planecrazee

Looking really good Julian - she's really taking shape now I'm going to have to get my skates on to try and get anywhere close to your progress - I'm the first to admit I'll never win any awards for 'getting on with it' lol Kris

Thanks James and yes, it's well worth a try if you ever come up against something similar Kris

Thanks @zebra I was in two minds to do the same to begin with as the end result won't really be seen but thought if nothing else it would be a good practice to see how well this worked 👍 Kris

Thanks Craig - much appreciated. Yes, I find that strange too, especially when on some parts of the kits the ejector pin marks seem well thought out and hidden when put together and then on other parts it's like they've just stuck them anywhere Kris

Hi Craig, Really sorry for your loss - it must be hard not having your modelling companion with you What a fitting tribute though to dedicate your build to her 👍 Your Mossie is looking superb so far and I particularly love what you've done on the landing gear - at first glance I thought it was a photograph of some landing gear as the wheels in particular looked so realistic Will be following with interest and looking forward to the end result Kris

Hi folks, So more progress made today by getting the Tamiya XF-71 on all the interior parts which will allow me to start on the the detail painting and weathering and then I can bring the fuselage together: One of the things I've noticed in the kit is that there are a number of ejector pin marks in some awkward places - mainly between framing on the fuselage parts which would be nigh on impossible to sand out or even fill and sand. There 's a few marks on the fuselage halves and a hell of a lot on the roof section of the fuselage (as you can tell in the pic below). Whilst the fuselage side pin marks would be easily seen, the roof would be obscured but I still thought it best to try and get rid of them. Therefore, I tried a different method that some of you may have done before (so not going to try and patent it ) which was fairly successful. I decided to use pieces of masking tape that have been cut (like you would when masking a canopy using a scalpel) to fit the individual frames - as you can see here: Then once painted up, you've got something that looks like this: It's by no means perfect but a much quicker and easier solution to sorting out difficult ejector pin marks and leaves you with a much better finish than just leaving them there as they were. Just wanted to share that little tip with you in case it's of use to any of you in your future builds. So next step is detail painting and beginning to bring the fuselage together 👍 Hope to have another update for you soon Thanks Kris

That's all looking the part now Julian - great progress I'm creeping up slowly behind you to get to the stage of getting some interior green on my interior parts. Nice to see that we're representing the commonwealth by you doing a Canadian version and me doing an Australian one 👍 Kris

I think you're doing a great job so far Jes and the kit is well worth persevering with in my opinion. I had some of the same issues that you're having but with a bit of patience and time I think it builds up into a really nice little model and is probably one of my favourites in my cabinet. If it's of any help or inspiration to you at all, here's a link to my rendition of the kit as a Soviet SB 2M-100A, which, if I'm not mistaken, is the same as the licence built Avia B-71. Looking forward to seeing your progress as you go along Kris

I think so too James - changing the plastic has helped to stop some of the details being a little soft so I'm really impressed 👌

Thanks James and yes, definitely a lovely kit. I think the new plastic from Airfix really makes all the difference too as the parts and details are much more crisp and refined 😁

Thanks @zebra Glad to hear you're enjoying your kit too - I know I'm loving every minute so far

Hiya folks, I've been spending the past couple of days on and off gluing plastic to plastic and have made a fair amount of progress. The main cockpit parts are starting to take shape as you can see here with the additions of the control column, port side framing and wing spar : The fit of the parts as well as the detail is superb. I love Airfix kits, my stash is pretty much taken over by Airfix and their latest kits just keep getting better and better - love it The main instrument panel and seats have also been put together... …and then finally I've made a start on the fuselage halves and have glued in the separate side pieces which provide additional details on each half: I'm trying to pull things together in sub-assemblies and thinking ahead about painting all the time. I'm wanting to get as much ready for the interior green as possible and then glue in the additional parts that require further painting afterwards such as the instrument panel, seats and also the radio/instruments which are yet to come. I'm trying to make it as easy as possible because the danger is you glue everything in and paint it interior green but then you make it less accessible for detail painting later on. That's my plan anyway🤞 I'm hoping my next update will be to show you what she's starting to look like once the interior green has been put down and when there's a bit more interest with the additional detail painting👍 Best wishes Kris

Off to a good start James As I mentioned previously, I've built the Eduard kit but not the Airfix kit so looking forward to seeing how this one turns out - especially in the Trop scheme 😁 Kris

Thanks James - that's much appreciated I definitely wouldn't put you off doing the green scheme with the shark mouth but obviously the choice is yours 😁 Kris

Thanks very much @modelling minion - that's very kind of you 👍