Thom216

Aaargh!!! I can NOT stop screwing myself up!! I went to use Testors contour putty for the sides, thinking it would be nice and easy to sand off (it is an old tube too, I do not recall when/where/how I bought it...) I put a thin smear down both sides along the top and bottom seam and, after drying. started sanding. Then cleaning the sanding stick. Then sanding. Then cleaning the sanding stick. Then sanding stick. Then cleaning the sanding stick.... The damn putty keeps clogging up the sanding stick/paper far before I see any result. I shoudl have stuck with CA! Anyone have any idea how to dissolve this stuff?

So intricate and small, it's scary!

Bit the plastic! Snipped and shaved and the part sits nice and flat. (this post has been updated to show that I have not forgotten this build!) Model on! Thom

Going back to it, I trimmed up the bow piece a little bit. I used a high grit to start taking down the 'extra' plastic. And some CA to fill some holes. And where she is at the moment. Now I'm going to start hitting the seam line going down the sides. Model on! Thom

Man, that is such an attractive scheme on that attractive plane!

Tell'm Maverick was flying. Tell'm Maverick was flying.

Sorry to say, I bit off more than I could chew.

What sorry for?! I have one in the stash as well and would hope to do as good a job as you have!

Love those little boats.

Love it! It looks like you took a little moment from the movies and plunked it right down on your desk!

The first time I saw this plane was a commercial for World of Warship(?) or some similar game. Lovely plane, and always disappointed that it is not in 1/48!! Yours is looking great. Nice job.

One of the drawbacks of not being purpose-built carriers is that they had to squeeze everything for the aircraft into on top of a battlecruiser hull. It was quite congested in there. It was the same thing with the Lexington class being converted from their intended battlecruiser role. It wasn't until the Yorktown class that the ships were purpose built around their aircraft.

Read a book once with this plane on the cover as a trans-atmospheric fighter called the Mako Shark. (I think I'm remembering that correctly, It was decades ago and now I'm old!) As for the price of these kits, that is crazy! But the only way they charge that is if people are paying it, which is crazier!

@ArnoldAmbrose That was in consideration. but I had already started gluing the sides before that point, and at least this is a far smaller area to 'correct.' Thanks for watching - and I hope to finish it! @Trevor L Thanks you! And part of it is just not realizing what you are getting into it! Alright, with the sectioned stern, it came out narrower in its new position. Next time I do this (cause I still have the full-deck version to do at some point as well) I will cut the piece lengthwise before going across, which would leave two pieces. They would then be glued on even with the sides and will just leave an easier gap down the middle to fill. But as it went, it was alright, I cut some chunks of styrene to an approx.. shape and glued them on and then sanded it all flush. The shape is there, it just needs to be finalized and smoothed out. Then the bow! And yeah, I am now anticipating fit problems with the decks. Finally, a quick comparison shot with her proposed 'other' self. Model on! Thom

Alright, so I started with the bow. I took a PE razor saw and reopened the bow in order to line it up with the width of the bottom hull. I glued the sides down until reaching the bow, which left a 'bit' of a gap. So I charged into the styrene stash and found piece with a good width, cut it to 'shape' and stuck it in. Much of the gap has closed up there and the rest will be taken care of with some sanding. While that dried, I went to the stern, and 'nipped the tip.' This is a piece not to be losing! (now I realize I should have cut this piece in half and when gluing back on pushed them to the sides. Now I'll have to add some stryene to the outsides of it to help blend it back in.) Then as I did with the bow, I cut through the seam and opened up the sides so I could glue them individually towards the back. I glued the 'tip' back on and observed the gap left over... (I'm not worried, you're worried!) Some shims are in place here. All that'll buff out. Much more to do! Thom