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Right, this is my entry to this group build. A true salty sea dog serving in the French Navy from 1964 until 1999, being then replaced by the Rafale. The Crusader received an upgrade sometime in the Nineties because of an unexpected extension of service life making it an F-8P for prolongé. I think the necessity was given by the delay of the Rafale. So I will convert the Academy kit to an Crusader prolongé of the French Navy and will give her a paint scheme commemorating the reaching of 100.000 flight hours of the type in the French Navy, hence the title of this thread. This build contains some 'firsts' for me. first ever participation in a grup build first ever aircraft build not oob first ever attempt at a conversion first ever use of resin parts So this build will be quite out of my comfort zone. I will use aftermarket as follows: Armycast wings update set Armycast decalset 'The Last Gunfighter in the French Navy service' Eduard cockpit set New Ware paint masks Okay, enough babbling, now the pics. Really looking forward to start this build next year!

I've always liked the looks of the massive “Jug”, i.e. the barrel-shaped Republic Thunderbolt P-47D, and prefer its bubbletop version to the razorback one. The painting of the USAF Thunderbolts was very colorful at the end of the war, and the well-known "Tarheel Hal" is an excellent example of that. There is still an airworthy one in the USA, painted in that colourful “camo”. Tarheel Hal was the personal mount of Lt. Davis in the 9th Air Force, on the European theatre. Tar heel is the nickname given to the residents of North Carolina, and it is also used for students at the University of North Carolina. I built my model from the Academy kit, but I got the decals from the USA through one of the international model forums. The decals are probably from an old Hasegawa P-47D model that I believe is no longer available. For the modeI also used photoetch parts from Eduard. The kit was of good quality and I didn’t encoungter any problems in the assembly. I painted the metal colour fuselage and wings with Alclad aluminium after having primed the areas with Tamiya black rattle-can spray.

And my dad starts the next Latin American subject. DSC_0003 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0004 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

First announced Academy reboxing scheduled for release in January 2023 - ref. 12353 - Vought F4U-4 Corsair - Battle of Chosin Reservoir Sources: https://1999.co.jp/eng/10935104 https://mmzone.co.kr/mms_tool/mt_view.php?mms_db_name=mmz_review&no=38038 http://www.interallied.co.jp/release/2022/11/13489 V.P.

The M3A1 halftrack is my all time favourite military vehicle, so I had to join in with this group build! I've always thought the M3/M3A1 halftrack was surprisingly under represented in kit form, especially considering how widely they were used. In 1/35 there was the Tamiya M3A2 (a version which never saw combat) and Dragon's more recent kit, which is a bit out of my price range. In 1/72 and 1/76, there is the very inaccurate Airfix offering, the long in the tooth Hasegawa version and the subject of this build, Academy's M3A1. Whilst not perfect from what I've read, it is by far the best small scale kit of this vehicle out there. Bought mine cheaply off Ebay, complete but minus box, so in the absence of that, the black and white picture on the instructions will have to suffice; Kit looks nicely moulded; Nice clear instructions; And, as you hardly ever see a photo of an uncluttered halftrack, I'll be using this Redog M3 halftrack stowage set. Used a generic Redog stowage set on my Airfix Universal Carrier, and was really pleased with how much it enhanced a simple model; Won't be starting it for a week or so, as I've got a couple of builds to finish in the Revell/Monogram group build, but I'm looking forward to getting stuck into this.

Minicraft Model Kits closing down ? To be confirmed. Source: https://www.aviationmegastore.com/en/modelling/lockheed-c130j-30-hercules-last-stocks-mincraft-has-ended-activities-minicraft-14700-134122.html Minicraft Model Kits official links: Homepage: https://minicraftmodels.com/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100054426042044 Twitter: https://twitter.com/MinicraftModels V.P.

