crackerjazz

Thanks, Steve! Always good to have you stop by, Mr. Happy! Thanks for the kind words : ) Painted the coaming and weathered it a bit... So much for the happy days -- back to work and to reality! : P Will try to update again soon : ) By the way, I was looking for some A-6 Intruder movies besides Flight of The Intruder. Found a tv movie in YT -- "When Hell Was in Session" where Hal Halbrook plays a downed pilot. Wish there were more Intruder scenes, though.

Glued the IP coaming on: There aren't any tabs undertneath he coaming for aligning with the IP so I just had to eyeball it. There's a little gap at the front end but I do see some builds online with bigger gaps. I can't really find any photos of what this particular area looks like in reality so I'll just leave it as is -- I think the windscreen framing will hide it somewhat as well. I test-fitted the windscreen and it looks good so far without any modifications. I may have lucked out on this kit. I've had different experiences on my A-7E Cors

Thanks, Steve! Janissary, so nice to have you pop in, thanks! : ) You're right I'd better check the windscreen. And hopefully the canopy sits flush without glue. It"s tricky sometimes with these older kits. I had to force a canopy shut once and glued it on and I ended up not being able to clean the sanding dust inside the cockpit : )

Thanks, Steve and Elmo! : ) I had to look up Sheperd Payne's stuff. That's some truly astounding work. Looks like he didn't really limit his dioramas to just one particular area -- they seem to cover a whole lot of different subjects. I can get lost looking at displays like that too. I visited a museum once where they have these box dioramas embedded into the walls. The lighting was magnificent and it was just like being there. Some of them even had the perspective built in so the objects were actually distorted but when viewed from the window looked so real : ) Som

Hi Tracy, sorry to hear the seat ejected. That was some fantastic paintjob, though. Mind if I ask what colors went into the seat padding? Looks really realistic.

Thanks, Steve! : ) I've seen you guys do that so I thought I might as well do it too : ) Some progress with the kit seats. I'm wondering why they decided to mold the seat bottoms to the cockpit floor. Painting would have been easier had they been separate. I'm comparing the upper half to some reference photos, though, and the detailing on them looks really good. There are some missing scissor thingies on the top of the seats so I cut off a portion of the top and fashioned a couple to add a little detail. Added the rocket tubes as well. Had to hold them in place with some

I decided to replace the kit crew figures with some Tamiya ones but used Tamiya F-14 heads with the open visors. Had to replace the necks with styrene so I can place them in a more natural position. I kept losing the wire-wrapped hoses. They were a bit tricky to attach. By the way, I was thinking about fixing those gaps in the back of the cockpit but the area will just be hidden when the canopy is closed up.

Hi Pete, it's really great to see your updates : ) Just a question...is there any risk of the paint flaking off the panels?

Hi Steve, yeah, the more i read about the Intruder the more impressed I become -- I thought I might as well build it : ) Hi Cruiz, yes, that's what I was going for -- so I dont have to build the MK-82s. But now I realize I have to drop the flaps : ) Wow, i just realized - the SLUF cartoon I drew is trying to land with ordance, lol.

Hi Tracy, cool stuff! I notice you still use Apoxie Sculpt. I thought you've switched completely to Free-From Air. Are there applications you prefer one over the other? Also, do you also wet the area with water before applying the Air?

Ooooh, very cool figures, Bill! : ) Awesome paint job! And a very apt background. Empire always reminds me of Christmas : )

Thanks, Elmo! : ) A little progress on the tailhook.. The body of the hook is an i-beam shape so I kind of carved up the side near the hook and sandwiched the middle with some styrene. The Y part is tubular -- found some scrap aluminum tubes of the right size. The rear portion should angle upwards a little so I bent it a bit into shape. A little putty should take care of the seams.

That's some crazy undercarriage detailing, cruiz! : ) The amount of work you're putting in really shows.

