I'm calling this one done. All OOB except I added some Eduard seatbelts. I'm happy with how it turned out.
I liked the kit overall -- quick and simple build, decent fit and looks good. I really liked the cockpit, which unfortunately isn't too visible when the fuselage is buttoned up. The surface detail on the wings is also really good. A few nits: extra thick canopy plastic which made it difficult to fix in the open position without risking cracking, overdone rivet detail and panel lines that really are wide and deep vs. scale. Nevertheless, it's still a viable and fun kit after 25+ years.
Following the main painting, I decided to try a new technique for decals and weathering to see how it worked. I skipped the gloss coat and applied the kit decals directly onto the MRP paint. It worked fine. For the notoriously thick Tamiya decals, I used Mr. Mark Setter and Mr. Mark Softer, which are very strong but worked like a champ. There's no silvering anywhere, although there's still a some evidence of decal film in places. Some gloss over the decals followed by some polishing could blend in the edges of the film -- and of course we have masks.
For the panel lines, instead of the usual wash, I used a standard HB graphite pencil for the underside and a thinned mix of Tamiya semigloss black for the topside lines. I then applied the usual brown/black mix to the panel lines and finished with a flat coat. It worked OK, but I think that the HB pencil color was a bit dark for the white underside. After looking at the photos, I think I prefer the Flory wash technique where the wash color is a slighter darker shade than the camo color. Colored pencils were used for the scratches and chipping.
One last point before photos -- it looks as if Grumman put the engineer who designed the Wildcat landing gear on the Apollo Lunar Module descent stage project :).
Thanks for looking. Enjoy the photos.
