Here's what I got for the money.

Very detailed and very sharp details too.




Very clear canopy parts. They look like glass and I haven't even dipped them yet.


... and the PE, decals, and masks.

(note that there are 40 pieces on the mask sheet. That IS a lot of glass.)


Plus the box art print which will be framed and displayed with the finished kit.

2 1/2 hours at the bench and have the office seating finished.


After working on that chunk of plastic that is the B-17 kit tooled in '77, this is so dainty. I almost forgot what good modern tooling looks like. I'm really going to enjoy this kit.

Robert, the mask looks pretty extensive. I hear you on the delicate parts, my big fingers usually break at least one part that is either glued back together or scratched from plastic stock.

The office looks good and I now see how the gunner saw over the pilot.

Bob

Damian, I cannot tell by the photo. Is the kit 1/48? Looks really nice and different.

Bob

Ah, yes - I didn't notice that box obscured that info. It is 1/48 scale and I must say it is very nice kit, very detailed and crisp parts. I will start it soon when all ordered AM parts will arrive.
I agree with you - it is bit unusual plane for night fighter, but still effective - designed as heavy fighter plane for Bettys, but quickly reclassified as a recon plane and then in almost instantly field adopted as a night fighter. In the Pacific Gekko's shoot down many B-17s and B-24s, but when it came to B-29s their performance was obviously obsolete. Unusual design feature are guns pointing down - the intention was attacking bombers from the top do avoid underside turret or to strafe shipping.

Totem that P-61 is a nice looking kit.

I built the Gekko not long ago and it goes together really well.

I am venturing in with Classic Airframes' Defiant with Print Scale decals.

Linus, this will be a fun campaign with all of the subjects. I like the Defiant lines, always have.

Bob

You guys are doing some great stuff. I'm love this.

From what Ive seen most here keep a clean work area, mine is usually piled with paint on one side of the cutting mat and tools on the other side even though I have a place for everything.

Robert your cockpit looks really clean not like my builds.

Bob

The front office is all done except for a little chipping.




There were 25 separate decals that went into the instrument panel. Without the magnifying visor I would never be able to get it done. My eyes are not what they use to be.

The gun bay is done as well.

Robert, I hear you re: the eyes. I also use a magnifying hood, and 25 decals for the instrument panel. WOW!

Bob,

You were talking about work areas. This is what mine starts and finishes each session like.

I have a workbench behind me that holds the box for the kit I'm working on. There is a shelf under that bench that holds my compressor, rotary tool, and so on. Off to the left there is another table that has a set of shelves above for my paint and such. Off to the right is more shelving for my stash. I also have a sink at the end of the bench for clean up.

It may not be the prettiest, but it sure is functional.

Robert, looks like were in the same boat. My area is on one wall with my bed behind and the closet on the other.

Today started not so great to say the least. Somehow a small bag of parts ended up on the floor and course I stepped on it. To make it worse it was the canopy for the radar operator’s area. If it had been a grey piece I could have repaired it. But…….


Hopefully Great Wall will play nice and I can get a new one.


The rest of the day went great. The crew nacelle is closed up and the seams came out real nice. Some light sanding tomorrow, and maybe the smallest amount of putty, and she’ll be good to go.







I also put the turret together.

OUCH! The office is really coming along, hope GW will help out.

Anndd, I'm off and crawling.




Eduard's 1/72 Grumman F6F Profipack. Could build as a -3N or -5N, I'm planning on the -3N shown on the box top.

Mark, were building the same airplane except for the markings. OH! and the size. I cannot wait to see yours.

Bob

LOL. It's quite the kit. First Eduard plastic subject for me from them, used their PE before but never a full kit. It's a far cry from the Academy, Airfix, ARII, Testers and Revelogram kits I've been building lately. The engine alone is at least 5 molded parts and one PE. There are 2 instrument panels, 1 with molded in details and one that's blank for the 6-8 PE parts??? Could be a poor choice for a campaign subject with all this brass.

Whipped out the airbrush and got the cockpit painting started last night.

Mark, you will love this kit, Eduard put the effort in for us to enjoy building.

Bob

Well I still have not had any luck getting in contact with GWH. I am thinking about buying one of their A model kits for a jungle crash diorama anyway so I might able to use the part from that kit and then not have to worry about it with the next one anyway.

But in the meantime I have made some progress.
I weighted the nose with Milliput and some lead pellets. The nose will be painted black when it's done so it won't be seen.


All of the major sub-assemblies are done.

I need to go back and check all the seams and sand or fill anything that is not just right. I will also need to paint the wheel wells, but apart from that, she is ready to be assembled and painted.
That's once I get the new canopy part.

Robert, after viewing your efforts on the nose I had a thought. Would you be able to secure the canopy over some clay then vac your own by using the broken canopy as the template.

I thought about that. I even tried the heat up a plastic coke bottle trick. However due to how/where it crack it is impossible to get it to hold the perfect shape off of the model. With the cockpit area in place and glued in, making a cast of the area would do more damage that I would have to correct.

I'm might go ahead and get the other kit. Make a copy of the part, and then use the real one on this kit. If the other one is not perfect it would still be ok.

Here's one of the pics that has inspired the diorama I want to build later.

Robert, neat looking photo. Do you have any history to go with it?

Bob

Oh yeah.

http://www.maam.org/p61/p61_recovery.htm

https://www.pacificwrecks.com/aircraft/p-61/42-39445.html

Cool story, seems someone went for a joyride and the mountain got in their way