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G'day all; WIP linked below. As usual, it's wordy, conversational and collaborative, and describes the build and finish. In summary; I built this with the KMC correction set plus its resin cockpit; all of the markings are painted using masks I made on a Silhouette cutter except for the few stencil decals. Here's the long version... While the Academy kit is clearly flawed, and even after the installation of the KMC correction it remained so, it still ended up looking quite like a Mk.XIV, and I'm quite pleased with that. The kit gave me no real problems to solve, it's one of the sad ironies that it is so well engineered and produced while being so fundamentally flawed. This build also became the catalyst for a mini unofficial Mk.XIV GB across two different scales and three different manufacturers. Stand by for a tsunami of Mk.XIV's to follow this one... To the pics; First, the reference... Cheers.

Well hi there! This is my first 1/48 model in over two decades (WIP here) and an attempt to improve my mistakes made on my 1:32 Tomcat build / refine my airbrushing and weathering techniques and not paint things orange when they should be yellow, for example. 😅 I enjoyed this one immensely, however had a lot of difficulty with the last bits, and was way too busy being back at work after 2 years in lock-down to update the WIP thread, but in short: - The decals were a nightmare, just because of the size, and even though they're Cartograf the little lines on the bombs for example I just could not get to conform, with or without Mr. Mark Softer. - I once again bodged the weathering by going too heavy, and when I tried to remove some of the wash with lighter fluid, it simply melted the clear coat and permanently fused the wash in it. I need to do more testing on scrap with different clear coats and refine the time between application and removal. - I need to find a way to more precisely apply glue to painted things as any over-spill when marrying painted parts created an ugly joint. - I REALLY need to work on seam lines and filling / sanding, the Tamiya Tomcat had fewer bad joins and I did fill and sand them, but omitted that step on this build because I thought it would be less noticeable at a smaller scale, and by the time I saw how bad they were the model was painted. Also use a lighter primer as the black hides the bad joins better than the grays. Positives and skills refined: - I think this is far more accurate than the Tomcat was, as I did a lot more research online of the subject, applied every single decal in the correct spot, and didn't rush the build until I found the correct paints before progressing. - I had zero silvering because I listened to you guys and did a gloss coat before applying the decals. - The smaller scale really refined my micro masking skill, and things like the tail piece behind the nozzles I had to cut and apply 1mm wide masking tape, and can confidently say I "can" do that now. It was daunting. - The cockpit came out well despite having to do it by hand and brush - no decals or AM like the Tomcat. Closed canopy build so impossible to show now, but you can get an idea in the WIP. Ok enough personal notes, on to the pics: Thanks for looking! Next will be another 1:32 either in F16 or F15 guise.

Good night guys, after completing my Mustang, i decided to build next my second Academy Ta 183. It's a lovely kit with good details. Everything fits together nicely. Boxart: Decals: Sprues: Cockpit: