David H

Yes, I'm waiting for the "Cha-CHINGG!!" sound to come via my email inbox...$$$$$

Just as an anecdote, i built the Falcon Vacformed Mk 18 in the late 20th century. It was rather simplified in detail but i managed to dress it up with parts robbed from the Otaki Mk VIII and an aftermarket propeller made by an obscure company called CooperDetails. For its time, it fit very well. I always liked the Mk 18 more than the XIV. I think the broader rudder made it look better. -d-

Oh wow that is so cool. I just finished reading Jen Wrights build up in Airfix Modelworld. Looks to be constructed like a tank.

Beautiful build of an admittedly kooky-looking aircraft. And of course, i love the deck. But the Regulus II is cooler...... -d-

Heckuva conversion. Nicely done, and i even love the wooden deck!! -d-

Looks wonderful!!

So far, i am liking what i see. -d-

Looking good, Mister Quang! This is proving to be an interesting thread to follow. Everybody knew something was amiss with the original KH intakes, though it seems there's a lot of confusion as to exactly what. Up until recently i thought the exhaust cans were nothing to worry about. I like the boilerplate-type boarding ladder and i like the bare metal treatment on the Grasshopper Butt (snicker snicker...) Looking forward to more! -d-

A word of caution: If you glue the upper and lower wing halves together before you install the leading edge droops and the trailing edge flaps... you will discover the wing cross section is too thin to accommodate the high lift devices. You have two choices: Thicken the wing cross section with plastic sheet, or sand down the mating surfaces of the leading edge droops and flaps, to reduce their respective cross sections. Test fit the parts together without glue and you will see what i mean. Vigilantes were seldom if ever parked or shut down with the leading edge droops and flaps down. -d-

Two things: My friend Joe Youngerman built the kit last year and did the Green and Grey over white scheme and it looked...well, brilliant. His comment was the clear wingtips gave him fit issues if you follow the Airfix instructions. Sounds like the tips should be added to the upper and lower panels before assembly to line them up better, rather than stuck on as sort of an afterthought. IIRC he also used the Master Brass Pitot booms. I have phased out my enamel paints and am now using acrylics and acrylic lacquers. Something you might wish to consider if you plan to do an overall white one, is Tamiya White Surface Primer. Some people use the spray bomb, some decant it and run it thru their airbrush, myself i use the stuff that comes in the little square bottles and thin it with Mr Leveling Thinner. Its advantages are, it's a very heavily- pigmented paint with good opacity, it's extremely fast drying, and since its a primer, it wet sands beautifully and other paints like to stick to it. In terms of a final finish, you could spray Mr Color Super White over it, or you could sand it and apply Mr Super Clear GX100. Someone suggested a semigloss and that may be the better way to go, but i haven't tried the Mr Color semigloss finishes yet so i'm disinclined to recommend something i haven't used. -d-

FWIW i think the cockpit looks good so far. TBH, i don't know how much will be really visible...even with the canopy open. Not sure if anyone else suggested this, but for your next "Black Cockpit" project, you could substitute a very dark gray or something like Tamiya Nato Black for the base colour, then go over it with a wash of 50% water, 50% Future, and tinted with regular Tamiya Flat Black. I find it adds a nice contrast to things like Ejection Seats, which are often Black, Dark Dreen, Olive Drab...and black. -d-

Deffo the right paint scheme for the Mighty Nimrod. It will look great once the markings go on. With a paint scheme as complex as that, with the stonking big solar cap on it, flaws, boo-boos ridges, etc, are inevitable here and there. Part of it just comes with the fact that the model is so big. However, nothing that gentle wet sanding with 2000 grit sandpaper cant fix and once the decals are on it will distract the eye somewhat. i think. -d-

UPDATE I neglected to report that i managed to get the model delivered to Big John, who of course loved it. His wife was equally impressed. As for the RF-8, i did make a start on it, getting as far as installing the camera windows painting the cameras, intake throat, and cockpit tub. However, i wanted to build something for myself so i set it aside and took on another Tomcat project... Upper fuselage mostly painted by convairb58, on Flickr Fwd Starboard view by convairb58, on Flickr Upper surfaces- Port 3/4 view by convairb58, on Flickr As i get closer to completion, i will post a dedicated thread. So, These are not the threads you're looking for. -d-

Nice job on a kit that's notoriously unforgiving, just like its bigger 48th scale brother. I'm in a cage death match with a 72nd one now. I turn to the 48th scale Tamiya Tomcat when my frustration level gets too high... -d-

Beautiful build, Bill. Another one for the record books. -d-