Stalled

August is not a peak time for modelling activities. There isn’t much news on the new kit front, in many parts of the world it is too hot to do anything other than head for the beach, and there are just too many other distractions about. I’ve even noticed that hits on the 72 Land blog are down this month, though that may be related to the lack of new content as much as anything. So it will come as no surprise that I haven’t made much headway so far in August.

I’ve got a couple of items ready for paint. First, the He-162 and Ar-234 are still sitting there, staring at me reproachfully. The Ho-229 that is due to become a what-if USAF fighter awaits its Zinc Chromate wheel wells. The Sword P-47N needs its primer coat, which will be True Blue so I can just mask off the tail and cowling portions. And there are various little cockpit bits that need to be dealt with as well. The Revell Halifax has also gotten the canopies masked and is ready for the first coat of Black paint on the underside.

In construction terms, I’ve made a bit of progress on the Emhar FJ-4. The fuselage is together, and Mr Surfacer is applied and awaiting further attention. I’ve already sanded off the raised lines. Wings are next for construction and sanding.

I’ve also been toying with an idea concerning another two what-if models. I haven’t felt the need for another P-51 or F4U in the collection for a while, but I ran across two interesting ideas on the What-If Modelling forum recently. The basic premise is that the USN decided to navalize the P-51 and the USAF decided to put the F4U into European service. So what you end up with is a Mustang with a tailhook in GSB and the Corsair in Olive Drab and Neutral Grey with nose art (probably swiped from a P-47 sheet). The last thing I need right now is to add more models to the production line (with little moving forward, it has become one big traffic jam) but the idea does have some entertainment value. This probably isn’t the time to revive the B-36 in Bomber Command markings.