ModelingEdmontonian

The title quote comes from Wikipedia, so I'm not certain of its accuracy, but I guess it's plausible, although it certainly would not have been my first guess! Pretty impressive record to hold for an aircraft as maligned as the P-39! Almost three years ago I picked up a 1/72 Hobby Boss P-39 kit . . . . . . which eventually I built into this, a Curacao-based USAAF P-39: But just a week or two after buying the Hobby Boss I found out Arma was releasing their obviously superior version. I was disappointed I had not waited! I actually ordered an Arma kit because at one point I thought I would replace part of the Hobby Boss nose with an Arma piece, but in the end figured out an alternative option. The Arma kit looked really nice, though, and eventually I picked up two more and now I intend to build all three. Although the above is the same basic kit as the first one, I bought the "Red Roo" edition which includes a lovely set of decals and instructions for Australian versions. At the moment my intention is to build French, Soviet, and Australian versions, and I plan to build the Australian in the ANZAC GB beginning this weekend.

Wow, quick work and she looks amazing!

El Salvador (Tamiya FG-1D) hasn't moved forward, but I am really enjoying this little Jamaican U-17. The wings required surgery with alternative tips, so I cut off the existing pieces . . . . . . and glued on the new parts. Finished product: I had also done some surgery on the underside of the fuselage that I forgot to update on last week. There is an exhaust pipe that comes out, and I drilled a hole for it, only at first I messed up and put the hole in the wrong fuselage half! So, I had to fill it after drilling it. Now the hole is in the right place. Anyway, back to fuselage being together, I installed the IP console into the cockpit and got the rudder and tail fins on in the back. Then, wings on. Everything takes a bit of work on this short run kit, but I have really enjoyed it. Wing struts fit well after some clean up and holes drilled out. I got the landing light fitted. I have the wheel struts on as well as the rear wheel and she's all ready for priming. You can see the prop and wheels there as well.

Bulgaria G-2 (Italeri) is all done! Here are photos of the two Bulgarian Gustavs.

Love it. I built the RAAF Hurricane with the Arma kit a few years ago and loved it. I built an 1/144 version of the same plane I loved it so much! I went with the bare metal, but the camo version is great too.

really excited to see this, @opus999! I ordered an Eduard Bf 109G kit the other day, couldn't resist any longer!

Thanks, @opus999! and excited to see your Swiss Gustav!! Bulgaria G-2 (Italeri) now has her cockpit armour and the prop installed. I'll spray a matt clear coat next.

I was looking over the Hurricane the other day and realized it lacked the underside ID light behind the radiator, and one of my favourite parts of modeling is drilling, so I figured I'd drill it out. Then I thought, hmm, maybe that could be how I mount her. I've used a few different systems for mounting models in flight, but what if I kept it super basic and used a cocktail stick? Basically works! I can spray the peanut butter lid and cocktail stick some colour or other and I think it'll work for me. Meanwhile, I touched up the underside paint along the leading edge and around what-was-the-ID-light-and-is-now-the-hole-to-mount-her-on. Now I'm just waiting for those new underside roundels to finish her up!

I have also been working on the Jamaican U-17. IP and seat belt decals were stuck on . . . . . . then I glued the floor/seats into the fuselage. The kit has clear styrene for all the windows, but I was curious about using Kristal Klear instead, so experimented with that. It worked well. I will actually redo it, partly because I want to clean up the window frames, but I'll leave these in for now as masks. I have the yokes installed on the IP, but have held off installing for now. Instead, I got the fuselage halves together. Not a perfect fit . . . . . . but with sanding and filler etc. she's coming together. The windows got pretty gross during all the sanding, but that's ok since I'll be replacing them anyway.

Thanks @Andrés S. @opus999 I have some more photos of individual subjects on the Caribbean map. Colombia (Tamiya P-47): Cuba (Revell P-47): Dominican Republic (Tamiya P-51): Haiit (Airfix P-51): USA (Curacao) (Hobby Boss P-39):

Impressive work, and she's looking good all in green!

Camo touch-ups completed, I glossed her all up with Pledge and added the upper roundels. Those are all the decals I will be using. Then I added the rear wheel, exhaust stacks, spinner, and pilot. My replacement Norwegian roundels for the underside aren't here yet, so I am waiting for those. Also, to be honest, I have not figured out yet how I will be mounting her on a stand.

As has been discussed, despite lovely photos, it isn't quite clear what's going on with the upper camo on Bulgaria G-2. Certainly there is a darker colour or colours with bits of a lighter colour or colours. I don't feel I've got it "right," but here's my approximation of what I think we may be seeing. I installed the wheels next, and then the rest of the decals. Exotic has done a really nice job with these decals, I have to say.

I was able to take photos of Venezuela today. And here is the original again, over the Caribbean, I presume.

I had to do touch-ups on the underside of Bulgaria G-2 (Italeri), and I went ahead and put the underside decals on too.