Spad

Seriously enjoying this build! Loving the attention to small details and the execution is, to me, an object lesson in building a well observed replica of a very hard-worked aeroplane. Bravo! ATB Rick

A fair bit of progress has been made recently. To be honest its all about boring assembly and fill/sand cycles so not really much to record so nothing to show during that lot really. However, all assembled and ready for masking. I guess most fun was had around the three new windows to make the 8 each side configuration. Glazed with Evergreen Clear Styrene so it glues in nicely with normal cement. A couple of pieces of microstrip were added inside the aperture to stop it all dropping inside. IMG_20190428_003615 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Also occupied myself with a hollowing out the ends of the exhausts as they are pretty large and look really odd with solid ends Masking then paint next. See you later!

I have to say that there is some excellent work being done here and I must echo what was mentioned above in a couple of places- some beautiful weathering plus the overall attention to detail/accuracy is outstanding. Great work!

Looks good Patrice - nice! Always love seeing invasion stripes! ATB Rick

Ooh! That's confirmed my worst fears I was wondering if they were opaque enough or going to be a little see-through. Looks like it's not just you that will learn from you - though I wouldn't exactly call that a mistake - just a fact of life with these decals, surely? Looking good though, all the same!

So there I was mentally prepping to close up the fuse and I kept returning to a pic which showed a cargo net in the rear space behind that galley. Shall I, shan't I!?! Well you know the outcome - of course I had to have a go! Tamiya tape painted same blue as the seats. IMG_20190419_181326 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Blimey that was a testing little job! Pleased I did give in but I hope never again - all it wants to do is stick to itself! Anyway all closed up now so I can't fiddle anymore and full steam ahead with airframe etc

Has anybody noticed this odd characteristic on the fin of their Airfix kit? IMG_20190402_191625 by Rick Smith, on Flickr. If you look really closely you might make out some changes in the vertical panel lines along a horizontal line roughly in line with the top of the lower hinge. There is also a small step in the leading edge at the same point - almost as if the mould was damaged and that's the repair insert. Nothing serious as a quick pass or two with a scriber and sanding stick and it's more or less invisible. Just thought it interesting....🤔

OK so life has got in the way a little and I am dropping behind on both the build and the reporting. Here's a couple of pics from just before closing up the fuselage. Front end - not much detailing as little to be seen. I could have sworn I had a set of 1/72 seat belts so made do with painted tape (no time to ait for a set from Hannants!) IMG_20190419_143510 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Here I've added a couple of scratchbuilt seats to give an impression if viewed through the open passenger door. IMG_20190419_143455 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Next stop, assembled fuselage - or so I thought!

Terrific! I absolutely love the R4D colour schemes - I reckon I need to learn how to print decals!

Good recovery! And pushing on well.

Nice subject - hope you can source some decals!

That is looking good! I was looking forward to seeing this come along as I love the show - you're doing a grand job of replicating one of their machines. This wouldn't be Joe's own favourite would it? 🤔😁

Gorgeous looking little thing! I am rather fond of 737s and having been born in Singapore I might be just a tad biassed, but that really is a lovely build! ATB Rick

Very nice indeed. Beautifully restrained weathering/highlighting going on here! ATB Rick

Looks great! Nice finish, not gloss, not the dreaded matt that everybody seems to use, just a nice sheen to it 👍 May I ask what colour you have used in the wheel bays? ATB Rick

Just caught up with this one and I salute your skills, determination and bravery. Interesting to see the size of the beast alongside what I take to be the Tamiya Storch! Mojo preserver or practice piece for the desert squiggly pattern? ATB Rick

Looking good Jan - the rivetting on the Sea Fury mule was effective, I thought. I had spotted the escape hatch error but not those battery hatches - thanks for the heads up and now I need to go find that trim tab that jyguy mentions, dammit! 😁

Thanks for that tip Jan - I had missed that completely! Been a while since I posted but I haven't been idle - though must admit progress has been slow. Finally got some decent clear through-the-door shots of 'MPZ, albeit not in AA service but enough cross checking seems to indicate it didn't change much from that time. So I've busied myself with a bit of structure opposite the pax door - though seeing this pic I might have just gone a bit heavy on the gauge of plastic card! IMG_20190401_181625 by Rick Smith, on Flickr I've also added a bit of framing around the loo door as that seems to be visible in the interior shot in adey m's post. Bit much? Probs! Ho hum - need to curb this if I am to stand any chance of finishing this thing on time! So I've decided to not recreate all of the seating....just something that may be seen through the door. That's all for now as no more pics but I have been joining tailplane halves and wheels etc. ATB Rick

Hi Jabba - bit late to the party I know, but.... Pics # 22 and 23 in my walkaround show the flap recesses to be LAG and #57 shows hemp all over on the flap. BTW - pic #50 shows, quite well, the grey anti-slip coating mentioned by stever219. HTH Rick

Lovely job - very well used A-4. I'm a big fan of those unit markings! Thx for showing.

Can I suggest you go to my pics in the Walkaround section - here: Pic #9 shows your nose windows and (I think) #23 shows the rear of the tank with the flaps part extended - the black line is the rubber seal for the hinged portion (many of those seals evident under the Victor!) Not e also the little roller set into the rear of the tank fairing to allow the Fowler type flaps to move out. Hope this helps Rick

Now that is really nice - love that weathering! I shall refer back to this when I finally get to painting mine! ATB Rick

Paul Before you make that call I think you may have the cheatline upside down there - the tapering part goes down under the flightdeck windows onto the nose. Also, have you noticed that the window glazing for the Airfix kit includes frames so the apertures in the fuselage side are unnaturally large as a result? As a last thought, you could just use the plain cheatlines and cut the windows out after application - that's the route I'll be taking as I never like to trust decal to match kits! 😁

Got some work done now. As per jyguy's excellent checklist on AA Dakota configurations I have now added 3 more windows to the 13 already in the kit - 2 more at the front and an extra one to the rear on the left giving me 8 each side IMG_3804 by Rick Smith, on Flickr The extra seats at the front are ahead of the normal bulkhead position so I guess the navigator's position is deleted - would explain the missing letterbox slot that normally appears just above and behind the venturi. To replicate this I took a guess and sliced the internal racking and added a new half bulkhead on the left side. I know it won't be seen but I'll know it's there! 🙄 Not e the two slots in the floor for the original bulkhead position. IMG_3805 by Rick Smith, on Flickr Next up, that rear bulkhead and some seats..... All for now tho'

Hi As the topic title suggests, this is ostensibly about the orange used on aircraft of Operation Deepfreeze, but actually extends to any US Navy aircraft carrying hi-viz orange. Straight forward question - is the orange FS12197 International Orange or is it a Dayglo orange, I'm particularly interested in the UH-34 in that scheme. Difficult to tell from photos as usual. Thx Rick