Lots of small, but time consuming, things done today. I added the wing to the fuselage, along with the horizontal stabilizers. The wings fit perfectly on top, but there was a considerable step where the bottom of the wing met the belly of the fuselage. If I recall correctly, this has always been a weak point with this kit. A few rounds of filler, sand, and repeat blended everything together.

I noticed in several photos that there is a large flap or door on the bottom of the large radiator scoop under the nose. It looks like it adjusts to change the airflow through the radiator. Some photos of planes on the ground show this door open, and some show it closed. I thought it looked cool, so I cut the section out, then cobbled together the flap which I will add later.

I was really impressed with the landing gear. The main gear struts are designed so they firmly attach to the wing in the exact angle needed to match the actual aircraft. Well done for a 50+ year old kit.

I added the glass to the homemade gunsight. The glass was cut from the clear plastic packaging used on something we got at the supermarket. Worked great.

My preference is to buy pre-made canopy masks for my builds, but, as you might guess, no one makes canopy masks for this kit. So I manually masked the windscreen and canopy, and then glued the windscreen to the fuselage. This is one of the really enjoyable parts of any build (just kidding).

Finally, I finished the prop. The front of the spinner is molded with the prop blades, and there is a large depression to the rear of each blade. I filled the depressions with some plastic and filler, followed by some sanding. I added the rear of the spinner and painted the spinner/prop to match some of the color schemes I found for the Typhoon FR.

Excellent progress and equally excellent results so far, my friend @gblair!

Just tuned in and having read from the start, I noticed the gunsight is reversed. I do hope it is still possible to flip the glass? Great work on this ancient kit George.

I had a fruitful building session today. I painted the bottom of the plane yesterday, and today was the day to finish the upper camo. In a previous build, Tom (@tcinla), passed on the colors he uses for British camo, so I tried the same Tamiya colors: Ocean Gray, RAF Dark Green, and Sea Gray Medium. I used my normal technique for applying all three colors: First, the color straight from the bottle, diluted about 30% with X20 Thinner. Next, I add black to the basic color and then spray the panel lines and some mottling. Finally, I spray a very thin layer of the basic color with some white added. This last layer brings the contrast of the first two layers together. For the top two colors, I wanted to try to fade the colors a little by adding a little Desert Yellow to the mix. I build up the last layer very slowly so I don't hide the layers below.

I have never tried using pre-made masks for the camo before, but I wanted to give them a try. I bought some masks from AML, a company in the Czech Republic that makes short run kits, resin add-ons, etc. The masks are made of a very thin vinyl called Oramask. More on this later.



The masks are relatively clear, so it is difficult to see the edges of the masks when applied over a dark color. Some of the masks didn't exactly fit where they were supposed to go, but I think that was my inexperience with the masks rather than a problem with the mask. I used Tamiya tape to fill in where the masks didn't quite meet. The masks are very thin (3 mil), but they won't conform to panel lines, surface bumps, etc like masking tape will. I was concerned I would get a lot of bleed under the mask, so I made an effort to always spray 90 degrees to the surface. I got no bleed-under at all.




The only real problem I had was self-inflicted. I was in a hurry to pull the masks off the plane and see how the camo came out, but I was worried about leaving fingerprints if the paint wasn't completely cured. This is where my common sense left the building. I decided to hold the plane using a paper towel so that I wouldn't leave fingerprints. You can probably guess the end to this story. I left paper towel prints in one wing. Duh! So I sanded the towel prints out using some fine sandpaper and will repaint the wing.


Back to the masks for a second. The masks are made of a vinyl product called Oramask 810 that is available online. I was able to get the exact name and product number from the back of the AML masks. I have used Oramask before to make masks for models, but I used a much thicker version that wasn't very flexible. I borrowed my wife's Scan and Cut machine to make the masks. I went online and was able to buy Oramask 810 for a very reasonable price, so I hope to start making some of my own masks.

Tomorrow it will be time to repaint the wing, and then add a clear gloss layer in preparation for the decals. Things are moving along now, so the end it in sight. Thanks for dropping in. Cheers.

Nice usage of the masks, my friend @gblair! Camo turns out great!

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten). I am starting to think that you never sleep. It has to be 5 or 6 in the morning there.

Thanks, John (@j-healy). I think they would be reusable if you were really careful taking them off. They are relatively stretchy, but I probably could have saved them. They still seemed to have plenty of adhesive on them after I pulled them off. The adhesive is water-based, so it shouldn't harm the finish on a model. I think that using my wife's Scan and Cut and the masking material I ordered, I should be able to digitize masks for camo patterns and use them to print camo masks whenever I need them. I don't think I will go to the trouble of creating masks for a plane I plan to build only once, but there are some that I plan to build several, like F-4s, F-5s, and a few others.

I have used these kinds of masks up to four times - just be careful pulling them up and then attach them to paper to protect them.