This build - my first 1/32 kit - was difficult. I started this kit some time ago, and it sat on the shelf of doom for several months. The SOD was getting rather full, so I decided to take a look at this kit and see how bad it was. It didn't seem so bad, so I decided to finish it.

Construction was a little awkward. First, you need to cut out the openings in the fuselage for the exhaust. That was a pain. Also, each cylinder on the engine is a separate piece, and my boxing had quite a bit of flash - not surprising, since this kit dates from the 1970's. The tail wheel had broken off on my kit. I tried gluing it back on, but it broke again. I glued it on a second time, and then dabbed on epoxy all around the join. That kept together.

Since I figured that this kit might well be headed for the trash can anyway, I decided to try something new for the NMF. I primed the exterior with Krylon Gray Primer, and then sprayed Krylon 1403 Dull Aluminum for the final coat. Since I've had trouble with metallic paint not drying, I let it sit for several days to fully cure. I was pleasantly surprised at how it turned out, and as this is a 1/32 kit and is therefore rather large, using spray paint was much easier than airbrushing. I was able to mask to paint the anti-glare panel, the yellow on the front edge of the wings, and the wheel wells without any issue.

Since the surface was rather smooth, I decided to try to decal without applying a gloss coat first. I had trouble with the decals, but because they were so thin, not due to lack of a gloss coat. The insignia on the upper right wing shattered (as you can see in one of the photos). As a matter of fact, I got so frustrated with the decals that I didn't bother to apply any stencils, including the small yellow stripes on the propellor blads. It wasn't until after I was done that I realized I also forgot to put the black walkway area decal on the upper left wing.

Page last updated June 15, 2023.