What a great project George @gblair, I'm pretty late to the party but have been enjoying catching up on the posts of all your great work!
I had the airfix version of this kit as a kid!
I might dig out my monogram kit !

Hi, David (@davem). Thanks for dropping in. I suspect that the Airfix and Monogram kits are probably the same age. The Monogram kit is still a pretty good starting point, even with the kit interior, but it makes a big difference if you have a resin set for the interior.

Hi, Eric (@eb801). Getting close. I sprayed the clear flat this morning. The planes looks pretty clean in the photo, but I will do a little weathering after the clear dries completely. I have wondered how much you could see looking forward with the giant antenna mast and the big tube gunsight. I have read the the antenna mast would fold to prevent fouling when the plane was being lifted aboard ships.

George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
You have made some considerable progress since the last time I checked in with your journal. It's also looking just like the Kingfisher in the photo you posted from Jim's book. By the looks of things, you just might be wrapping this one up soon. As long as the "modelling Gods", Karma, and the planets remain in alignment.

I call that a win any day... plus no one lost an eye in the process, nor did anyone have their tongue stuck to a frozen flag pole... at school... in front of all of their friends... at Christmas time... having the fire department respond.

BB guns are cool.

Reading your last comments about the drilling of the kit supplied exhaust, brought me right back to herding cats... Most Excellent !

That rod does improve the strength for sure, George @gblair
Great repair.

Slowly taking care of the last small completion items while I am waiting for the replacement engine. I added the main wheels to the landing gear and then painted the newly repaired tailwheel. I removed the tape protecting the windows and was relieved that the manual masking seemed to work fine. I then tackled my least favorite part of our hobby: adding the antenna wire. The Kingfisher actually had two antenna wires: one from the tail to the antenna mast, and another from the rear compartment to a point midway on the other antenna wire. I unexpectedly had no problems stringing the antennas, further proof that my Karma continues to be in sync with the Universe. According to tracking, I'm not expecting the new engine until the weekend, so tomorrow I will just take care of the very last items, such as adding the bomb racks, and then it will be waiting for the engine.

5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

You’ve made a lot of major progress George @gblair. Canopy looks A-OK after all that serious masking you did. You’re almost there. Did you get that engine replacement yet? Or did I miss something?

Nice job, George! Love the gray scheme.