Barracuda Roy’s Lockdown 2020 | Heller | No. 80229

[jkim]

Whaaat??? One week left and 20 pages in and you’ve just STARTED using glue??? Will wonders never cease! Truly unorthodox and unique but 100% Bruce... can’t wait to see the result!

[Stikpusher]

[speedgraflex]

Mr Surfacer 500 and CA - 2,000 grit wet polish



Step 1 with primer



Step 2 with color coats blended



Thank you, Lyle, John and Carlos! Jungle Book is my favorite Disney film! I always seek out Baloo the Bear when I go to DisneyLandWorld for a photo op! There - you know more about me than you probably ever wanted to know. Low blood sugar. It’s lunch time.

[Stikpusher]

Excellent! It’s all gonna go quick now. It always takes longer getting to closing up the fuselage than most any other process...

[speedgraflex]

Thanks, buddy. Time for cross check-check. Natural light, feels right.

[Stikpusher]

Looking good! And some major progress too!

[LyleW]

Lookin good. Except for no prop, no wings, no horizontal tail surfaces, no canopy and no pilot, it could be a real a/c flying in a cloud...

[jkim]

I'm sorry... I still shudder when I see paint work prior to seam correction! That's the old dog in me, I guess. Keep it rollin!

[speedgraflex]

Thank you so much for your support and encouragement, Lyle, Carlos and John! You are all aces. I personally worry every time I post something unconventional on Roy’s FB Group page, because only a few modelers are kind enough to tolerate a different approach. Not the case here. I also must confess I wanted to build this exactly as instructed but simply found I could not use the decals easily. I used a way which is old school to attach the instrument panel decals by a thin wash of white glue first on the surface then the decal in warm water and then a few drops of setter. The “solvent” solution simply made little difference to the decal itself. I think I will pull the swastikas from an ancient Aoshima Ta 152H-1 provided there are white outlines... and the numbers painted on the sides may become a plus de resistance masking effect! Why not?

Last night, I asked Carlos if he thought this cowling gap was too much, which is one of those asks where you know the answer but need a friendly confirmation.



He confirmed that the gap was a bit much and provided me with photos and information that the cowling was hinged.



This is the part where I hope John does not cringe! I trenched the gap using an RB Scriber and added the thinnest piece of copper wire I have, to recreate the hinge.

[jkim]

No cringing about the hinge. I would've addressed it in a similar way but instead of brass wire, I would've been more apt to use a piece of finer stretched sprue. Can't tell from the resolution of the photos but the hinge looks to be about the same diameter as the gun barrels, which might be significantly overscale.