First off Matt, hugely impressive build there. The scheme looks great (like Jack said, I could see shades of a He 51 in Spain), with the scrounged panels adding to the end of war feel for the build. Great setting and weathering too, a real beauty.
Eagle, looking forward to seeing how these schemes are. Those LED lights are messing with the colours, the splinter scheme looks like an 80s shell suit...
Dan, Good save with the TS30. Was that straight out of the can?
Joe, I tried masking hinomarus for the 1945 GB with tamiya tape. Let's just say it was a learning experience which took a few goes. But I like to try something new on every build.
AND this one has been no exception. I am now 10 months into building my MB5 and have hit a milestone - for the first time I have glued kit pieces (as against all the scratchbuilding) together! I glued all of the control surface and wing halves together, there is still a lot of clean up to go as the vac form pieces are not nice and sharp. Trailing edges are raggedy - partly my fault. Tail surfaces will need to have fabric appearance improved, and trim tabs defined.
Inside there is a lot mre structure now - partly to minimise sanding dust getting into the cockpit when the final assembly happens.
I have got to the propellors now. Here you see the progression from a raw vacform to sanded out, then with a brass shaft installed and the flat back side built up with white milliput and tamiya filler. still needs a final surface before it can be used as a cast master. And I need to do the same for the opposing blade style.
The other thing I got a start on was the ventral scoop, Mustang style. Taking inspiration from Dan, I set up a balsa rig, taped the scoop sides on then glued in styrene spacers. After these set and the frame was out of the rig, I glued on some 10 thou for the skin. I have left it to set before trimming off the excess, then it is ready to glue in in the final steps.
So I am seeing some progress, but the to do list is not getting shorter, just more detailed.
Just did the Weekend Madness GB, which was a great relief to actually see a finished model for a change! A bit of therapy really...