Landlubber Mike

Thanks man, really appreciate the kind words.  I'm slowly getting the hang of this plastic stuff - a lot trickier than it looks!
 
 
Thank you!  Really appreciate it!
 
 
Get better soon Lou!  I'll try to delay my wife as much as I can  

Hey Lou, thanks for the kind words!  Really appreciate it.  You didn't miss much the last few weeks except for me working out a bunch of new cuss words on things like the cowl, the pitot tubes, etc.
 
You should definitely build that JRS-1!  What a cool looking bird!  I tend to like the quirky stuff.  I'm not itching to build in 1/72 any time soon, but I've been looking for one of those since you mentioned it a few months ago.  They are pretty rare for sure!  
 
Looking at plane "boats" I did come across the Airfix Walrus which is now in the stash.  Ugly looking thing but I like it!  Even found a cool catapult set to build with it to set it up as a diorama when I get a little more skilled.  I'll blame you for inspiring me if my wife finds it  
 

 
 
 

I just hate 'Dummy Barrels', and the gun port patterns is now old hat, as every other company seems to have adopted this method (although still required for smaller subjects with thinner bulwarks).
 
I figured that if I were to do a 3-decker, the model needs to have at least three complete decks, otherwise it is no more detailed, internally, as a sloop or frigate, the only difference being the hull is deeper. With this Victory, you do not start the outer planking until half way though the hull build!

Just for information, I jury rigged my own box and shipped to Florida to a good home.  Final cost $63 plus some (a lot) of packing tape and bubble wrap

This looks really amazing - a big testament to Chris' skills as a designer to make a model with such detailed focus on developing a skeleton for the model that ensures its stability and accuracy.  For me, having to figure out where to cut gunports, modifying the skeleton so it all fits together accurately, etc. in other kits were very aggravating.  In this kit, Chris looks like he's set it up in such a way that you can spend more time building and adding details, which is what I most like about modeling.

Congrats, again 2 beautiful models built

Yes, get well Lou, as you've  been missed 😉

With the F3Fs completed, I'm going to build the F4F-4 Wildcat, but as the FM-1 version.  The Wildcat was a carrier based fighter that began with the US Navy in 1940 (and was known as the Martlet with the British Royal Navy).  It was built by Grumman, but Grumman ceased making the plane in 1943 to focus on the newer, and more superior, F6F Hellcat.  General Motors/Eastern Aircraft continued making the Wildcat identical to the F4F-4, but reduced the number of guns to four and added wing racks for two 250lb bombs or six rockets.
 
I'm going to build it using the Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat kit.  From everything I read, the kit goes together very well and easily.  
 

 
 
Of course as per my usual, I'm making things more complex for myself by adding a bunch of aftermarket, including a wing fold set from Wolfpack that allows you to build the kit as the FM-1.   I happened to get very lucky and find this kit on eBay with all the aftermarket shown below, aside from the Wolfpack set, for under $50 with shipping from Greece of all places.  The Aires set alone, which has a ton of resin and PE components, retails for $55 or over, so I figured why not?
 

 
 
For the color scheme, it's fairly simple - a nice change from my past yellow wing builds!  Here is sheet from the Wolfpack set, along with a diagram I found of what the scheme looks like (reminds me of the coloring of Great White sharks):
 


 
Finally, here are pictures of an FM-1 in the Smithsonian collection.  While I live in the DC area, unfortunately it looks like it's not on display at the moment (and I believe the museum is closed due to Covid).  Oh well 😕
 
https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-objects/eastern-division-fm-1-grumman-f4f-4-wildcat/nasm_A19610122000
 

 

 
Should be a fun build!  Thanks for looking in.

Finished the F3Fs last night.  Hooray!  Funny how the final details always seem to take me 10x longer to complete than I would have expected.
 

 
 
A few post-build notes:
 
1.  As I mentioned earlier, I decided to add a flat finish to the belly bands and painted areas of the cowl.  I probably could have gone with semi-gloss, but I like the contrast against the tiny aluminum.  
 
2.  For the rigging, I used the kit's PE parts.  I wouldn't say it was an easy process to include them, but they went on much easier than the PE rigging set from Starfighter that I used on my F4B-4 and P-6E.  The material was stiffer, and Accurate miniatures added slots to the wings into which you could slide the rigging.  
 
3.  I added pitot tubes to the right N support.  I ended up using pieces of bug pins for the tubes.  The pins (used to pin bugs in bug collection) are stainless steel and come in various very thin sizes.  The N support already had what looked like the wiring and other hardware, so I just found a pin that seemed to roughly match in size.  
 
4.  The radio antennae wires were made using EZ-Line fine.  It worked like a real charm.  I know some people pooh-pooh it because it's more flat than round, but I think you can only tell that under extreme magnification, at least for the fine size.  It attaches easily with CA and stretches (supposedly up to 7 times its length) so you can get a nice taut line. Seemed much easier than stretched sprue or other materials.  It was a little complicated in that the wires that run from each wing tip to the tail connect ahead of the tail and then run in a combined line to the tail, but I managed to get it to work.
 
5.  The kit has you attach the upper wings, then attach the bottom wings and supports, suggesting that you try to do it all at the same time.  Of course, it's much harder said than done.  On both planes, the right side ended up a couple of millimeters higher than the other.  If I had to do it again, I would probably have attached the bottom wings to the fuselage pre-painting, to avoid any seams and to better set the dihedral.   I think if I had taken that approach, all I would have had to do is manage the angle of the top wing (as opposed to trying to glue the two bottom wings and the top wing, position the struts, etc. all at the same time).  Learning experience for next time.  
 
