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Hello all, Have just been puttering away on various old projects; not certain whether many would make a good WIP. However, there is one (actually of many) items that have been worrying my feeble mind for a number of years, trying to decide how to go about modeling them, the Ryan FR-4 Fireball, which is essentially an up-engined and modified FR-1 Fireball. These modifications were enough to make this version 100 mph faster than the original. I read somewhere on line that this aircraft held the world's speed record for a brief time. The visible modifications (or at least those of most concern to the modeler) consist of 1) removing the jet intakes from the leading edge of the wing 1) replacing said wing intakes with NACA intake ducts, and 3) lengthening the aircraft by some 4 inches. Judging from drawings and photos, the latter seems to consist of a longer tailpipe, so not too bad to manage. The best photo I could find of the FR-4 is this one, which shows the hardest areas of the needed mods: Not very exciting in terms of markings, is it? Note especially the raised lip around the NACA intakes; they are NOT flush with the outside of the aircraft! We shall attempt to duplicate them a little later on. For now, we begin with the basic MPM FR-1 Fireball kit in 1/72 scale (The ONE TRUE SCALE for all you slackers out there!) It looks like this: Note the nice brass PE -- probably the hardest part of the stock kit, other than a little flash here and there. BTW, don't even think of trying this mod with the Pegasus kit! It has so many problems that most wise men would probably bin it instead. I didn't, whence cometh the ire! I began by marking a straight line across the wings, showing where the protruding intakes need to be removed, by my trusty razor saw: I then sawed off the offending bits, as well as the front part of the wing that was molded onto the fuselage: Next the wheel wells were painted, and the leading edge of the wing was stuffed full of Milliput's finest, and the the wings were squeezed together, glued and clamped. The Milliput was then roughly shaped to a rough airfoil, pending more accurate sanding later. Those of you familiar with Milliput ill understand the need to get it shaped as well as possible before it hardens. It's not impossible to sand, but tough: And sanded: Also, be sure to clean any excess squeeze-out from the wheel wells! Well, that's all for now. Just a bit to peak your interest, assuming you are crazy enough to follow along. By the way, if a "grognard" (a soldier of the "Old Guard of Napoleon) is a very avid wargamer, what are we as modelers? Ed