Joe: Absolutely spectacular detailing on your engine. Sweet technique with the ignition wires. Also, I love all the decals. Puts a truly authentic touch to your work.

Tony: Good to see you off to a solid start on the 263. Looks solid.

Yeah that looks terrific Joe!

And nice work there too Tony! 

That engine really looks terrific. I will adopt that method for my wiring too, it looks just right.

Here's the latest on the Me 263, I've got everything off the sprues and sprayed some RLM02 on the interior bits. More detailing to come.

Cheers

Tony

Thanks Cliff, Rob and Joe!! 

Tony: Watching that 263  come together is going to be a true joy. Great subject matter!!! 

Got the ignition wires and looms installed over the weekend and this morning saw the installation of the ignition coil wire and the wire harness.

This is how my wiring harnesses start life these days. I use the innards of a section of automotive electrical wire with the insulation stripped off then twisted the wire strands together and applied super glue to the twisted section and allowed to dry. After allowing the super glue to dry flat black enamel was appied to the twisted section to replicate an electrical tape wound wire harness. Then the excess wire strands were clipped off until I had 4 "circuits" remaining which get painted the appropriate wire colors and routed to their final destination on the ignition coil and engine block once the harness was glued into place.

And here's the completed engine with the ignition coil wire, distributor advance vacuum line and electrical harness installed. Glamour shots coming in the next day or so....

Ohhhhh, cool Tony. That's gonna be interesting! 

Thanks for the welcome everyone. This is what you get in the Me 263 box. Plastic, resin and photoetch. Nice.

Cheers

Tony

Joe mate, that engine looks like it could be lowered into place in the real thing! Your skills are awesome my friend!

All good Tony, I have added you to the build list. Welcome aboard mate!

Welcome Tony- cool choice! 

Joe: The engine looks remarkable. Love how you did the ducting. Looks as real as can be.

Tony: Nice have you on board to honor our friends. Looks to be a fun kit and a nice way to honor Lewbud.

Hi Rob,

Thanks for hosting this. This is the first time I've logged in here in a while. I'm saddened to learn of Lewbud's passing. He hosted the last few Weekend Madness GBs, which I participated in. I'll build a Special Hobby 1/72 Me 263 in his honour. I won't build it in a weekend, but I will build it quickly.

Regards Tony

Looks sharp Joe!!! 

On vacation/holiday- will get back to the Corsair when I get home. 

In keeping the thread active......

Managed to get a little more progress done this morning. Added the manifolds to the mix. Spark plug wires came in and are now cut & prepped for install. Just have to form them to present a natural "lay" appearance and get 'em on there. Engien wire harness is also in the prepping stages. After that I think I'll be able to call this lil' side project done. 

To achieve the corrugated aluminum sleeve/ heat duct on the passengers side manifold up to the air cleaner I wound fine copper wire around the piping and painted it a dull black.

Looking forward seeing you back in here Nick. Hopefully life will slow down a couple of miles an hour so you can get back in the swing of things bro. 

great work you guy's sorry, I haven't been up to date here. Been busy with other stuff.

Thanks Steve and Joe. Yeah this kit has a fairly accurate base to work with as far as the engine is concerned. May have to procure one of these kits and build the whole thing.

Got the power steering dipstick installed this morning. This......was harder than you'd think. 

Joe, Ace has also done the Mauler in 1/72.  The one I have is 72302. 

Oh man Joe, that is choice! One thing that pops out at me is that this seems to have one of the best and most realistic fan belts and pulleys I've seen you do so far. I may be mistaken it is something that I quickly noticed. Either way, it is yet another in your amazing engine builds.

Erickson collection has a Mauler on display.  Makes the Avenger look like an SBD when that is compared to the TBF.

Awesome looking engine, Joe. Looks like the real thing.

Cliff and Joe: Thanks fellas!! Lookin' forward to that AM-1 build Joe!!! 

Josephs truck is still awaiting on a check which we should see this week. It'll be a month since the collision on next Thursday. A frickin' MONTH man. The adjuster that I'm dealing with now is really trying to help out though by trying to get me as much money as I can get to repair it with.

Here's todays progress shot in the form of a glamour style pic with all the pieces loosely installed and with the fuel inlet line routed & fastened to the engine and carb now. Should be getting the plug wires tomorrow & installing those this week along with a fabbed engine wiring harness.

About time I check in and get caight up on the terrific builds going on.

Jim: Very nice work going on your Corsair. The landing gear especially look excellent.

John: Assembly on your F-16 looks great. Looking forward to some paint on there.

Justin: I can't wait to see some pics of your Corsair. Sounds as if sound progress is being made.

Joe: Loving the Boss 302. It is looking fantastic. I hope things are turning out for the best with Joseph's truck.

Cliff: Well, that is indeed a bugger with the seams. It appears to me that your getting them to disappear though. Outstanding effort my friend.

Unfortunately, I have no progress to report on my Corsair. Still need to pull it out and evaluate where I need to get going on it. In the mean time, I have been distracted by another kit on my bench. It is the Siga Model 1/72 Martin AM-1 Mauler. My father actually flew this while in the Naval Reserves. I've had this kit for years. This is the only injection molded kit of this aircraft so, I have to work with what I have got. The molding is poor verging on atrocious. As such, I took this as a challenge and have since put in a lot of sanding and scraping. I will look to start a WIP thread on it.