 
I just wanted to thank everyone who has been looking in and helping me work my way through this.  I really appreciate all the help so thank you!  
 
For my next plane, I'll be doing the Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat kit as the FM-1 version using the Wolfpack wing fold conversion set.  Simpler in the sense that it has limited rigging and a single wing, but I have the big Aires resin/PE detail set and the Wolfpack set, so it will be challenging in other ways.
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-1:
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-2:
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-2:
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-1:
 

Finished the F3Fs last night.  Hooray!  Funny how the final details always seem to take me 10x longer to complete than I would have expected.
 

 
 
A few post-build notes:
 
1.  As I mentioned earlier, I decided to add a flat finish to the belly bands and painted areas of the cowl.  I probably could have gone with semi-gloss, but I like the contrast against the tiny aluminum.  
 
2.  For the rigging, I used the kit's PE parts.  I wouldn't say it was an easy process to include them, but they went on much easier than the PE rigging set from Starfighter that I used on my F4B-4 and P-6E.  The material was stiffer, and Accurate miniatures added slots to the wings into which you could slide the rigging.  
 
3.  I added pitot tubes to the right N support.  I ended up using pieces of bug pins for the tubes.  The pins (used to pin bugs in bug collection) are stainless steel and come in various very thin sizes.  The N support already had what looked like the wiring and other hardware, so I just found a pin that seemed to roughly match in size.  
 
4.  The radio antennae wires were made using EZ-Line fine.  It worked like a real charm.  I know some people pooh-pooh it because it's more flat than round, but I think you can only tell that under extreme magnification, at least for the fine size.  It attaches easily with CA and stretches (supposedly up to 7 times its length) so you can get a nice taut line. Seemed much easier than stretched sprue or other materials.  It was a little complicated in that the wires that run from each wing tip to the tail connect ahead of the tail and then run in a combined line to the tail, but I managed to get it to work.
 
5.  The kit has you attach the upper wings, then attach the bottom wings and supports, suggesting that you try to do it all at the same time.  Of course, it's much harder said than done.  On both planes, the right side ended up a couple of millimeters higher than the other.  If I had to do it again, I would probably have attached the bottom wings to the fuselage pre-painting, to avoid any seams and to better set the dihedral.   I think if I had taken that approach, all I would have had to do is manage the angle of the top wing (as opposed to trying to glue the two bottom wings and the top wing, position the struts, etc. all at the same time).  Learning experience for next time.  
 
 
I just wanted to thank everyone who has been looking in and helping me work my way through this.  I really appreciate all the help so thank you!  
 
For my next plane, I'll be doing the Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat kit as the FM-1 version using the Wolfpack wing fold conversion set.  Simpler in the sense that it has limited rigging and a single wing, but I have the big Aires resin/PE detail set and the Wolfpack set, so it will be challenging in other ways.
 

Hey Lou, thanks for the kind words!  Really appreciate it.  You didn't miss much the last few weeks except for me working out a bunch of new cuss words on things like the cowl, the pitot tubes, etc.
 
You should definitely build that JRS-1!  What a cool looking bird!  I tend to like the quirky stuff.  I'm not itching to build in 1/72 any time soon, but I've been looking for one of those since you mentioned it a few months ago.  They are pretty rare for sure!  
 
Looking at plane "boats" I did come across the Airfix Walrus which is now in the stash.  Ugly looking thing but I like it!  Even found a cool catapult set to build with it to set it up as a diorama when I get a little more skilled.  I'll blame you for inspiring me if my wife finds it  
 

 
 
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-2:
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-1:
 

Nice work, great job!  Even more impressive that you did it at such a small scale!
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-2:
 

Hey Lou, thanks for the kind words!  Really appreciate it.  You didn't miss much the last few weeks except for me working out a bunch of new cuss words on things like the cowl, the pitot tubes, etc.
 
You should definitely build that JRS-1!  What a cool looking bird!  I tend to like the quirky stuff.  I'm not itching to build in 1/72 any time soon, but I've been looking for one of those since you mentioned it a few months ago.  They are pretty rare for sure!  
 
Looking at plane "boats" I did come across the Airfix Walrus which is now in the stash.  Ugly looking thing but I like it!  Even found a cool catapult set to build with it to set it up as a diorama when I get a little more skilled.  I'll blame you for inspiring me if my wife finds it  
 

 
 
 

Thanks man, really appreciate the kind words.  I'm slowly getting the hang of this plastic stuff - a lot trickier than it looks!
 
 
Thank you!  Really appreciate it!
 
 
Get better soon Lou!  I'll try to delay my wife as much as I can  

Hey Lou, thanks for the kind words!  Really appreciate it.  You didn't miss much the last few weeks except for me working out a bunch of new cuss words on things like the cowl, the pitot tubes, etc.
 
You should definitely build that JRS-1!  What a cool looking bird!  I tend to like the quirky stuff.  I'm not itching to build in 1/72 any time soon, but I've been looking for one of those since you mentioned it a few months ago.  They are pretty rare for sure!  
 
Looking at plane "boats" I did come across the Airfix Walrus which is now in the stash.  Ugly looking thing but I like it!  Even found a cool catapult set to build with it to set it up as a diorama when I get a little more skilled.  I'll blame you for inspiring me if my wife finds it  
 

 
 
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-1:
 

Some final pictures of the F3F-2:
 

I'm here brother...  I wouldn't miss this one....