CDW

Best wishes to your pup for a complete and quick recovery

Here is a great site for future reference. Tons of info and photos.

VF Fighter Squadrons FITRON US Navy (seaforces.org)

33 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Cant wait for you  to do a  log  on the  MTB.

 

OC.

It may not be long. My niece and her husband both work in the maritime industry. She is an executive for an ocean-going tug company, and he is the first mate on a super-tanker. Their new home is decorated with many nautical items, and I mentioned to him he needed a ship model on display. I am going to give him several choices with that PT boat being one, and then build his choice for display in their new home. Will wait to see what he decides he would prefer.  

Those photos look amazing, Gary. Very well done. I like your models and admire your photography skills. 

5 hours ago, Egilman said:

Yeah, since they run around 170-180 new... I wouldn't regret it either... (even if I haven't a clue on how to use one)

Paid $60, brand new in the box. 😁

Gotta love swap meets

16 minutes ago, DocRob said:

Great progress with the big cat, Craig. The engineering of the AMK jet kits is fantastic and the fit of their MIG-31 kit was perfect, even on the most complicated parts, like the intakes. The only issue, I had with the kit, were the bang seats, which were horribly out of scale. I hope this is not the case with yours.

The pic shows the kit seat on the right, to the left is a seat from a Brassin refined SU-27 kit and in the middle is the seat with pilot, I used, I guess it was made by Aerobonus.



Cheers Rob

That's quite a dramatic difference between the three.

The Last WW2 Triple Ace, Bud Anderson, Dies At 102

Bud Anderson, the last World War II ‘triple ace,’ dies at 102 - Task & Purpose (taskandpurpose.com)

I'm leaning toward finishing her as a VF-2 Bounty Hunter OIF, 2003. All these photos are from that squadron.

This gives me the option of incorporating micro-size magnets to my ordnance, that way I could swap it out to any configuration I choose. If I find out I have the wrong combination, no big deal, just swap it out using magnetic action. 

The vendor tables were well stocked at the show as well. Among a few other other things I brought these home.

Didn’t have any plans for a 1:35 PT boat, but the price was right so I snagged it. Good trading material if nothing else.

The Iwata HP-CS airbrush is smooth as silk. A great all-around airbrush. If you find one for $75 or less at a swap meet, do yourself a favor and grab it. You won’t regret it.

Wow, Gary. That came out great, and fast, too!

33 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

Ah  yes  of course  aka  Flyhawks  hulls   (I should  have remembered that)

 

OC.

Your earlier question/comment made me realize I had not yet done a test-fit of the cockpit inside the forward fuselage.

Here are a few photos of a dry-fit test. 

I'm still debating whether to finish this kit as a bomber or equipped as in an air-to-air role....hmmmmm...decisions, decisions. 

33 minutes ago, Old Collingwood said:

What an  excellent idea,  so I guess  you  slide  the  tub assembly  in from  rear of the  assembly?

Wish more  kits  would  adapt  this  idea.

 

OC.

Yes, the cockpit and wheel well slide in from the back.

The are quite a few modern kits that are using slide mold technology already, though this is the first aircraft kit I've built where the entire forward fuselage is molded that way. On other kits, including this one, it's often found used in the ordnance pieces. In armor kits, the gun barrels. Flyhawk 1:700 ship models use slide molds as well.

Before I cut the forward fuselage from the sprue, I wanted you to see the slide mold technology used to form the forward fuselage in one piece instead of left and right halves. No seam to deal with.

Wish you the best on making this right. My own track record with merchandise returns to China is not good at all. Maybe Ebay will intercede somehow. It looks like it was cut with something. Was the packaging damaged as well?

41 minutes ago, Canute said:

Quite the show. Somebody was a huge Richard Petty fan, even had the Petty blue paint nailed. 😊

Someone sure was a Petty fan. He even had the car Petty "rented" for one race, the number 6 green Monte Carlo.

I saw Petty race at several Firecracker 400's on July 4th at Daytona. I was young when I went to those races way back then. Today, I would not want to sit through that heat for that long. It makes me realize how huge a fan was my dad for taking me to all those kinds of events when I was a kid. My dad loved racing, and he didn't care what kind of racing it was. Horse racing, buggy/trotter racing, motorcycle, sprint cars, clay track, hydroplanes. just everything. 

Worked on other projects this week, but one of those projects was about all I want to know about the subject...installed a new door gasket on a front load washing machine. Man, that thing gave me a workout. I count my blessings it was indoor work. The heat/heat index has been ridiculously hot this week.

All week I looked forward to today. There was a model car show in a neighboring county, and I showed up bright and early to see the model cars and vendors. Walked off with a few nice kits and took a lot of photos of the model car entries. A nice venue and a large crowd supported the show. I did not enter any models in this show because that requires you stay the entire day. I didn't feel like hanging out there all day long.

You are really getting the hang of the figure painting, Alan. Looks great!

Seeing the riders in short sleeves, I take it the weather is warm this time of year in your country, James. Here in the USA, in my home state of Florida, it's outright hot. Work too many hours in this heat, dehydration and a sun stroke could result. 

A great museum and some beautiful bikes in your photos.

Your vac canopy looks great, Dan. 

1 hour ago, chadwijm6 said:

Thanks for the comments CDW.

 

The ZM Fw does look great. There's also an interesting blog on their website, in 4 parts,with building tips I've had a look at. Don't know if you've seen it. 

 

https://www.zoukeimura.co.jp/en/sentiment/oyajiblog_128.html

 

I saw the model advertised in a magazine and couldn't resist. Not due here for a couple of months so the timing should be great for me.

Thanks for posting that! No, I had not seen that yet.

Love your engines and the cockpit looks super.

I bought that same ZM Fw a month ago. Beautiful kit.

Macro is a little fuzzy. Probably from not holding my camera still enough. Need to add the harnesses.

Photo of your clear coat looks very good. 

36 minutes ago, Canute said:

That seat looks good enough to need all the safing pins and flags. Very nicely detailed.

8 hours ago, Nirvana said:

The Dino has always been one of my few sport car favorites.

Very nice build!

To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been a Ferrari I didn't like. Ever. I've only known one person who was a Ferrari owner and he owned two. He had a job and a salary very similar to my own, so I was very curious as how the heck he did it. According to him, from time-to-time, you can buy a Ferrari that needs work for a reasonable price. On top of that, he had learned to do all his own work making repairs. I had always assumed (incorrectly I suppose) all Ferraris cost a small fortune.