Moments of Zen

[DogfighterZen]

I have the luck of living literally just a few steps from the forest where we have several firebreak roads through the hills which are regularly cleaned up so, everyday, except for when it rains, i take Bob to the forest and we both get 3 to 4KMs of walking/running in peace... and luckily, Bob doesn't really pass gas that much... that i can smell, that is... 
It's also great for thinking about music and lately, because i can't be singing somewhat loud rock and roll with my baby girl sleeping in the bedroom, i've been rehearsing louder parts of songs during the walks...
It only gets weird when i come across a neighbor...  

Well, starting my last 30 days at home with my baby girl while her mother went back to work today.
5 months have gone by in a heartbeat and i just wish that my missus could stay at home but unfortunately, we both have to work...

This means i'll be spending most of these 30 days at home and i can get some stuff done on models when the baby's sleeping and after the house chores are done.
With that said, i've ordered a few more things but most are in back order so, won't be getting them before late August/early September.

Looking back at the Op. Downfall GB, i had a few models in mind for that scenario but music got me busy again and i've had to postpone them. One of the models i dug up from the stash is the Special Hobby 1/72 Goodyear F2G "Super Corsair".
Maybe as a land based Marines fighter flown from Okinawa to escort B-29s and support the landings, etc. during the invasion... I think it's the best looking of the family and the kit looks good in the box but the propeller is too short, according to stuff i read.
There's a brand selling the correct length prop as a resin part, Obscureco aircraft, but they only make them in 1/48... i do have the same kit in 48th scale but i wanted to buy them for both kits...
That means that if i want it with an accurate prop, i'll have to modify it myself... Also, the pair of canopies supplied are vacuformed parts so, i'll have to be very careful when separating them from the mold.

But after i mulled over it for a few days, i ended up putting the GB idea aside.
What i really want to do is a low back F4U-5 with a bubble canopy so i also thought of cutting up the Italeri 1/72 kit and use a P-47D canopy from the Academy kit.
Problem with the Italeri kit is also the prop, the blades are too skinny...
So i went as far as cutting up the prop dome off the Italeri kit's prop and putting it on the Academy P-47's Standard Hamilton 4 blade prop, which looks much better.
Didn't get to test the canopy but i believe it can work... So the thought is, what if Vought took the same route as Republic did with the P-47 and NAA did with the Mustang? Maybe they could've done it before the F2G came out and introduce the bubble canopy on the F4U-4 and keep it on later variants?
Maybe those would've been seen later in Korea...

Anyway, i haven't done anything else on that project but, inspired by Dizzy's Vultee P-52B, i may be pulling it back to the bench to have multiple options of models to work on depending on what's grabbing my attention at the moment.

 

[zenrat]

I think the phrase "full of beans" has been misunderstood.

[NARSES2]

I think the phrase "full of beans" has been misunderstood.

 

Looking back at the Op. Downfall GB, i had a few models in mind for that scenario but music got me busy again and i've had to postpone them. One of the models i dug up from the stash is the Special Hobby 1/72 Goodyear F2G "Super Corsair".

Built it a few years ago, it's quite a decent build.

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[DogfighterZen]

I think the phrase "full of beans" has been misunderstood.

I took that as "full of energy" but the "digestive" interpretation seemed funnier...  

Built it a few years ago, it's quite a decent build.

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Chris, i like that a lot!   
That's a type of scheme i've never done and should really try that on something sometime soon.
Good to know it's a nice kit, it is my favorite radial-engined fighter design in a tie with the XP-72. Despite that, i am still more inclined to build the lowback F4U-5 in Korean war markings before i build the F2G.
Would be nice if Special Hobby brought out those F2G kits again... For those wanting the prop issue corrected, a 3D printed item could be the way to fix that.

Managed to do a couple of bits on the A-7 last night.
A few scraps of 0.5mm Evergreen and i have the HUD's supports for the reflective glass and also, the VOL/ILS blade antennas for the top of the fin...

The Portuguese SLUF is a weird mix of the A-7A shell, with the B's engine and a mix of D and E avionics. Then it has D's wheels, no catapult bar on the nose gear and the D's Doppler radar fairing on the belly, plus a small vent and the large TACAN antenna on the spine that apparently weren't used on any other variants.
Finding good reference pics for these details can be very time consuming, making for rather slow progress so i have to get my act together or i'll soon be achieving the rate of one finished model per year...