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G’day folks. An Ag Cat you say? Yep, an Ag Cat. Last year (2019) Jamo released this limited run kit to the market. It’s not something that I would gravitate to as I prefer military types. A colleague at work and fellow modeller asked me to build a model for him as a commission. In his sign off he mentioned that he’d been looking for one of these kits as he has fond childhood memories of it. As a young fella his parents' house backed onto the Eagle Farm airport here in Brisbane well before the new Brisbane airport was ever built. Due to its proximity to Moreton Bay, it meant that it was close to mangroves which in turn meant it had a healthy mosquito population. An Ag-Cat would be based at the airport during the year to carry our mosquito spraying operations and it’s these activities that Matt has fond memories of. The airport fire station was a regular place for him to visit and his regularity meant that he came to know the staff there quite well. To the point that his parents had the station number and would call when dinner was ready for him! This of course is all pre-airport security days so he could come and go at his leisure. During quiet times at the station, the staff would take him over to check out the Ag Cat where he would climb all over it; sitting in the pilot's seat and barely seeing over the instrument panel let alone being able to see the radial engine. Fast forward to the last few weeks and some quick interwebbing. I managed to find a single kit in stock at the 48ers. I let Matt know and five minutes later it was paid for and on its way to sunny Oz via courier. I don’t think I’ve seen someone move so quickly on a kit! Zee box. It’s not a big model. The universal scale reference LEGO man shows just how diminutive it is. The upper and lower wings are well cast with the pour block on the leading edge. Separate it with my trusty scriber and voilá...not quite. There are some pin holes and rough divots in the leading edge that need to be cleaned up. A mix of talc and CA applied in small amounts helps smooth things out. The spray bar has been created in resin however it’s VERY flimsy. I’ll manufacture a new one from some thin metal tube/rod and then create the sprayers from some plastic rod. And finally the wheels and hubs are cast as a single unit. These are quite nice and only need some Mr Surfacer 50 to fill the small gap between the rim and tyre. There's a lot of clean up to do which I'll talk about in the next post. More soon. Cheers, Mick

Displayed on the Grand models stand at Telford SMW 2019 was the JAMO (https://www.facebook.com/JAMO-107056954052868) 1/48th Grumman G-164 Ag Cat resin kit - ref. JAMO 001. Source: https://www.facebook.com/107056954052868/photos/pcb.123465742411989/123464275745469/?type=3&theater Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/294920541054370/permalink/551528345393587/ In box review: https://www.modellingnews.gr/el/μοντελισμός-κατασκευές/grumman-g-164-ag-cat-jamo-148 V.P.