F-18 Complete

Tonight I completed the last details of Casey`s Blue Angel's F-18 by painting the landing gears/wheels, exhaust, pilots head, seat and applying the "Casey approved" stickers. 

Casey Painting

After insisting that it be painted and that we do not use the stickers supplied with the kit which surprised me (in a positive manner), Casey started painting his F-18 after I masked it. He applied a few coats of paint throughout the week and I helped out. I calculated that it took seven coats of yellow to hide the dark blue plastic! Yellow is a hard color to work with but it sure looks nice!

Blue Angels F-18 Hornet - Spring Break Project

This week is Casey's first spring break and with plenty of time to spend together I decided to bring him to a toy store to choose a kit. Of course when my five year old son saw a huge kit of a B-1B Lancer he just had to have it! I smiled, told myself maybe one day then showed him some more realistic kits for his age.

I was sure he would have chosen a fire truck or a police car but he decided he wanted to build a Blue Angels F-18 Hornet. Can't wait to get started with him!

FSM Digital - "Blog that build"

I am subscribed to FSM digital service provided by Zinio and got to examine the April 2012 issue of FSM and see my reader tip located on page number 53. Still can't wait to get my hands on a printed copy but this was already very rewarding for me.

FineScale Modeler Tips

I just received an email from FineScale Modeler magazine Associate Director Aaron Skinner stating that my reader tip about blogging scale model projects will be added to the April 2012 issue of FSM. 

This news just made my day and I sure can't wait to get my hands on that issue!

Super Glue sure Sticks!

The schwimmwagen has several grills on the top side as well as behind the back seats. Tonight I worked on the the one behind the seats and after taking this photo I realized that I just glued my fingers to the toothpick that was holding the grill down! I barely managed to peel my fingers off of the toothpick and suspect that a few seconds more would have create a more serious issue. I also made a mental note to buy myself a product to remove super glue to avoid any embarrassing moments in the future... That was a close call! 

I ended up redoing the grill three times before I got it perfect.

Assembly...

Installed the seats to the chassis and added the steering wheel column. Hey its starting to look like a vehicle!

Filling the Gaps

Today I installed the top half to the bottom part of the Schwimmwagen. Unfortunately it was not a perfect fit and there was a noticeable gap that could be seen from above. A bit of white glue should due the trick! I'll paint it to match the rest of the vehicle tomorrow.

Signature

As usual I always put my name in my models with the year it was built, for the Schwimmwagen it will be hidden in the motor compartment which will not be accessible.

Seating Arrangements...

Completed the interior of the Schwimmwagen, had some issues with the seats since there was not much place to apply the super glue. Also added little details if you look at the gear shift and hand brake.