AT-6C/D & SNJ-3/3C Texan (SH72450) ’Training to Win’ 1:72 Special Hobby The North American Aviation T-6 Texan has a long history dating from its inception as the NA-16 in 1935 right up to 1970, and even today there are flying versions in various Warbird associations, sometimes masquerading as Mitsubishi Zeroes in films. The T-6 (in various designations from NA-16, through B1 to T-6 etc.) was originally produced as a basic trainer but over time it was upgraded to an advanced trainer (AT-6 Texan) with improved performance for basic and combat type flying training, plus an added facility for training rear gunners. The T-6 was also supplied to Britain and Commonwealth nations and designated the Harvard (I & II) and was in service during WW2 and for many years post war. Many British, Commonwealth and American pilots earned their wings flying a Texan, although it was known to have a fairly severe stall characteristic. Powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-1340 Wasp that gave it a unique harsh buzzing engine note, the SNJ-3C was fitted with arrestor gear to facilitate deck landing trials for pilots destined to serve on aircraft carriers. The Kit This is a re-boxing of the Academy kit by Special Hobby with an additional injected clear sprue for the different canopies used and some resin parts, a small Photo-Etch (PE) fret, a miniscule slip of pre-printed clear acetate sheet, a decal sheet and instruction booklet. The Academy kit is well-regarded, so the additional parts and decal sheet should give the model an additional boost by the time you have completed it. Construction begins with the cockpit, starting with the two seats, which both get a new set of PE four-point seat belts before they are glued to the cockpit floor, which also receives a linked pair of control columns running down much of the centre of the floor. The sidewalls are applied to the floor along with a central coaming, rear bulkhead and rear deck, with a decal for the instrument panel under the coaming. The front panel also has a decal, and is attached to a spur inside the front of the cockpit aperture within the fuselage, while the cockpit assembly is held in place by a number of raised supports, but first several small sections around the cockpit and front cowling are removed, as shown in red. Only one decal option doesn’t have the resin insert in the starboard side of the nose cowling, so get your decal option sorted early in the process to avoid issues. The exhaust collector ring is slid over the fluted front of the fuselage, then the engine is made up, consisting of a bulkhead to which the engine is moulded as one part, fixing on a ledge inside the resin cowling, except the first decal option, which uses the kit part. The twin bladed prop inserts into the front of the bell-housing and is secured at the rear by a small cup that can leave the blade mobile. The low-mounted wings are supplied full-width on the underside, into which the central bay insert is placed, painting the area interior green, as well as small sections of the inside of the upper wings where the gear legs will fix. It can then be mated with the fuselage, and the completed engine assembly attaches by two pegs at the front. A resin machine gun with fairing is glued onto the starboard side in front of the cockpit for one decal option, and the gunsight is only needed that same option, folding up into a triangular shape, with the glazing replicated by the small and eminently losable slip of acetate, taking great care with the glue. The elevators are each a single part and fix to the tail by the usual slot and tab method, then the canopy can be installed, starting with the windscreen, then adding the two rear sections that are found on the additional clear sprue. Another clear part forms the glazing for the wing-mounted landing light in the leading edge of each wing, and a pitot inserts into the starboard wingtip. An intake attaches to the port side of the forward fuselage, then right in the pilot’s eyeline, a post for the radio antenna is fixed to the deck in front of the windscreen. Inverting the model (taking care of that antenna), the landing gear can be made up from individual legs with separate outer bay doors and wheels. The tail wheel has a choice of a faired-in assembly for one option, or a bare wheel with strut moulded-in for the rest. One camouflage option also needs an arrestor hook and curved bumper from the resin parts glued in front of the tail wheel. The final act is adding an intake under the rear of the engine cowling and a pair of actuators to the undersides of the elevators. You are also invited to fill a small hole under the wings in between the two main gear bays, and flat-back three raised lights under the fuselage as these variants didn’t have the recognition lights fitted. Markings There are a generous seven decal options on the sheet included with the kit, and each one has a page devoted to it with four views and a list of colours using names and Gunze codes. Most of them are painted silver, but with enough variation to appeal to most modellers, but my favourite is the one in blue grey. From the box you can build one of the following: AT-6D-NT Texan 4134617 ‘Bridget SPM Baby’, 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Group, Middle Wallop (USAAF Station 449), Great Britain, 1944 SNJ-3C Texan BuNo. 6792, J-9, NAS Glenview, Illinois, Autumn 1942 SNJ-3C Texan BuNo. 6792, 11-1, Marine Aircraft Group 11, Cactus Air Force, Turtle Bay, Espiritu Santo, South Pacific, October 1943 AT-6C 42-3996, 77th Flying Training Wing, Foster Field, Texas, 1943 SNJ-3 Texan BuNo. 6773, Training Squadron Three, Detachment 8-B, NAS Pensacola, Florida, 1942 AT-6C Texan, 41-17249, X-508, Luke Field, Arizona, 1942 AT-6C Texan, 41-17249, X-508, Luke Field, Arizona, 1942 The decals are printed in the Czech Republic, and are in good register, colour density and sharpness, with a thin gloss carrier film over the printed areas. Looking at the carrier film I surmise that they are printed by Eduard, and as of 2021, the carrier film from Eduard decals can be coaxed away from the printed part of the decal after they have been applied, effectively rendering them carrier-free, making the decals much thinner and more realistic, and obviating the need to apply successive coats of clear varnish to hide the edges of the film. It’s a great step further in realism from my point of view, and having now tested them on my recent F4F-3 Wildcat, I’m a fan. Conclusion A welcome reboxing of a well-regarded kit with some resin and PE extras to give it some individuality, and a host of interesting decal options that you can remove the carrier film from after application. Highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