The camo paintjob turned out really great, Thadeus! Getting to be quite a collection, there : )

Looking great, Steve! : )

Thanks, Steve! I just looked at your Intruder dio again and it looks awesome! : ) Hope I can turn my Intruder into something as good. I need to close up the belly for more bottom scribing but had to install the mounting pipes first. I turned the fuselage around in my hands and chose a spot that wouldn't interfere with any of the wing racks, landing gear, doors or any other parts. I hope I chose correctly. I'm actually starting to wonder if the drop tank is in the way... It always hurts punching holes on a fine model but what can you do? Ma

And made a silk purse out of a sow's ear : ) I've yet to see how my scribe lines stand to sludge wash. I think I'm learning how to control the pressure and depth now, somehow. Still have a lot to learn, though, and the pin still does slip every now and then. It can be frustrating especially when after removing the template the ends of the lines don't meet up. But it can be really rewarding when it turns out really well. I even look forward to each scribing session now. I haven't reached the zone though -- like the zen one experiences in the middle of painting the walls of a room go

Thanks, Steve! : ) Hey, Mr. Happy, thanks for stopping by! : ) This area in the back of the cockpit with some of the guts showing won't really be visible with the canopy closed but I wanted to see what the kit part looks like with some weathering. Test-fitted the cockpit and went around the fuse and glued up the seams. Weathered the floors a little... I want to try and fix the throttle and the stick on the BN's side that I lost. And

Thanks, guys! : ) Still chipping away : ) I try to do a couple lines or panels every day to make some headway without my eyes and upper back hurting. And strangely I'm not too worried about making mistakes anymore knowing they can be easily fixed with Tamiya Easy-sanding CA glue which is really easy to sand down. One other thing I found is that I can use the technique of scribing along the raised panel lines first but only as long as I keep the pressure very lightly at first and trace slowly. The only disadvantage I see is that you're tracing along the sides of the raised panel line so

Thanks for the tips and encouragement, guys! : ) I got the templates and tried them out. How do you use these things in tight spaces and around curves, lol : ) I was comparing the piano hinge templates to those on the intruder and they were still too big so I used the one for vertical lines/vents. I had to close my eyes and cut up a section, though. There was just no way I could use the whole template as is because of the curvature of the hull or some raised details that were in the way. I also had to block off a portion of it to get the length

Thanks, Manfred and Pete! : ) I really have my printer to thank -- I thought you guys might want to meet her... She's feeling out of sorts today, though. There's some knocking sound that I hear whenever the build plate touches the FEP. And this goes on for the first few layers of the raft then goes away. I really can't pinpoint where it's coming from. I've checked all the screws on the build plate and the rails and there don't seem to be anything loose or anything. She still prints ok, though. I wonder if it's some sign of impending failure. What

Hi Manfred, thanks! : ) Really have to break parts down as I go -- it will be harder to separate the parts when all the hoses and stuff have been added onto the engine body. There are a lot more details to add. Was also wondering how the accessory drive gearbox connects to the main body -- I see in the maintenance manual that it has a fixture that it connects to -- will have to model that as well. Some pics of the 1/18 parts..

Added the fuel control unit. I don't think I'll be able to add everything, though. Just the ones that I think can be printed and that I can model : ) Trying to model all the visible plumbing of this guts-on-the-outside aircraft can quickly get overwhelming and drive you crazy. I still want to preserve my sanity, lol. I've hollowed out the inside and adjusted the walls to printable thicknesses. Will break this assembly down into sections once I finish the other details.

Thanks, Jay, yes, those photos are pure heaven : ) I learned a lot about the similarities and differences between the LLTV and LLRV through those photos and Tony's. I wish they'd lowered the LLTV for you to be able to shoot photos from the top as well : ) But it must've been a really awesome sight in person. I don't think it was built to impress -- all function and no form. It's even been called unconventional, contrary, and ugly in that book by the very designers -- but to me it just sings : )

Hi wardog, did you mean me? : ) Thanks for looking in. : ) I hope I can do her justice. Can't wait for the templates to get here. I have a newfound respect for rescribers out there. It's a real exercise in patience. And self restraint, as there's a tendency to keep scoring the line once you get it established. One funny observation, too, is I tend to hold my breath while scoring, like it's going to help prevent the needle from slipping, lol. I need to learn to relax : )