crackerjazz

Oh, are you saying you were able to get replacement polypropylene caps as well?

what am i saying Yes 315 sorry. Thinned with Mr Color levelling thinner.

Hi agelos2005, I'll be using the tubes to slot in the wires for mounting.

Hi agelos2005, thanks! : ) For the gull gray I used Mr. Color C308 (FS 36440) and for the white I used a bottle of decanted Tamiya white primer. Next time I'll be trying out MRP paints for the gull gray. I find MRP sprays ultra smooth, while Mr. Color depends a lot on thinning correctly but I love its opacity.

Ok I scrapped the idea of scratchbuilding the stator blades. I noticed the blades would move out of position overnight way after the glue has dried. Or it probably takes a while for the melted plastic to settle. I tried twice wetting the glue and shifting the blades back into position but the same thing would happen the next day so I finally threw my hands up and decided to just glue the compressor faces on. I should've painted around the fan assembly with some black to depict the space around it; too late for that now as they're fixed on permanently with the Tamiya glue. They do become hard to see, though, once they're buried deep inside the intake ducts unless you purposely shine a light to look at them. I'm trying to learn not to get so obsessed with detailing hidden parts. Installed mounting tubes. It was painful for me to drill the cat's flank even though I've done it before. It's never easy to mangle a perfectly smooth surface. But I guess that's one of the drawbacks of wanting to mount a model. When I test-fitted the cover it wouldn't go on because of the mounting tube . I had to do some painful cutting again. The previous ones I did were on the Hasegawa with a somewhat different setup. Dry fitting... I finally found the poly caps I thought I lost so I should be able to button up the rear fuselage soon.

Edit: Found. Will stow these away safely -- where I can find them. Pls delete post if necessary, thanks, and sorry about that.

Anyone else stowed something away safely and now couldn't find them yourself? Did just that with my Tamiya F-14 polycaps and I'm kicking myself : ( Two sets still in their little bags : ( Has anyone tried ordering spare polycaps from Tamiya successfully?

Superb!!! : )

What a fantastic job! Very impressive, deluge!

Beautiful weathering, Collin!!!

Ichitoe, thanks! Hi GW8345, it's ok I was able to free them by drilling out the glue points. Good thing I didn't glue them any more than was necessary. For repainting to all white: Some weathering: Experimented on building stators for the compressor:

Thanks, Speedlimit! Hi, SakisG, thanks and glad to have inspired you to work on your Corsair! : )

Cool trick, Janissary, thanks! And beautiful weathering!

Hi Janissary, thanks for checking in! The Hasegawa Tomcats have sealed canopies now -- thanks to my mindless decision to glue them on -- with Tamiya glue at that -- and now I couldn't clean the dust specks that have started building up on the inner walls of the canopy : ( So there they are on the shelf of doom : ( And it's hard to go back once you get your hands on these Tamiyas : ) GW8345, great info, thanks! I re-checked the reference pics and you're right about ramp No. 3. How could I have missed that. And the sideplates look gray? No, it's not too late. I haven't closed up the fuselage so I still have access to them and may still be able to remove them by drilling out the glue points. Thanks again! I could have sworn seeing half-and-half Ramp 3's somewhere, though, with white tops and gray bottoms, because my first thought was how to mask the sideplates which looked gray. And now when I checked there they are --- in the Daco book. I see they're F-110 engines, though, and not TF-30's so maybe the Ramp No. 3 with gray undersides were done only on F-14Bs or Ds? Also noticed something Tamiya may have missed -- the sideplates on ramps 1 and 2. Hasegawa cats have them on all ramps and on 2 they curve inwards towards the end like in the pics I see. Tamiya seems to have missed the sideplates and have that little extension in the end. This one's kind of tough for me to correct now since I've glued them on securely.

Hi BastianD, thanks! Cool EA-6B, nice progress! : ) Hey, John, thanks! : ) Glued on the main doors that I haven't re-shaped the lips on by mistake : ( Had to score the lips and break them off completely. Glued on some supports for the small door: This door doesn't sit right: Had to shave down this edge for the door to fit better: Had to fill the depressions with some styrene and sanded down. I should've done this before gluing the door on : ( Alternatively this edge can be shaved down: And the door sits so much better: I'm not sure if you guys had the same issue with pieces K14 and K15 in that they they don't fit flush to the surface and the gaps aren't that tight? I had to shave down the plastic where it glues onto for Tomcat 1 and had to push on both ends to seal the gaps. But had to do a little sanding for Tomcat 2. The plastic sands really easily. I might try the same for Tomcat 1 -- just a tiny bit along the sides.