I have too many already started kits, my friend @clipper. I cannot agree more with you: at times I miss the magic feeling of focusing on a single project.

I don't mind working on multiple kits at the same time, Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb). It's rather nice to be able to switch up to keep from one job getting too tedious. And if the builds are spaced out in start times, it means that you regularly get to the fun part of painting and weathering. It also means, though, that it takes longer to get an individual model done.

It's only the concern about getting impatient that concerns me as it can lead to a desire to cut corners at times which I have to fight the urge to give into (not always successfully).

Anyway, for today's work, I am continuing on the Twin Mustang build. I wanted to duplicate the surface detail redo on the other fuselage as it felt like one of those tasks that, if I didn't get it done soon, the model would end up on the shelf og doom. This is primarily because I don't particularly like having to redo things and this seems too much like that. But I got it done.

I had originally tried to drill out the intake screen on the nose. This is a prominent feature on the Mustang and Twin Mustang and I wanted it to look better than the surface molded original. But the drilling out didn't look that great so I decided to replace it with mesh. It's somewhat better (at least more consistent) and I can live with it this way.

Then I took a look at the intake trunk inlet piece from the kit. It wasn't very well done either. It also didn't fit up to the fuselage very well. So the first thing I did was reshape the inlets to be a little closer to what they should look like.

They were then glued to the fuselage. They are a bit oversized in overall exterior dimensions and didn't sit quite straight (hence the gap in one of the parts),. I'll clean all this up after the glue sets up. THe exhausts on this kit bare some resemblance to the real thing, but they are not great. However, without a 3D printer, I doubt I could produce an acceptable and accurate replacement for all four exhausts, so these will be staying in place (with a bit of clean up).

And something else that anyone who has ever attempted to do an inflight display has experience with, namely ill fitting landing gear doors. You can see in this photo that they will have to be fitted as best as I can, glued into place, completely filled in using CA glue, and then rescribed. Since I am going to be rescribing the wing surface detail anyway, getting these doors glued in now makes sense. The kit also has a upper wing panel for the gun bay which has the same problem and which will get the same treatment.

All in a modeler's day, especially with older kits. If we hadn't had to deal with this sort of stuff from an early age, it would be harder to get better at making changes and conversions later in our modeling adventures. 🙂

Thanks Spiros (@fiveten). I wasn't aware when I started this kit, but it is the same plastic as the old Monogram 1/72 release. I read though that the Hobbycraft release (which this one is) was more poorly molded. I have to agree. Still, there's definitely satisfaction in getting this kit up to more acceptable standards.

Excellent, Hobbycraft kits are a challenge, but can produce great results as you are proving!

Okay, the wing is mostly ready to install. I still need to smooth sand the bottom side to remove scribing burrs and then give it the Tamiya Extra Thin treatment to soften scribed edges. The lower surface landing gear doors are completely sealed and rescribed.

I used a drawing I had to determine the panel lines so if they are wrong, it's from the drawing. The center panel on the underside got six shell ejector holes cut into the wing (there was nothing there). That was fun, because these are about 1mm wide and 2.5mm long.

The drawing aileron lines on the bottom side differ from the molded lines on the model, hence the black lines you see in the photo (black CA glue filling in the old lines).

I wanted to mention a tool I just picked up which I used to do this scribing. It is the Stedi MS-39R scriber with a .1 mm scribe. This tool is great for scribing straight lines. I found it easier to use than my go to photo etch razor saw blade for these lines. Going around leading edges and curved surfaces is still easier with the saw blade. This tool can hold a variety of sizes from .1mm to 3mm (and possibly others). The chisels can be purchased separately if one breaks, although it is pretty tough.

Excellent work on restructing this wing, Carl @clipper
Thanks for sharing the tool, it looks very handy indeed.

I continue to make small bits of progress, at least photogenic progress. There is quite a bit of background work that goes on for these photos. The other projects I have going are the same way, so the photos are fewer and farther between at the moment.

The Twin Mustang has been assembled and all the seams filled on the main body and wing parts. This turned into quite a chore as there were many gaps that had to be dealt with. And after that, many of the details I had previously scribed into the plastic had to be restored again. I should be able to prime this soon and hopefully there won't be much (if any) touch up work required. I am rather looking forward to painting this because I am going to paint it as a night fighter and I have a technique for black schemes that I am anxious to try out on this.

As I have previously mentioned, this is going to be an in flight display so I am getting the propeller spinners prepared for that. My usual approach for this is to make the appropriate diameter clear parts to simulate the blades moving, then sandwich that between the spinner parts. And gaps on the spinner will be filled in.

When assembling the wings and body, I had a lot of trouble getting everything aligned. I ended up several times sawing the wings partially loose and repositioning the entire assembly, clamping it into position while glue dried. Then of course the seams had to be filled and detail restored.