Brian (@brithebuilder): I just got one on Amazon a few weeks ago that has interchangeable wheels, but I haven't done anything with it yet. I have done only very small areas on a couple of planes, and one turned out great and one not so much. It is very similar to cutting panel lines. Up until recently I had only done small repairs on panel lines, but I removed all of the raised panel lines on a Monogram B-25 and replaced them. I found it difficult to get consistently straight lines, and a common depth. I'm sure it is the same with the rivets. I think it gets easier with practice. I still have some Dymo tape that I use as a guide. You can get imitation Dymo tape on Amazon for just a few bucks. I saw a video on YouTube where a guy demonstrated using masking tape as a guide. I tried it with limited success. Anyway, I am looking forward to seeing how your rivets come out.

Decals and weathering of the 1D cockpit and wheel wells is complete. Now to assemble the cockpit and fuselage to get the 1D caught up to the 1A. This set of Quinta decals was slightly damaged. Not sure how, they still applied perfectly, but some of the corners were 'broken'. It's not noticeable anywhere but it was a bit odd to me that vinyl decals could break.

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Brian @brithethebuilder: Yes, that those panels look terrific. I have to get my hands on one of those Quinta sets. But I must admit I do like using instrument decals one by one the old fashioned way. Kind of meditative.

There are several different examples of riveters available with some searching. I've got a couple of the Rosie's but I also bought a complete set of Galaxy Riveters (which are shipped from Asia). I've seen others, but cannot remember the brand name. Plasmo on You Tube also talks about making one in one of his videos.

As for circular rivet patterns, a metallic hole template of the right size can be taped to the model and used as a guide for keeping the pattern circular.

Scribing and riveting are techniques like any other and only require practice to master. A cheap model build is ideal for this.

The USN Sea Blue from Vallejo looks really good in my opinion. Based on the box art, it could definitely be a bit more blue though.

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Same for me, my friend @brithbuilder
Your Sea Blue looks really great!

@johnb, @fiveten, @gwskat - I was kind of figuring that there were a lot of variations of the Sea Blue used by the Navy. Some photos seem far more blue and some seem almost black. I'm also assuming some of that is due to the exposure and developing process of the individual photographer.

I am going to check and see if my local hobby store has AS-8 back in stock so my 2nd version is more unique. I think I'm going to skip the idea of the Black Sheep Squadron variant on the 1A and use the box art/decals for VMF-111 No. 122, Gilbert Islands. The BSS version would have the entire plane dark blue like the 1D and I would prefer to do the white and intermediate blue on one of them.

I do like the pilot sitting in the 1D turning back to watch the guy on the tug. The pose looks pretty good. Both of his armpits will need some putty, but that shouldn't be too challenging.

I'm pretty happy with the way the canopy turned out. No masks, just hand painted. There are oddly no internal rails to fit into the slots on the body though. I'm going to need to do something there.

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@brithebuilder the pilot figure is great. Is that a purchased figure or did you modify one to fit the the pose?