Hello everyone! Here's my rendition of the much-maligned Academy 1/72 Spitfire Mk. XIV kit. Dare I say it on Britmodeller of all places, but I admit that I'm not that knowledgeable about the Spitfire, particularly the Griffin-engined marks. The kit was a gift from my now ex-girlfriend back in 2018, when she kindly tried nudge me back into the hobby as a respite from a severe work burnout. It sat in the stash for a while but over the past couple of years I found myself quite in debt (a mortgage and family health issues, not the criminal sort), so having a lot of free time at home, I started building through the kits stash, a dozen kits that were sitting idle for well over fifteen years, when I bought them back in high school. In fact, I completed this kit back in May of this year, but I've been a bit lax about taking photos and sharing the build - because if there's anything worse than my modelling skills, it's my skill as a photographer! I believe much has been written about the Academy kit. It's a strangely mixed bag of very fine engraved panel lines, excellent cockpit detail, incorrect overall shape, very incorrectly shaped radiators, thick and incorrect decals. Given my lack of in-depth knowledge on the subject, I decided to go easy on this one and not try to correct the geometry errors but build it mostly out of the box with minor improvements - I added a glass reflector gunsight, and "padded" the seatbelt decals with masking tape. This didn't turn out as good as I hoped but it's still better than flat decals on the seat. The tires are finely detailed and wight-flattened out of the sprue but there are alignment pins that causes the flat area to sit at an angle against the ground, so I had to reshape them using several layers of CA glue and a lot of sanding to get them aligned. Paints are entirely my own mix of Mr. Color acrylics, top coated with a 1-to-3 mix of Mr. Color acrylic gloss and matt varnish. Initially I used the decals for the DW-D service tag but as the Academy decals were way too dark for RAF Sky, and somewhat transparent, I had to mix a new batch of Sky and paint over them with a brush, then coat with varnish again. Definitely was a nerve shattering experience as I repainted it on the evening before taking the model to an expo last week. It seems that the yellow bands on the wingtips should be smaller but I'm going to overlook that one. Spitfire Mk. XIV RB159, DW-D, No. 610 Squadron "County of Chester, Summer 1944, flown by CO Richard Newbury who shot down 9 V-1 flying bombs. Wikimedia commons photo of the real plane. Anyway, enough blabbering, here's the end result!

