Completing a really old, messed up, 1/72 Piper L-4 Grasshopper . . .

Hi all,

Back when I was a junior in high school, so '89 or '90, I went through mail order to get a Meikraft Models 1/72 Piper L-4. 

I got a nice letter from John Meikraft, though.

I had built a bunch of models up to that time and felt pretty good about my skills, but I was not ready for a short run kit. I started working on it, using tube glue and brush painting. I even used a bit of filler putty. But, the fit isn't great, the molding isn't great either, and I had no idea up to that point that tube glue could make a real mess of cockpit plastic.

This is what it looked like when I put it away 34 years ago:

Another view:

My goal is not to make this perfect, but I think with my current skill and much better tools, I can make it good. 

I worked on polishing and cleaning up the "glass" and fuselage.

And then masked and painted the light grey that will be the underside color, but used it as a primer for the whole thing.

After letting that cure for a day or two, I sprayed the drab green. My spray can is actually pretty old, and I got some texture from the can that I don't like. I'm going to put a coat of Future floor polish on it, however, and I'm hoping the gloss coat smooths things out a bit. I really don't want to strip the paint.

Here's the underside:

Another view.

So it is not perfectly covered. I will do a bit of touch up soon. I may decant some of the spray paint and very carefully touch up the leading edge. Or I may simply leave it alone and start with the decals.

Nevertheless, I think this model will turn out well -- at least when viewed at arms' length.