Here it is at the point of final assembly - ready to go to the paint shop.

I almost screweth the poocheth today, which turned into Save The Model Day. The canopy (wouldn't you just know it?) is the one part that doesn't fit well. To get it down, you have to glue it and then rubber band it tight with some Big Iron rubber bands for several hours till it fully sets up. So I did t hat, and when I took off the rubber bands, there was a nice etched scar right across the rear canopy glass, where some glue had traveled up the rubber band by capillary action, Yikes!

Fortunately, I have a canopy polishing kit. Ten different pads from 1800-grit to 8000 grit. So I took a rough sanding stick and sanded off the capillary glue scar, then I proceeded to work my way through the pads from 1 to 10, then polish out with the Novus plastic polish. Had to do it five times to get the fershlugginah scar completely out. Polished away with the Novus and then with the Micro Gloss polish.

And the result is if I didn't tell you, you wouldn't see it in the photos here.

During all that, I managed to knock off and lose the pitot venturi, so had to remake that from evergreen rod. But now it's all ready. No work on it though till I get back from the Everest Expedition of taking SWMBO to visit her doctor.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

You'll like it a lot. If you close the canopy, use C-A glue, that's the only "secret" past clean up all the parts really well, no sprue nubs and such.

Nice save, my friend!
Looking good (and chances are it's already painted by the time I posted this 🙂 ).

Ok, you've convinced me! Into the queue it goes!

I agree. I do “deserve” this kit. I just hit the “submit order” button.

This looks like a really awesome kit, Tom (@tcinla). As you suggested, I ordered one from Lucky Model yesterday. They say it will arrive somewhere in the next 4 weeks. Can't wait.

Here's what happens when you have too much information and too much time on your hands. Insanity!

My good friend and Argentine historian Pablo Calcaterra provided me a monograph by a friend of his on the Pucara for modelers, which goes into detail about the Pucaras on the Falklands/Malvinas. The first ones arrived in their original anodized aluminum scheme and were repainted with automobile paint brought over from the mainland - "paint was thin, done with sprayguns and paint brushes, much underlying detail could be seen through it, and only the upper surfaces were done." Oh-oh.

So, the end result of thinking about that too long was six hours of masking for a total 30 minutes of airbrushing. This is the really odd anodized aluminum, or at least my interpretation, since color photos of it from different angles and different lighting look vaguely different.

Next step is to do the decals, then paint the camo.

Most sane modelers will do one of the airplanes painted on the mainland, which had better work and also upper and lower camo. I'll post the professor's information next time

5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Hey Tom. I'm just catching up with this build. I really like the lines of the Pucara and yours is looking great. I love the care and attention to detail and finish you are putting into this one. If I didn't have so many kits in my stash, I would definitely join the line and put in an order for a Pucara of my own at Lucky Model. BTW, for what it's worth, your "six hours of masking for 30 minutes of airbrushing" is pretty much my normal experience, so I would say it's definitely worth the effort. The better I mask, the quicker and more successful the spraying stage. Any time I cut corners on masking time, I have paid for it in airbrushing errors and redos.

I hope the final push for accuracy and new documentation doesn't slow you down too much. I would really like to see this one in all its glory. We should do a Falklands/Malvinas group build on i Modeler sometime. I have a couple of Skyhawks and a Super Etendard in 1/48 plus a huge 1/24 Sea Harrier that would be fun to complete. Come to think of it, I also have a Lynx and a HU-7 Wessex as well. What do you think?