zebra

Time to get cracking - first of all, here's the box shot: First impressions: Looks like a nice kit, the sprues and parts breakdown look a lot like many recent Ukrainian kits. I've started by dealing with the window strips - the fuselage halves have a long thin indented rectangle on each side where the windows go (you can see it in the photo above) and clear strips with the windows engraved on them go in these slots. You can either remove the plastic from the slots if you want clear windows, or put the window strips over it if you're using decals, which is what I'll be doing. Test fitting showed they sit ever so slightly proud over the fuselage, so I gave the back of each window strip a quick rub down with a 100 grit sanding sponge. After a bit of sanding to blend in the edges, this is what I ended up with: Quite happy with that. more soon Julian

Thanks Don! I probably used SMS paints, most likely their trainer yellow and Italian red. But I really can't remember!

Thanks @Adam Poultney for sharing the data. One thing that stood out to me was that more than half the STGBs had fewer finished models than the 25 sign-ups needed to get in the bunfight. I think that tells me there should be fewer STGBs so I agree with Enzo's proposal to shift the balance. I also wonder whether the shorter duration of an STGB contributes to the low build numbers - there have definitely been instances where I've not participated in an STGB because I've doubted whether I'd finish in time, but might have joined in if the duration was 4 months. So I also support making STGBs 4 months.

Great idea, count me in

Count me in, probably with a Stratocruiser or a KC-97 in 1/144. Conversion to the turboprop-powered YC-97J is tempting as well. I'd quite like to build a B-50 too, ideally in 1/144 so would need to be converted from a B-29, don't have one in the stash though. How about one of the Guppies? There's about as much B-29 in them as there is in a Stratocruiser after all.

I remember some fantastic airshows in that decade and there's plenty in the stash that's suitable - count me in

Canopy is on. Assembling the 4 piece canopy has to be one of the most annoying modelling tasks I've undertaken in ages! Masking the canopy will be the next job more soon Julian

No progress - I just haven't been in the mood for masking! I'll get back to it soon. My other dilemma is the green. It's meant to be Dark Brunswick Green, and I've got a jar of that from SMS, and I think it's pretty accurate but when I last used it (on a Manx BAC 1-11) I didn't like how dark it looked on the model - in some light it looks almost black. So I'm contemplating lightening it a bit.

Now it's an F.30: Getting close to painting time more soon Julian

This could be interesting - count me in. Like a couple of others my first thought was Viggen but there are other Swedish options. A few years ago I did a Swedish CH-46 in that scheme, it took about a week to mask! I'm sure I'll be able to find some other options in the stash as well.

Empennage, ailerons and engine added: Not much left to do before painting. more soon Julian

A bit more progress: Seams all cleaned up and nose cone, intakes and tailplane added. The nose cone was a surprisingly poor fit and needed a bit of work with a sanding stick to blend it in, everything else fit quite well - tailplane in particular, which says a lot about the engineering of the tail booms. more soon Julian

Coins. I quite often use small denomination coins - particularly foreign ones - this is 50 Australian cents. I'm running out though - I seem to use cash very rarely these days. More progress: Quite a bit of effort was needed to get the top and bottom halves of the forward fuselage to line up and go together properly - more locating pins or lugs would have been helpful. The method for locating the tail booms is quite good though - it would be hard to get them seriously misaligned. more soon Julian

The 1/72 kit came out last year - I'm building one at the moment

More progress: