Dunny

Lovely work Chris - those decals have really complimented your lovely paintwork. Not far off now! Cheers, Roger

Impressively speedy work Mark - look forward to seeing this one! Cheers, Roger

Thanks very much Wu! I agree that the range and ordnance of the P38 could have made a big difference - what juicy modelling subjects too! Appreciate the kind words...

Thanks very much James - most enjoyable it is too!

Now that is a good looking scheme CC - will look forward to seeing it take shape! Cheers, Roger

Coming along nicely Alistair - I'm almost tempted to crack out my 1:48 Tamiya FB Mk.VI, Cheers, Roger

Andrew, Lovely build and finish - particularly impressive is your treatment of the exhaust collectors. Most realistic, Cheers, Roger

Mark, A stunning RFI and a very engaging WIP - impressively speedy with no sacrifice in quality. Lovely work, Cheers, Roger

Good to see you on board Colin - great personal connection too! Good luck with this little beauty, Cheers, Roger

This one is worth a little trouble Chris

Thanks very much Chris - the kit is jaw-droppingly good. You need one...

Hi All, Another brief update. I decided to crack on with the nose this afternoon. Gluing the 3 components together with CA was a simple enough task, and on offering up the nose assembly (with bearing blutacced in place) revealed the extent of the gap: I'd already noted that the nose was slightly wider than the fuselage, so you can see I've started the process of profiling it (no shortcoming of the Red Roo set - as noted previously it is intended for the Academy kit ). In order to fill the rather cavernous gap I cut a shim from 1mm plastic card: Once that had been glued in position and set I then started profiling it: I also shimmed the area ahead of the canopy, and filled the remaining gaps with Tamiya putty. I'll let that dry until next time, so here's a final shot showing the state of play on the underside: A bit out of focus, but taking shape nicely - some attention with some fine wet & dry and some rescribing should see it come up nicely! Thanks for looking, Roger

Noted - I hope it proves to be plain sailing!

Hi All, Some more good progress today. I started out with constructing the main landing gear bays. Here we are part way through the RH assembly: As you can see there is plenty of lovely detail in there which popped nicely after an oil wash - you can also see the torus at the engine end which locates the ball bearing weight. Here's the finished article: Looks lovely! And another shot with said bearing in position: Tamiya thoughtfully provide decals for the radiator grilles: So here's what they look like in position: You can see that I'd also already painted the internal surfaces olive drab. The next step was to assemble the booms: There has been much written about the quality of Tamiya kits, and I have had the pleasure of building a few, including their superb Swordfish Mk.II. I have, however, run out of superlatives to describe this kit - the fit and engineering are quite simply state of the art for plastic model kits. Both booms assembled to the wings with barely a visible seam, and virtually did not require gluing - an absolute delight. I couldn't resist popping on the superchargers for a look: That central section will receive the appropriate camouflage colour when the time comes, but they do not look too shabby - may need toning down a bit? I then added the empennage, which again was a masterfully positive location. I then offered up the nose assembly to see what it looked like with the glazing in place: You can see that I've removed too much of the kit plastic ahead of the canopy, so will have to shim and fill the gap - take note @mark.au and @trickyrich. I may get to work on the nose whilst cooking Sunday roast so might add a short update later if there's anything to show, Thanks for looking, Roger

Alistair, I also note that your Mk.XIV has an identity crisis , Cheers, Roger

Many thanks PtC - I'm glad to have proven that the Red Roo conversion works with the Tamiya kit! Thanks for that Dennis - I certainly wouldn't hesitate in using them again...

Thanks Chris, To be honest Blind Freddy could make this kit look good but it is such a pleasure to build, Cheers, Roger

Chris, if anyone can do this justice, it is you! Look forward to seeing this take shape - following with interest, Cheers, Roger

Hi All, Some good progress on the PR bird today! I'd sprayed most of the interior components with their base colours last week, so today has been mostly detail painting whilst watching the AFL Grand Final (Geelong Cats won by a considerable margin, in case anyone was wondering ). Here's some of the cockpit components still on the sprue mid-way through the process: Next it was time to apply the Quinta 3D printed decals, which were very well behaved. Here's the instrument panel: The trick is to remove them from the backing paper in the time-honoured method of soaking in water. Placing them on a piece of paper towel to soak away excess moisture, then a quick wipe with a cotton bud, then attaching them with PVA - job's a good'un! The detail is superb - definitely on a par with any PE I have used, and probably easier to handle. The harnesses have an impressive level of detail, and conformed nicely to the seat surface: I'd definitely use these again, although I'm not sure how broad Quinta's range is? Here's the IP assembly following dry-brushing: Next the cockpit tub virtually assembled itself: Just in case I hadn't already mentioned it - This. Kit. Is. Su. Perb! Just like that, the fuselage pod was together (after the cockpit had been treated to an oil wash): I went slightly out of sequence and assembled the radio gear into the rear deck: I did this in order to assemble the rear glazing and protect the seat. The glazing snapped into place - fit is simply amazing: The final job for the day was to paint the supercharger assemblies. Here's the base coat applied (the assemblies are blutacced together): Here's a final shot after progressive coats with Tamiya transparent red, then with some blue mixed in for purple, and finally a heavily thinned coat of red-brown, and an oil wash: Tomorrow I shall tackle the twin booms - this is ticking along nicely and I am very much enjoying it! Thanks for looking, Roger

Alistair Nice work - you are giving me Pegasus guilt! I might throw some paint at mine whilst working on the P38 today, Cheers, Roger

John, Nice work on some major surgery - this will be worth watching! Cheers, Roger

Rich, I should be cracking on today so will advise! Look forward to yours taking shape, Cheers, Roger

I think that might push my Swahili over the edge - look forward to seeing it though

kazi nzuri Chris - utakuwa na hii kwenye begi baada ya muda mfupi! Cheers, Roger

Tim, Both lovely builds Tim - I've also got a 6AEF build (currently stalled). I flew with 6AEF whilst a cadet in the 80s. I also used to live in Uffington... Cheers, Roger