Hi all, My mad dash to finish up shelf-queens continues. The next one off the shelf of doom (tm) is Academy's fantastic F-84. I only changed out Academy's dodgy decals with a random Superscale sheet I had laying around. I forget the squadron, but I believe it's from a unit stationed in West Germany in the early 1950s. The kit has a well-earned reputation for being excellent, and construction was problem free. The project stalled on my desk mainly because of my fickle ways, and because I forgot to add nose-weight. I had it assembled, painted, and even partially decaled, but set it aside when I realized it would be a tail-sitter. Then earlier this year I discovered a product called liquid gravity. I was able to get enough of the tiny pellets in through the open nose to make the kit almost balanced. More weight was then added into the drop tanks, and problem solved! The Superscale sheet was sized for the Tamiya kit and so didn't fit exactly. Gaps along edges needed to be touched up with paint, and some creative centering and stretching of decals was required on areas where its less obvious. The drop tank checkers were particularly tricky, and I messed up the alternating pattern at the top where the two halves meet. I can live with it, I Imagine Airman Pyle soldered two wrong tank halves together or whatever :) If its screw-upable in 1:72 it could have been screw-upable in 1:1. Looking at the finished kit, I wonder why I let it sit unfinished on the shelf for five years. It ain't perfect l, but I'm happy with it.

Everyone builds airplanes, but I don't. This needs to be fixed. I want to build a prototype XF6F1 Hellcat. I will use the ACADEMY model.

Hello guys I would like to show you my new model F-15SA (saudi advanced) royal saudi Air Force Actually the kit I use is Academy F-15K 1/72 but I design and print some F-15SA part the decal is custom made I hope you like it ˆ_ˆ

Wolfpack Design is to rebox (with upgrades ?) the Academy 1/48th Supermarine Spitfire F.Mk.XIVc - ref. WP14817 Source: http://www.wolfpack-d.com/htm/kit.html And soon http://www.wolfpack-d.com/catalog/htm/wp14817.html V.P.

With all that has befallen the UK in the last few days, it has been all too easy to overlook other worldwide events. Yesterday, 11th September, was the 21st anniversary of the massive co-ordinated terrorist attacks on the United States. This year also sees 50 years since the F-15 first flew. To mark both events, I have built the 1/72 Academy F-15E kit, with Two Bobs decals for "Lady Liberty" of the 48th Fighter Wing (The Statue of Liberty Wing), USAF Europe, based at RAF Lakenheath in the UK. This aircraft also bears the image of the Twin Towers along with the text "Never Forget". ... and with my other build of the month, more of which later !

Here is my latest and probably my most detailed 1/72 model to date. I used the "old" 😉 but still very good kit by Academy released in 2007. Good fit, decent detail and great decals printed by Cartograf. To show more movement and detail I've dropped the front slats, ailerons and flaps and I've added the nice and crisp Aires cockpit resin set and Black Dog's box which includes the electronic bays, canon, radar, spine and engine. The Black Dog set is good but is not at the same fine level as the Aries one, and in fact some of the pieces had pretty bad fit, so I ended up replacing them with some scratch build ones like the partition wall in the engine bay or the hatches for the avionics. All weathering was done using oil paints. F/A-18A+ US Marine Corps VMFA-232 "Red Devils", USS Nimitz, Persian Gulf 2007 Thanks for looking!

Sorry to be mysterious- I feel honor-bound to speak up, but as of this moment have NO idea what kit or subject I've got in mind. Maybe, just maybe, an early model in Army Maneuvers temporary markings? 48th, unless I foolishly decide to throw my 32nd Revell into the ring...

Good day friends, Here is the second kit I was able to complete after my hiatus from Britmodeller. This is the F-35B from Academy. While I am not fond of the subject, I am of the kit. This offering from Academy turned out to be one of the most enjoyable and fun kits to spend some time on. The highlights are as follows………… 1. Built straight out of the box. I did NOT add the variety of ordnance, markings / decals, or other details. 2. Overall color : Mission Models Have Glass Grey #MMP-083 ( FS 36170 ) 3. Weathered using washes The level of detail is superb with this kit and more importantly, the fit is excellent!!!!! Often, when a kit has an abundance of detail, the fit between parts tends to suffer. Not with this one. This STOVL version can be built with all of the doors opened and exhaust nozzle pointed downward or in the option I chose here. Furthermore, newer versions of the F-35 are the overall Have Glass grey ( with a bit of sheen to it ) and no longer employ the complex lighter edge colors for specific panels although decals are provided to create one. I enjoyed the kit so much that I went out and purchased two more. This is a great kit and I recommend it for all skill levels. Thank you in advance, Mike ( My apologies for the poor quality of photographs of this Academy F-35 and my previous Tamiya P-47. I do not have the proper studio for the high quality photographs that are so commonly found here. Portable lighting, white poster board paper as a background, an IPad, and my poor skills do not produce the desired results. )

