FG2Si

Very nice looking 219. It's not an easy kit to build much less paint in that complex paint scheme. One day I'll finish mine. It currently looks like the one at the Smithsonian with the wings separate from the fuselage.

Well, I've managed to finish it just before the deadline. The tip tanks were masked and painted today. I then slipped the.into place. With those done, the build is complete. I'll try to get better pics shortly but otherwise I'm happy I finally got to build this version.

It's a very nice model. Nicely detailed and it goes together fairly well. I built mine as part of the Go Large or Go Home GB. Unfortunately I had so much fun doing it, I didn't paint it. Now it's going to be a bit of a challenge to do so.

Decals are now done. I think I'll make it in time. But barely.

Decals are my bane. I've got several builds that are stalled at the decal stage. Usually I start and then procrastinate over finishing. I just need to learn to push on through.

I've got more of the decal work done. Still have a few more they're all on. Biggest hurdle had been the lack of clear placement instructions I've been using the Leading Edge Models decal placement guide as a reference so at least I have that or I'd be leaving off a lot of the stencils.

Thanks, I know there's a vent and I'm trying to decide if I should try and add it now. I added it on my earlier CT-133 build so don't know why I didn't do it earlier.

Actually I cleaned up my bench. Slightly. If you want chaos, this is my other bench. The one I'm supposed to be working on. Don't know how our cat finds that a comfortable place to hang out.

The canopy is now painted. A quick test fit. The fit between the canopy and the windshield isn't that great so I'll probably have it open.

More progress, although not a huge amount. The wheels are painted. As is the landing gear bits. Carefully gluing it all together. None of the doors have mounting points so the fit was a bit vague. Hopefully they're in the ballpark. A quick check right side up.

It does look different without them. I still need to add them so not all is lost. As for the shake mouth, I put the first one on. The decals are from Above and Below and this is the first time I've used them. They're printed on a continuous sheet so need to be cut out. I've also painted the leading edges of all the flying surfaces in silver grey.

Max, it may be possible. I'm closer with the CT-133 so will probably focus on that and work on the Sea Fury in between.

I got more paintwork done today. I masked off the lower side of the plane. I then sprayed the blue upper colour on. With the masking tapes removed, I found a couple small areas that will need a quick touch up.

Max, it is definitely makes an interesting size comparison. I was surprised at how big the Sea Fury is relative to the Silver Star.

So I kept looking at this pic @trickyrich posted of his Seafire and something about was different to mine. Then I realized it was the insert behind the exhausts! My fuselage had a huge gaping hole on both sides and no mention of doing anything with it. But after looking at the pic, I realized that there should be something to close it up. Sure enough, I found a pair of panels that go in place. No mention of them in the instructions though. This gave me some impetus to get a bit more done. So I primed the lower wings and fuselage joint to see how it looked. I found a few flaws and fixed those. RCN Sea Fury colours are apparently quite the hornet's nest, especially in the two tone grey scheme. I ended up using a mix of Tamiya XF-19 and XF-83 in a 1:1 ratio that a friend used on his Sea Fury. Topside view. So some decent progress on the build.

Time for an update. The upper wings went on. No issues there thankfully so just a bit of seam filling along the leading edge. I made the tip tanks as well. The plane gets so much larger with those on. After some additional seam filling, I started on the paint. I've used a white grey for the underside as that's closer to the actual colour than a straight white. I found a few missed seams and did some touch-ups and then a second coat.

I would be up for this. Still have a bunch of Bandai kits in the stash.

There should be holes in the bulkhead that are sealed with grommets that the anchor cables pass through. I made a bulkhead for my 1/32 conversion following the images of Roy Sutherland's conversion. Hope that helps.

Like others have said, it's a great kit out of the box. I made the mistake of building mine simultaneously with the HK kit when they first came out. I stalled for a bit but when I got it finished, I was very happy with the results. Now to get back to the one I started converting to a Tse Tse.

That looks really good. Gotta love these Bandai Star Wars kits.

Rich, I think mine is more the exception than the rule because of the parts mix and match with regards to the wing and cowl.

Thanks Max. I really am enjoying this build. It's not something that's straightforward and yet it's been fun. As for the bench, I somehow manage to find what I need. I think it's mostly due to my putting things down in roughly the same spot all the time so I'm having to look around too much.

I can confirm it's out as I picked one up today from Wheels and Wings. The instructions are 58 pages!

Now the fun began. I installed the intakes and used a combination of Tamiya cement and CA for this. The wing root section of the fuselage that the intakes join to needs thinning out. Also the back corners of the cockpit tub need sanding so the intake trunks will clear it. For some reason, both front lower sections snapped off so I had to do some repairs as well. Thankfully the kit plastic was soft enough that the cement did a great job melting the broken bits back together. The rear fuselage section needs a spreader bar so that it better conforms to the shape of the lower wing. With that in place, the wing went on next. That's where I am now. Still can't believe how fast this one is going together since I only started it on Tuesday.

With the fuselage halves joined together, I had to do the next bit in the right order or I would be in trouble. First up was some nose weight stuck in the uh, nose. Then I fitted and glued in the nose gear bay. Again, a bit of sanding and fettling was needed. Then it was time for the cockpit. I had to use a couple clamps to hold it securely in place while the glue set.