This is a great kit OOB, IMO. It has good resin, photo-etch and decals and also a good shape overall. Despite these qualities, I have had it in my stash for years because of the annoying way that the windscreen and canopy are molded in one piece. Some online builds smash mold canopy replacements but I have never had luck with this method in 16 years of modeling. I always end up with flaws and distortion in the result and usually wreck the kit part as a master. I am thinking of investing in one of those dentist's vacuform machines available on eBay but I don't know if they work well. I also don't like the way vac-form canopies can yellow with age (which ruined my carefully-built Classic Airframes Whirlwind recently).

Anyway, I finally got over the hump of building this model by deciding to cut the windscreen from the canopy with a new sharp Exacto and a lot of patience and care. Success!

I can now get started on the build. I will have a bit of scratch-building to do for interior ribbing and the shelf for the rear gun. I bought a Vicker's K-Gun from Gas Patch a while back so I have that covered. I also have Montex masks for the green house glazing so all-in all this could be a relaxing build (fingers crossed).

Personally, I don't think the Barracuda is ugly at all. With the gear up, it looks rather like its namesake. With gear down it looks vulture-like but in an interesting way. This is my first FAA model, so I would appreciate any opinions you guys might have on the best acrylic paints for accurate FAA colors.

Happy Modeling!

Looking forward to this build as well, Colin @coling
Nice extras as well.

Thanks, Spiros@fiveten. This one got me re-energized to do model work this weekend. I am glad we agree on the Barracuda's looks. More to come soon.

Thanks, John@johnb. I really like the kit and plan to put some serious time into it this week. Working on other builds as well. You can check out the Lynx progress in Helicopters GB.

Thanks, Tom@tcinla. I had already read your review several times as I always find your insights very helpful. BTW, I got courage to cut into the windscreen canopy join from that article. Your success in that regard was what I finally needed to give it a try.

I go into this build with eyes wide open. There will be some work to do to open up the observation windows for the pilot, as well as the scratch- building I mentioned. I am not decided yet on how to brace the wing to add strength to the butt join but I may go for inserting a spar through the fuselage. i actually had no problems with the lack of a spar in the Buffalo build I did but may prefer to be on the safe side for this one.