Greetings, friends, colleagues and forum guests! I'd like to show one of my models, which I completed at the end of last year. I am not a fan of Luftwaffe models, however, German jets of the end of WWII, including "paper" projects, so called "Luft'46" excite my imagination. Me-163B "Komet" is one of them. Indeed, one of the first jet aircrafts in the world, which was put into service and actually participated in the battles, and there was only enough fuel for 7 minutes of engine operation. An interceptor fighter that did not have the opportunity to repeat the attack. There are also a lot of interesting things in its appearance: the “tailless” a/c, which threw off a cart with wheels during takeoff and landed on a retractable ski, probably had the first cockpit glass without a binding. So I could not pass by the "Komet". Those few facts that I knew about it made me eager to have such an aircraft in my collection, and an inexpensive set from Academy, which also includes a tractor, determined the final decision. As usual, I would like to show pictures of the model first and then in the next post to reveal some steps of assembly.

Had this kit since it came out, just needed a good excuse to get it started & here it is. The only D-Day special that I didn't manage to get a photo of with these markings, got the other two so building this will make up for it. I've been told that 91-0603 with the D-Day stripes & yellow tail was slightly more elusive of the three which only makes me feel slightly better! So - Academy kit - 1/72 F-15E 494th 91-0603 of the 48th FW. Initially I would have liked to build it out of the box, but the engine nozzles look ok but not as refined as I'd like so if anyone could recommend some decent resin nozzles for it would be appreciated. I might even buy some 3d printed cockpit details, not sure yet. Just a small start to it. Removing the seam line on the canopy then a dip to help give it some clarity after a fine buffing. That's it for now. Will be minimum time available this week to go any further with it as I hopefully will try & get some pics at LN on my day off. Also does anybody know if the blue tail F-15C of the 493rd "D-Day Special" has been done in decal form? Would be great if this is out there somewhere. Martin

Hi all, had nothing small and simple enough to knock together in 24 hours that I hadn't already started so had to raid my dads stash for his Academy MiG-21. Nice, simple kit- comes with Finnish decals but since its just a MiG-21F-13 I may use some spare decals and do it in an East German scheme, maybe even a Vietnamese or Chinese scheme as a J-7. Looking forward to taking part in my first Blitzbuild weekend. Thanks for looking in!

#17/2022 My dad´s next completion. It´s a long way to Mukumbura... Used the old Academy kit from 1997. It has its flaws and issues but overall not that bad. Wings to fuselage joints and air intakes needed some more filler and work. The cockpit is rather basic and the seat too small. Used cockpt sidewalls and seat from a True Details cockpit set. The landing gear and covers (and their mounts) are a bit fragile. The frontal front cover broke off twice. Although the Hawker main landing gear has a bit of an "O leg" character, Academy´s legs look a bit too much inwards, my dad didn´t change that. The Academy kit only includes the 100mm rocket pods which the Rhodesian Airforce didn´t use. Took some suiting 68mm pods from the Airfix Hunter F.6 kit. Had an Xtradecal sheet and one from Fundekals. Used the Xtradecal ones because their size of the roundels did fit better to the Academy kit. Model shows an aircraft of the RhAF in the early 70ies when all their aircraft still wore all ID and national markings which were all removed later on in the war. This aircraft had its number "1821" applied on the frontal front gear cover. Xtradecal provided no number, Fundekals only "821", so kept it off. The Rhodesian and later Zimbabwe Hunters had distinctive yellow stencils on each fuselage side of the cockpit, which aren´t provided by neither of the two sheets. Painted with Tamiya XF-52 Flat Earth and XF-81 Dark Green (RAF). The sliding canopy is too thick and narrow to display it open, so you should use a vacform one if you wanna do it open. Maybe gonna build a new Rhodesian Hunter someday with the Airfix kit. Build thread here https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235109869-bush-war148-hawker-hunter-fga9-rhodesian-airforce/ DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0002 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0001 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0005 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0006 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0007 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0008 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0009 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0010 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0011 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0012 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0013 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0014 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0015 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0016 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0017 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0018 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0019 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0020 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr DSC_0021 by grimreaper110, auf Flickr

