ccoyle

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!

I believe they went out of business years ago.

I could, theoretically, point out all of the clothes, furnishings, and other sundry items she has purchased without a peep from me, but I think we all know how that would go over. 😂

If it was up to just me, I would pull the trigger on this right now. But if my wife were to see the bank statement? 😲 😬😬😬💀

I found out that a 3D-printed hedgehog is available in 1/240 scale -- along with 3", 1.1", and 20mm gun mounts. 😬 Oh, heart be still!!

Very nice! Congratulations!

Personally, I wouldn't use it for those purposes. It sets too quickly for planking and isn't dilute enough for rigging.

I recently got an applicator bottle with a very narrow dispensing tube, which is handy in many situations but still tends to dispense too much glue for really tiny parts. Most of the time I use a very small brush, like a 0000 detailer, for applying glue. The type of glue plays a part as well, which is why I have grown fond of the Evergreen Canopy Glue -- it dries remarkably clear and with a matte finish.

Very interesting model! Shall we mark it as 'finished,' or are there still minor details to come?

That is an exceptional model and a real testament to your abilities. Congratulations!

So, got the float-net baskets done. Two on the forward superstructure . . . . . . and three on the aft superstructure. The 'floats' are just pieces of painted styrene rod -- if you use your imagination and don't look too closely, they do kinda look like strands of floats. I also discovered that the faux floats hid most of the basket interiors, so the printed interiors weren't really necessary, just a coat of paint. Interestingly, the aft float baskets are shown in some drawings, but not indicated on any diagrams. But there were parts for five baskets, so I hunted around until I found them in the drawings. Next up will be the hedgehog! Sadly, it only includes the spigots -- no mortar bombs. Sorry! And no, I don't plan to add them -- they would be absurdly tiny, so don't ask!