81-er

It's looking very smart, Tim James

You'd best have more than one, just to be sure. And if Fritag Snr fancies a trip along the pier, I believe they've got the first of the new trains commissioned now. James

Your new canopy frames are really looking the business, Steve! The handle was well worth including too. Safe travels for the weekend, though if you're coming all this way I'd suggest a Rossi ice cream has to be added to the list James

I'm sure this will be another first class build from you, Bill, however long it takes. I'll claim a pew James

I'll pull up a pew for this one James

I got the main airframe primed last night. A few small areas to attend to, but much less than I was expecting: As this is my first time using Alclad paints, I figured some tests were in order. So the landing gear legs got a coat of aluminium, and the gear doors got a coat of the pale gold that I’d earmarked as the external colour: I must say, I’m impressed! It went on really easily and with a nice flat finish. The colours are good as well. I’ll attend to the flaws the primer showed up, and then I think a bit of a colour test is in order to decide which of the three shades of aluminium I’ll actually be using in each location. James

I quite agree on the poor joint placement on the seat. On mine (which I really must do an update on), I cut a strip of the 10thou plasticard to cover the joint. James

Nice paintwork, Craig, she's looking really good James

Blimey, Col, this one's testing you, isn't it? I really hope you can find a scheme that works after all the effort you've put into this one. James

That's a very nice result, Stuart, well done I'm liking that you're finishing the F-5 GB and heading over to the Canadian one, I'm trying to finish my Canadian build to get more time on my F-5 James

Nicely done, Adrian James

Cracking work there, the speed of assembly is no yolk! James

It’s been a while since I updated this. Work and a bought of Covid have kept my bench time down, but I’m on the mend now. As mentioned previously, Airfix very kindly sent me the whole clear sprue. I’ve used the front canopy part from that and stashed the rest. Unfortunately, I’d previously binned the inner paint masks as I wasn’t expecting to need them again, so the replacement has only been painted from the outside. Getting it and the main canopy fitted was an absolute nightmare. The front part was slightly better, just hard to clamp in place, but getting the main canopy to fit was the biggest trial. It was a case of glue where I can and use filler to cover the gaps. I had a couple of gaps between the two bits of canopy, so I used a clear UV glue to seal that. Having said all of that, it’s not looking too bad now with the canopy on and the wing tips/ailerons fitted as well: I’ve also painted the wheel wells in interior green: That was another awful job that was entirely my fault. For anyone else thinking of building this, paint all the parts of the gear bays before assembly, then do any touch-ups needed after that. Otherwise, you’ll have an awful lot of bits you just can’t get paint into with an airbrush. The eagle-eyed may have noticed I’ve changed the landing light panel ahead of the nose gear; I’ve changed my mind and decided to display it with the landing lights down. I’ve cleaned up and mounted the majority of the landing gear components, ready for painting: The main doors are also cleaned up, they just need mounting: And the drop tanks are underway. A little more filling and sanding required, but they’re close: Shouldn’t be much longer now until paint time. James

That's a really great result, well done AW! James

Your new rudder looks far more like the picture, well worth the effort James

Excellent choice on the scheme, you're going to be able to really go to town with the weathering on this one! James

Absolutely superb result, Bill! It put up a fight, but you well and truly beat it into submission. James

This sounds like another interesting build, John, I'll pull up a pew for this James

Excellent (and rapid) progress as ever, Enzo! James

Very nice work, AW James

That's a really fantastic looking model, well done! James

Looking very good there with the base silver, John James

Excellent work, JW James

They're a great looking pair, Enzo, well done James

She's looking pretty fantastic, Bill! James