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I finally got this beast finished and ready to, “Go Downtown”! The carpet monster kidnapped one of the spoilerons for the port wing and I have not been able to negotiate a release as of yet, but I am still trying. I did some mild weathering with graphite powder to give it somewhat of a “used” look. It shows up fairly well on the gray bottom, but is difficult to pick out on the top. I added some wire bundles and fiddly parts to the nose radar, arming wires to the bombs and metal landing gear legs. The markings are a combination of kit decals and a Cutting Edge AM sheet. I censored the nose art to make it a little more presentable in public. The actual decal is pretty raw.
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I started this kit almost 10 years ago and got it up to the first coat of paint and then shoved it in a dark corner of my man cave. I finally dug it out a couple of months ago and decided to finish it. The really tedious part was highlighting those 20,000 rivets with a pencil point. That took a month in itself with at least an hour per day. The liquid masking material on the canopy had been there for over 9 years and I was really expecting a problem getting that off, but it peeled right off with a little help from a sanded down toothpick.
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The kit had some photo etch hinges for the flaps, ailerons and rudder, but they didn’t work very well, so I just left them off. The kit cockpit was very poor. I bought a Verlinden AM set and that was even worse, so I got a Black Box set and that is magnificent. The kit gives you the parts for the probe and drogue refueling setup, but if that is extended, it interferes with the “lady” nose art, so I left it closed. They also provide the parts for the 20mm Vulcan cannon, but I have not installed that as yet. I may do that later.
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The kit provides a wide selection of ordnance to include 2 Bullpups, two Standard Arm and 5 Shrike anti-radiation missiles, 18 Mk-117 750 pound bombs, 18 Mk-82 500 pound bombs, both standard and extended length fuses for them, two external wing tanks and an external centerline tank. There is a complex sheet of decals for the ordnance and another for the plane & pylons.
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Comments, pro or con are welcome,
Darwin
