wow, just found out you finished this one Craig - amazing job!  That Mr. Color silver paint job looks fantastic - love it!

Dan, somehow I missed that you completed this one.  Another stellar build!  Well done!

Dan, somehow I missed that you completed this one.  Another stellar build!  Well done!

Nice job Jack!  Looks like it was a fun project.

Looks really great Dave.  Must be an interesting experience dealing with well-made kits that have tight clearances.  Most of the ones I've worked on recently have had big gaps to fill!

Nice job Jack!  Looks like it was a fun project.

Wow, just found out you finished this one Craig - amazing job!  That Mr. Color silver paint job looks fantastic - love it!

Hey Craig, great subject!  The kit looks really nice - I have the Tamiya one but this Miniart kit looks amazing.  Not sure if you saw, but Plasmo recently built this kit:
 
 

Looking great!  Nice paint job.

Looking great!  Nice paint job.

I've been making slow but steady progress on this kit.  Part of the slow crawl is my fault in using the very nice CMK aftermarket set.  But the main reason is that there are a lot of fit issues and other things like lack of connection points for important parts like the struts holding up the tail section and the main wing.  For some examples:
 
- Main wing tips are separate parts (in halves) that you have to glue together and then do some cleanup.  I ended up adding brass rod to help secure them:
 

 
- Engine cowlings are too small, so I added thin plastic strip between the halves to fit the engines.  Figured that was much easier than filing down the engines:
 

 
- CMK tail isn't quite right, needing extra plastic on the fixed part of the tail:
 

 
At the moment, I'm mostly done with the wing.  The CMK set is nice in that it gives you the control surfaces, but still quite a bit of work to add them.  I have a few bits of PE to add along with the exhausts, and then of course the pontoons:
 

 
The body is close to being done as well.  I have a few more pieces of PE to add, along with the cockpit and landing gear and some other odds and ends that I'm waiting to add as they are fragile and will likely bust off.  But, I think so far it's looking pretty good:
 

 
I'm still debating how to go about staging the painting sessions.  I might end up painting the wing separately, then adding it to the body and painting the body once the wing is installed.  Because the wing struts don't have attachment points, I'm a bit worried about glue getting where it shouldn't be.  Still a bit to go before I get to that stage so I can think on it a little more.
 
Thanks for looking in!