ccoyle

I recognize the names of two well-regarded Ukrainian card model publishers there as well.

Hi, Chrisss. Might I suggest starting a separate topic and telling us a little about yourself?

Hi. Please take the following not as any attempt to dissuade you -- just an honest assessment. My best guess is that your models are both built from solid-hull kits. Unfortunately, the rigging for clippers is amongst the most challenging projects that any modeler can take on. It is not the sort of task that we would expect the uninitiated to tackle with high hopes for success. Sadly, professional restoration work presents its own challenge, except that in this case the challenge is monetary -- it's a rare skill, so it doesn't come cheap. It's possible that you might be able to find a local modeler who would do the work out of consideration for the models' sentimental value for you. We can suggest some nearby clubs if you give us an indication of your whereabouts. Kind regards, Chris

Looks pretty darn good from here, and the growing flotilla is likewise impressive!

Shannon. Chesapeake. 'Nuff said. Then add one of the US Ex Ex ships, e.g. Vincennes, Peacock, Porpoise, etc.

Hoping for a swift recovery!

Oh, no! Don't worry -- most of us have experienced some kind of disaster during our modeling adventures. Repair or replace may come down to the degree of damage -- based on your last photos, I assume that some of the damage is to the mould pieces?

Nice work, Harvey, on an interesting and unusual subject!

Great intro, Andrew. Just one note: you may notice that your topic tags have disappeared -- we don't use them in the non-ship area. We do that so that no non-ships will turn up in tag searches done by people looking for ship stuff.

Chris, I love your descriptions of the design process, since your work in bringing this new kit subject to market stands in sharp contrast to the efforts of Certain Unnamed Foreign Enterprises who somehow only manage to design "new" kits for which detailed plans just so happen to already have been published by AOTS, ANCRE, or Seawatch. 🙄

I just now saw that photo, and my first thought was that you'll have to quit building now that you've run out of desktop. 😂

Sadly, we have no "yuck" button on our likes menu.

Welcome aboard from a California ex-pat! I moved a lot when I lived in the Golden State -- I did stints in Los Angeles, Pasadena, Montrose, Pomona, and Upland, so I know my away around SoCal a bit. Cheers!

Okay, here is the bulkhead after surgery. I wicked some thin CA into the cut edge, then sanded and painted the exposed surfaces, and glued the instrument panel in place. One thing to note -- I'm aware that I've got two mismatched shades of green, but most of this will not be visible on the finished model. The second shot, with the aft bulkhead only dry-fitted, approximates the lowest viewing angle that will permit viewing into the finished cockpit. Even the bit of bulkhead behind the panel will probably not be visible, but I painted it anyway -- just in case.

You mean the Revell kit? You can find one on eBay.

We have a few enthusiastic Kartonmodellbauer around here.

Test fit of the instrument panel. Notice anything . . . odd? Yes, that's right -- there's a whole lot of bulkhead still showing. I have no idea why that should be so, and the diagrams give no hint either. I expect some minor surgery will be called for. BTW, the instruments are glazed. BTW, I saw an announcement just recently that Card Army will be publishing another Wundermodell -- and it's a Hellcat. For certain it will be a. amazing, b. expensive, and c. beyond my abilities.

First frames assembled. The tab-and-slot construction goes together very well. For some reason, the slots for part WA6, which is a spacer between two bulkheads, did not allow that part to be slotted in perpendicular to the bulkheads. It's not a big deal, because they won't be seen later. One thing that I noticed nearly immediately is that this center fuselage section is much larger than that for any other airplane model I have thus far assembled. The Hellcat was a chunky beast!

Got my exterior colors mixed and have a little interior green left over from a previous build. I'm ready to start cutting.

That would be a finished hull model. 'Finished' for the gallery simply means it's not a place for build log photos.

You can only edit a title in the first post of the thread. Look for the three dots in the upper right corner, then click to open a drop-down menu, then select 'edit'. Use all-caps for the word 'finished' and make it the second field in the title, like so: SS Minnow by johndoe - FINISHED - scale 1:500000 - an exercise in futility Take note of the hyphens and spaces. Also create a tag that says "Finished." Cheers!

Hi, gang! Welcome to another card aircraft build! This one will feature a new release from the Polish publisher, GPM -- it will be my first crack at a GPM kit. The 2021 design by Rafał Ciesielski depicts a Grumman F6F-3 of US Navy Fighter Squadron VF-27 aboard the light carrier USS Princeton (CVL-23) at the time that ship was sunk on 24 October 1944 during the sprawling Battle of Leyte Gulf. In addition to this livery, the model can also be purchased in the livery of VF-9 aboard USS Essex (CV-9) during the 1943 Gilbert Islands campaign. I'm building this model for a special purpose -- it will be a going-away present for a friend and coworker of mine who is moving to Virginia in September (hence the need to start the build before my USS England project is finished -- I want to be sure that I have plenty of time). Dave is an Air Force veteran and former KC-135 driver who likes naval aviation. He knows I'm building something for him, but he doesn't know what it is -- it will be a surprise, so mum's the word! Here's the kit's cover. The aircraft wears the US Navy's tricolor scheme of dark blue over medium blue with light blue-gray undersides. VF-27 aircraft wore a cat's mouth design on their cowlings. The kit includes five pages of diagrams, three pages of frames on plain paper, and five pages of color parts on card stock. The print quality is good, though with minimal weathering. The kit as rated as having an intermediate level of difficulty, which looks about right to my experienced eye. Diagrams: Color parts: I will be replacing all of the kit frames with laser-cut frames. The laser-cut set is comprised of seven frets. Three contain the usual formers. I'm very pleased to see that these use tab-and-slot construction, which should eliminate some of the potential alignment issues. There are also four small frets. One includes small detail parts, one contains instrument panels, and two feature very finely etched and cut parts for the radial engine. These latter parts could prove to be real time-savers. Lastly, I went all-in and ordered a very nice set of 3D-printed wheels. These even include the tires' diamond-pattern tread. I also have the vacuformed canopy (not shown). I'm feeling very good about starting this model. I'm motivated, and the kit looks great. I'm really looking forward to seeing how well this GPM product goes together. Cheers!

Well, well -- lookit what the postman brought today! Let's see what we have . . . . . . laser-cut frames and resin wheels for Kartonowa Kolekcja's A6M2 Zero and Nieuport 11.c. The resin wheels are a new thing for me. And a new issue from GPM -- an F6F-3 Hellcat, plus vacuformed canopy and 3D-printed wheels. I will have more to say about this particular kit in the very near future. In fact, I have an announcement to make: USS England will be going on a temporary hiatus. Don't worry -- it's not burn-out in this instance. A friend and coworker of mine is moving to Virginia in September, though he will still be working remotely for the company, and I will be building the Hellcat for him as a going away gift. I will say more about that when I start the new build log. Once I get that set up, I will place a link here. I may work on England concurrently here and there, who knows, but I will definitely be coming back to her when the Hellcat is finished. See you all over in the 'non-categorized builds' section! EDIT: Here is the promised link! ccoyle's Hellcat build

Ooooh! My tracking number says my shipment went out on the 22nd as well -- hopefully something is waiting for me when I get home today!

Folks, I had to hide the last post in this thread for violating our copyright policy. Please don't share photos from pay sites like Getty images. You can share a link to the site, but sharing the image here at MSW could get us into legal hot water. Thanks!