[Max]

A very nice a clean build so far, Dean. It's looking great! The tiger mouth decal is gonna look great. up to now I was looking at the last few pictures and saying "there's something missing......." Looking forward to the rest of it

[dean2287]

Well, here it is! Second coat of cowl paint dried, decals on, got me a pilot figure today and painted him a little different, mounted the canopy, looking really good. I picked up some flat finishing clear coat as well, so I'll coat the cowl and hopefully dull the finish a bit.

[dean2287]

I applied the Testors Dullcoat clearcoat spray last night to the cowl, worked great! Nice flat flinish, super smooth. I want to add some panel lines and rivets to the cowl to sort of match the film detail than spray it again. Last things to do are make an exit hole for the exhaust and finish up some detail on the landing gear, add gun barrels to the wings, and fix up the flaps under the cowling, then she's about ready to go.

These Kyosho kits are very good for the money, although out of the box they do need some extra work to make them stronger and better detail wise. With a little effort they turn into a really nice model. The guy I sold the Spitfire to said it is a nice flyer, and I certainly expect this one to be the same. One concern with the warbirds is that the film can't really be fixed, so you gotta be really careful with it. Its strong enough, but in the event of a puncture in transit or something you're basically screwed.

[dean2287]

Ahhh, the sweet smell of victory! She's all done. After getting the exhaust fitted and the needle valve in, I added some panel lines to the cowl and gave it another spray of Dullcoat. Then I paint matched the wheel hubs and gave the whole plane a spray. The cowl looks a tad lighter shade in the pics, but its just the flash playing tricks.

[chuebner]

Looking very nice there Dean...... Don't you wish you would have kept the Spitty now as you would have a nice start on the warbird fleet?

Great job and keep on building and assembling!

[dean2287]

Thanks Buddy! To be honest I didn't really like the Spitfire as it was just too finiky for me. I like this one a lot more just because its a pretty straight forward model. However, it remains to be flown!!

[dean2287]

I fired up the engine today, its a Saito FA-65 that I got used. Took a while to get it started, and I didn't really know the optimal needle setting, but I got it running well. Turning a 12x6 MAS 3-blade it spins about 9,800 rpm full throttle and idles happily in the low 2000 range. Seems like a good fit for this model.

I quickly realized that the exaust is going to spoil the flat finish on the covering. Cleaning it off with Windex just makes it more glossy. Whatever.

She's ready to maiden. Balances right about 90mm back. I set up the throws per the manual and got the gear tuned about as good as it can get.

If Friday is a decent day I'll be out in the morning. Wish me luck.

[Max]

Originally Posted by dean2287

If Friday is a decent day I'll be out in the morning. Wish me luck.

"good luck"

Looking forward to your flight report !