Everyone is truly honoring our friends with their talent and skills. It's very uplifting.

That's coming along beautifully!!!

Thanks Cliff, John and Rob!! 

Good bunch of guys there alright. Trying to help the main admin revive the place a little bit and just getting started after making a few adjustments. 

Got the rocker covers and carburetor on. Now currently fabbing up the fuel inlet line from the fuel pump to the carburetor after I got through with the dual feed line on the passengers side of the carburetor. I'm also acquiring the black spark plug wires that I thought I had in inventory. No worries though.......I'll be working around those on other stuff like fabbing up a dipstick for the power steering dipstick tube that I fabbed up for the P/S pump a few weeks ago. ( Hence the tube sticking up out of the power steering pump) just to add another little touch to this engine.

Wow Joe, that looks amazing. Sounds like a great group.

Justin, I think it's awesome that people like yourself are motivated to spend time with kids at the cost of your own precious time. I worked for many years as a youthworker and for the State Government as a Child Protection Worker. The work that people like yourself do is so often unseen and overlooked, but so vital. Good on ya cobber.

Joe. motor looks good.  Cool group you're working with.  

Thanks guys! 

Ferg: Good luck with her! 

Justin: Sounds good! Looking forward to seeing her. 

Joe: Sharp work on the engine and good to hear you've got some leads on getting your son's truck repaired. 

Cliff: Progress on your Corsair is moving right along. Your fit issues remind me of my Arado 234 build that went on for three frickin' years. Man that thing kicked me in the freekin' nads over and over trying to get it together without any visible seam issues when finished. All I can say is to hang with it and if you have to ...build a filler model for a sense of accomplishment. Been there and done that pal and hope you get the issues sorted out.

Rob: Yeah it's been a trying month that's for damn sure. Should be hearing something back from the insurance company either today or tomorrow. They've already told me it's going to be a total loss but after looking at the truck closer they're trying to give me a little more money to work with. #1 I've got to see if the frame is repairable. #2 if it is then I'll have the frame pulled back into specs and start on getting the transmission rebuilt. #3......I've got a truck bed located and priced out. Once I find out if the truck is repairable I'll just need to have it delivered to the body shop to have it painted and then I'll install it onto the truck after the cab has been repaired. #4 is all the bolt on stuff like bumpers, tail lights and the like. I'm just hoping they give me enough $$ to make all of this happen without it coming out of MY pocket.

Justin: Looking forward to progress pics on your Corsair as well.

I've got a bit of a side project going on as well. Been building a Boss 302 engine for a Boss Mustang community project elsewhere. Different people get different parts of the car, build those sections up and then mail them to the head forum administrator where he assembles everything and sells the completed model on ebay for $ to fund monthly model winners Hobby Lobby gift cards. Cool thing to be a part of.

Progress on the Boss 302 engine:

Started with the Revell Boss 302 which aint all that bad really. Carburetor actually resembles a carburetor and theres plenty of detail parts. The only thing I DON'T like is the molded in oil pan halves. Getting rid of those seams sux.....bad. 

Basic engine block/ tranny build up after black basing and shooting MM Dark Blue acrylic on to engine and MM Steel enamel on the tranny and weathering that a bit. I used MM Aluminum enamel on the intake after black basing and then went over the intake with a dry brushing of ground up black pastel.

Didn't have any decals for the engine and I'm glad I didn't because the only thing I would've gotten were the Boss 302 decals for the rocker covers. I contacted Thomas at Speedway decals and sent him pictures of the real Boss 302 to have ALL of the decals that were SUPPOSED to be on this engine cut. The results are going to pay off on the completed engine.

I used Molotow Chrome for the air cleaner lid and Alclad Polished Aluminum for the rocker covers.

Hey guys!  I haven't had much bench time the past few weeks, as it's Cubscout season, and my time is filled with camping trips, Fall Fest, Scouting for Food, and just generally trying to be the best Cubmaster I can be.....

my Corsair is just about finished.  I notices while taking it out of the dehydration chamber, that my windscreen is attached too far forward, so I will need to loosen that and reposition it.  Overall, aircraft construction is complete, and I need to work on the display base....but I've been distracted with a new build, a group build hosted by The Model Geeks Podcast (on Facebook), the A4 Skyhawks group build....I am building that in conjunction with the close air support group build here, so keep your eyes open for my first post!

Sounds like you are having the same problem I'm having with my Otaki Spit Gam. Looks like it's on its way though.

Hey Mustang, I was about to PM you as we hadn't heard from you and I was starting to worry. I hope you can get everything resolved to you and your son's satisfaction.

I haven't started my Corsair yet so have not had anything to add. Will probably make a start in the next fortnight.

OUCH! Hope you get the whole mess straightened out with your son's truck. 

I swear it's always something... shhhhheeeeeeeeessssssssshhhhhhhhhhhhh..........

Anyway I got a little more done on the Corsair. Not sure what's going on here, I had to putty and sand the fuselage seam line a half dozen times. There's still some more work I need to do on the underside, the seam where the wing attaches to the fuselage is still there. Not sure if it's the kit or I didn't assemble it correctly.