Hi all. It's been a slow year at Casa de Crosby but a second build has crawled it's way over the line. The kit is the quite nice 1/72 Academy F/A-18D converted to an Aussie B. In order to get to the B version that we flew, a few lumps and bumps need to be removed from the plastic as well as a few omissions in the way of the ECM blister behind the canopy and the cheeks of the nose. Aussie machines also had the catapult launch bar replaced with a square piece of steel bar similar in weight to the original launch bar. They did operate without the launch bar for some time however shimmy problems of the nose gear required the installation of the bar to negate this problem. Another item that needs to be addressed for RAAF machines is the tail stiffener on the left side of each of the fins. The Kinetic kit comes with the stiffeners as etch items so I scanned then traced them in Affinity Studio, scaled them down to 1/72 and then cut them in vinyl. A bit of Mr Surfacer of the top and they blend in well. The reinforcing cleats at base on the inside of the fins are also needed however as this kit was a D version they weren't supplied. If you've the A/A+ boxing you'll be in luck as they are included. I made mine from some plastic card cut to appropriate size and shape. The decals are from Ronin Graphics here in Australia. They are very thin and the colour density is excellent but they are quite fragile if not handled correctly. I managed to fold a section of the tiger decals on itself so had to order a second set...doh. Anyone want a 95% complete set of this scheme in 72nd? A colour chip of the orange is also provided with the decals so some paint alchemy, 30 minutes and lots of test spraying and I think I nailed the colour. There are many photos of this jet showing how worn out the grey scheme was at the end of its service life. A good example are the stabs. The left and right side are inter-changeable and this can be seen in the photos with the lighter colour of the underside appearing on the top side indicating they had been swapped out. I could spend hours on the weathering of the airframe but I'm happy with where I've got it to. Perhaps if it was 48th I'd spend a lot more time on it. Enough words, onto the pics. Hope you like! Mick The sticker is courtesy of a local chap in my home town who does a heap of cool retro style ADF stickers. The badge is also the official number of total hours that RAAF Hornets flew during their years of service. Bancroft (the workshop mascot) has lined up for the first ride.

Good evening. As you can see by the sale stickers (and price!) this has been in the Vault for some time. With the joy of a cost of living crisis, I will be building this out of the box, so that will mean the original "bang seat" with the included flight crew present to negate the need for aftermarket belts. Looking forward to this. Icarus

Another filler kit to fill the Canberra paint drying time the Academy F4f-4. No real period pictures of the Wildcat with the star and bar roundel scheme so opted to use a few pics from life magazine with the star and bar and reference material. It’s a very simple kit if almost say starter kit but goes together well. Grand total of 8 decals although 4 where no use to my example. (Aircraft number) As always I look forward to your comments/tips/suggestions.

Hi all Here are the photos for my latest finished model. Academy kit 1/72 Very nice kit to build straight out of the box. I didi a few scratch built details like the seatbelts for the ejection seat, the canopy tinting, threads on the tyres and a landing light on the nose landing gear. I regretted to made the option to leave the canopy open since it was very hard to glue it in place and it still a little bit crooked. The have glass painting was a mixed of Tamiya and Gunze to get the match. I've tried SMS 69 Have Glass but I wasn't happy with the colour (too greenish to my taste). Comments and critics are welcomed.

I am a prolific model kit purchaser and pretty good at starting projects, but not so good at seeing them through to completion. Hence my appearance here at Britmodeller in a bid to curb this trend. Thinking pragmatically, my subject choice is modest in terms of size and difficulty, and perhaps most importantly will not feature aftermarket goodies or a complex paint scheme. So, here we go with Academy's new tooling from last year. According to various reviews I have read, this is more accurate than the Great Wall Hobby offering from 2020, so when I saw it going for a decent price at RIAT a week or so ago, temptation prevailed. Having built so many good Academy kits over the years, I felt confident that this would be a good decision.