PACIFIC CARRIER AVIATION GROUP BUILD

Nice work Joe. Hey, You've at least got that nasty seam filled and puttied.It looks real good. Looking forward to seeing your rivet and panel line work. Your doing just fine Joe. Just hang with it and you'll end up with a gem on your hands.

I'm back from a fun filled week in San Diego.  You guys made some nice progress.  Drew, that Wildcat is awesome.  I hope to get going on the landing gear soon.

Craig

Mustang..that is an neat idea to use superglue for rivets. I would like to see how that looks.  If you have the time to post a photo...that would be awesome.  Same with the panel lines when you get that far.. No pressure though.  I know it takes time to compose and post photos, so only if your are up to it. 

Thanks.

Thanks Steve. I applied some rivets this morning using dots of super glue applied by toothpick. This thing has raised panel lines so I'll be stretching some sprue later for that.

Mustang... You are a better man than me.   Those are some challenging issues. Like you said, it will take patience and perseverance. I am pulling for you.

Good luck!

Steve

Folks all I can say about this kit so  far is that if you're lookin' for a challenge in seam filling then go down to your local Hobby Lobby and pic one of these bad boys up. The least that can be said so far is that the fit/ alignment is horrible. Initially I had given thought to trashing the whole project and starting over with a Tamiya or Hasegawa build  but I re thought it and I'm going to trudge ahead here. Its a true lesson in patience and perserverence.

This is where we are right now. I'm going to try and re-rivet this thing. God help me please!

THAT.................IS AWESOME!!! The detail, paint work and weathering are just fantastic Drew.  I know what you're talking about with the pics because I had the same issues early on in my picture posting days here.It took me acquiring a camera that was a little better than a "point and shoot" and then another two years later acquring the nice camera I have now.  Just hang tight with what your doing model building wise because youre dead on. That camera will come sooner or later bud.

Great-looking Wildcat, Drew.  Top notch!

Drew, you did an excellent job.  I love the detail you put into it.  The weathering looks great too.  You should feel good about this build.  Very nice.

Hey Drew,

Beautifully built Wildcat!!  Really captures the tough, stubby, determination of an early war fighter!!  Well done, sir!!!

TAD

WHOOA! Drew, That is an outstanding Wildcat. Very very well done. Your overall construction and painting is excellent. And I believe you really nailed the weathering/ detailing. Congratulations on completing your build and Thank You very much for sharing your beautiful Wildcat with us. It really has been a pleasure.

Great work Drew! The paint and weathering is amazing

Drew, it turn out fantastic! I really like the subtle paint chipping! Great job!

All complete!  I have no photography skills whatsoever and these were taken with my phone, but I tried a couple different lighting conditions. Suggestions, comments, questions, and snide remarks all welcome.

Thanks checkmateking! Now the daunting task of seam removal..............

Joe, Joe and Drew:  that is outstanding work you've all got going on!  Just great!

Thanks Joe

Thanks Joe.  Good to see the fuselage together on your Corsair. You be lookin' good.

JOE RIX

Time for an update on my efforts. It took a bit of time, patience and my optivisor but I finally got all the PE on the landing gear. I opted not to add the PE main mount scissors as they are so thin that they appear unrealistic to me. In the stead I drilled out the holes in them with my micro drill bit. I then added copper wire to simulate the brake lines. Here's a couple of pics prior to primer to show it all.

avipond

Got the decals on, hoping to finish by the weekend!

Ok folks. I finished up with the cockpit this morning and prepped the fuselage tor assy. I decided to leave the tail wheel out for now so I could have an easier time down the road with masking and all. It'll be a cinch to install later.

and here she is all buttoned up. I've done alot of sanding so far on the seams to get the obvious stuff out with the halves pressed together and I'm glad I did. I still have alot of work to do on this old mule but I think it's gonna be tamed sooner or later. lol

Time for an update on my efforts. It took a bit of time, patience and my optivisor but I finally got all the PE on the landing gear. I opted not to add the PE main mount scissors as they are so thin that they appear unrealistic to me. In the stead I drilled out the holes in them with my micro drill bit. I then added copper wire to simulate the brake lines. Here's a couple of pics prior to primer to show it all.

Joe: Ah Yes! Much better. The seat belts definitely give it the "look".

Drew: Decals look great. Bring 'er on down the home stretch.

Got the decals on, hoping to finish by the weekend!

Well the seat belts came in!! Got them installed and finished up the cockpit assembly minus the IP. The green is a little too green here in this pic but I found another feature on the camera today. Will be learning this thing for some time to come.

I will add that the seat belts helped this sad sack interior some.

Hey , when youre that close to stuff like that , why NOT take pics?   Well the seat belts didn't come in on Saturday so I'm having to work around them for now. Didn't get a whole lot done in the way of modeling yesterday but will make up some of the difference hopefully this week.

Choice pics Joe. Thanks for sharing them with us Radial Junkies.

Ooh those are some very nice pics, mate! Thanks for posting them!

Thanks Clemens. I could really use those seat belts right about now.

I had the opportunity to get on the U.S.S. Lexington yesterday as my family has a membership out there (it helps that I live nearby) and decided to take a couple of pics of an R-2800 from the maintenance deck.  There's also an R-1820 and R-2600 there that I can post if you all would like pics of those. For now there's a couple of folks that are building the 2800 so here goes:

Hope this of some help to you all.

Craig: Looking very nice, both the Engine and the Hellcat! I just got one of Eduard's new F6F-3 kits in the mail a couple o' days ago and it looks like they reworked it quite a bit. My older Royal Class release has a few noticeable differences regarding the parts breakdown and some subassemblies.

Joe: You're doing a great job on making that old kit shine! The IP actually looks like from a more modern kit!