Amazing what you have done with that old kit.  Always good to see some AVG stuff.

Well, the progress continues. I have the offices closed and they look better than they did when I started. Most notibly the -B pit is fantastic compared to the Monogram kit parts. It is now correct for a -B and well detailed. The -E only received some PE upgrades but the seat really sets it off, I think anyway.

I have the two halves of both fuselages now joined and the body work on both kits will begin. The -B needs a great deal of love and the -E needs a suprising amount as well. Im not very happy with Hasegawa on the fit of the upper cowl on this kit; perhaps I just have a bad mold. The Monogram kit is so bad it's really not even funny. I know lots of folks have built this into a really nice plane, but my particular kit is a real piece of crap, top to bottom. I won't bother building another one, it's just not worth it. There are better kits coming. But, I shall press on with this one anyway.

Oh, and I also installed my UltraCast resin exhaust manifolds and pitched the kit parts in the garbage. They look really good.

I also added the nose piece with the air cooling intake ducting and screens along with the radiators, also with screens. They look far better in place than the open area the kit comes with. I still have some detail painting to do, but you get the idea. I am pretty happy with how this come out.

I thought long and hard about how I wanted to address the tail wheel and thinking I am building this as a fairly new plane that has seen little use, before the attack on PH, I decided to go with a tail wheel that included the canvess cover. I also found this way would lessen my work and I wouldn't commit myself to an institution for attempting the fine work Britt did on his. So, I cheated a bit and added some tissue soaked in white glue to make up the canvess and then used tubing and aluminum strip to reconstruct the gear. In using this method I have also made it possible to pivot the tail wheel as it slips inside of the brass tube. Once I paint this all up and install it I think it will look pretty decent. Certainly better than the kit parts.

That's pretty much it for now. I have a great deal of filling and sanding ahead of me, but I've made great progress lately, so I am pleased. 
Thanks for following me on my insane build. I need all the support I can get.

BK

Excellent! Just excellent! :D

Beautiful cockpit and the rest ain't bad either! 

What a crisp and clear looking cockpit...it looks fantastic.

Looking great, Brandon. And I'm glad you have beensharing this - it made me realize I should paint my seat aluminum instead of interior green. What's annoying is I used the same Eduard set you've got, so it was already bare metal to begin with before I primed and painted it!

-BD-

Just a quick update. I've pulled these off the "I need a break" shelf and have begun to work on getting these two kits completed. Today I finally began to install the windscreens and get the wings ready for final mounting. I'll be posting some more pics soon.

Special thanks to MrBrindos for motivating me to get back on these two turkeys.

BK

EXCELLENT!!  :D

I am very happy to see you continue this double build! :D

Okay, so just a quick update. The windscreen is on, but it has a huge step to the fuselage and should not have any step at all. I tried to make two different types of windscreen fit better, but the kit part was the easiest to set down and now I have to work the filler in and make it all smooth. UGH!! I really dislike working with filler at the windscreen, it's a HUGE  PITA. But, the results will be worth the extra hours of work.

BK

I've got the same issue with mine, Brandon. I'm going to fill with styrene strips before I putty, but I've got the same problem. It is a bit wide at the base of the windscreen. I don't remember that being a problem before. 

M. Brindos

I've got the same issue with mine, Brandon. I'm going to fill with styrene strips before I putty, but I've got the same problem. It is a bit wide at the base of the windscreen. I don't remember that being a problem before. 

 

BK

I had to raise mine up a mm to get it to match the slider. Now there is a large gap I have to fill in.  If I didn't raise it it would've looked funny. Lol

at least I don't have to rebuild the frames like I did on my Spitfire! 

I'm making slow progress on the -B. I attached the wings to the fuselage and closed the gap in the wing roots by widening the lower fuselage with a wedge shim that runs from the wing roots to the tail wheel. It closed the gaps perfectly, so I'm really happy with that.

I also decided to close the radiator flaps instead of showing them open for two reasons. One, I didn't like the look of the exit ducts I had made and I also decided to make a scratch built PE set of radiator flaps. I used scrap material from an old PE fret and measured and cut, shaped and glued what turned out to be 5 pieces together to make a set of better looking flaps. They fit really well and I think really help the look of the kit underneath. The kit parts is really dull and heavy. It just neve looked right. So, I used photos from my walk around book and scratched them up.

Now on to the tail.

BK

Looks better than mine. :)

I've stuck with kit flaps, but sanded them down to make them appear thinner.

Since I've been busy at work I've made so very little progress on mine.

Seeing the progress you've made on yours brings a big smile to my face. It looks fabulous so far.  :D

What a fantastic job you're doing on this build!

Toshi

Thanks Toshi.

Mr Brindos, I have really dreaded this part. But now that it's done I can move on with completion. There have been parts of this build that I just lost sleep over how to correct them and this was no exception. Thanks for looking.

BK

I know what you're talking about. I avoided the cowl flaps on my build, but the canopy/Windscreen is still a step I am totally dreading. 

I know what has to be done, but it's just a tricky problem. I finally put some more work into my P-36 which I've been really putting off for that very reason You mention.

The fit of the parts is so awefull and its causing me a lot of trouble with putty and sanding. Lots of time being spent on corrections. Its still never going to be a show stopper. Too many things off about it And I'm not up for putting that much effort into correcting everything. A better kit is just a far better option, y'know?

The Monovell is worth it Though.  :)

Ok, so I finally managed to get the -E to the paint stage. I decided on this one that I would try the black base technique. I have to say I really like it and it is way easier than I thought it would be. And best of all, it uses far less paint overall. Win-Win.

I also wanted to fade the paint a bit from the callouts which were Dark Earth and Dark Green. So, I used iModelkit to match up two RLM colors that are about 15% lighter than the callouts but a really good match for tone. I sprayed the underside in Neutral grey and the uppers in RLM 79 and 83 from Mr Color paints. I think the lighter tone hit the mark for what I was looking for. It's hard to see in the shots, but the lights and darks of the base just barely show through in the paint. The eye can see it, the camera doesn't catch it so much.

This kit is nearly ready for decals. The -C has some body work left and then primer. Whew, the end is in sight.

BK

I really like the way the underside turned out with the black basing. What type of masking did you use for the camo? I really like the way you toned down the colors for the naturally faded effect. That's something I was thinking of with my Airfix P-40. But I will start with the base colors and lighten them as I go As I like the way it looks. 

This is really looking good BK. I am eagerly awaiting to see more soon.  :)

M. Brindos

What type of masking did you use for the camo?

I use Silly Putty. I find it works perfect and doesn't damage the paint.

BK

Well, I've hit a milestone. The -B has been smoothed till I can't stand it and the gaps have been closed up. I took it to the booth today and hit it with a layer of Tamiya grey primer. Now the hunt for problem spots, a good sanding with 3K grit and black basing. I may be able to have it in paint this weekend. 

BK

Outstanding BK, simply outstanding.

I'm quite happy with the -E and I am progreessing toward the finish line with it. The -C is another story. I am not at all happy with the windscreen fit so I'm gonna have to reevaluate how I attack that, it has to be redone. The canopy I totally missed and so I will be borrowing the idea from M.Brindos and remove the canpoy part on the fuselage and add it to the sliding canopy so it looks correct as well. And then there is the windows in the cutouts. In the photos I'm looking at those are flush mount to the fuselage with NO gaps. So, that too needs fixed and I don't know how I'm gonna do it.

Well, all I can do is press on. With this much time invested I don't want to cut any corners now. What's few hundred more hours between friends?

BK

Great attention to detail and craftsmanship.

Like so many others above, I really like the cockpit.