My vintage resin AMX

Cuajete
Great, Łukasz!
I hope Italeri finally releases the one it announced.

Łukasz Gliński
Me 2, fingers crossed

Cuajete
But you have to be true to your hard kits 😛

Łukasz Gliński
I don't like throwing them away 😉

Cuajete
You're right. I also think that all kits deserve another chance 😉 👍

Michael Kohl
No, not all. My Elite Fuchs will go to the bin and I am still pondering whether to send my resin Iltis down the same path. But this notwithstanding, I like to see what you make from this challenging base. I cross my fingers.

Erik De Smet
I think Italeri will wait with their kit till Lukasz has finished his model. That is Murphy's modelling law.

Łukasz Gliński
Damn, forgot about that, need to be quick then 😉

Cuajete
You are right, Erik 😄

Robert Podkoński
Watching, of course 😉

Maciej Bellos
Oh, that's a tough one. Watching!

Cuajete
Well done so far, Łukasz!
This promises a lot of work, but I know you're used to it 😛

Guy Rump
Looking good! 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Well, I do my best to split the sanding sessions, so I don't get frustrated too soon 😋

Cuajete
Łukasz, be careful with the resin dust. Remember that it is very toxic and that it is better to use a good mask or to sand inside a bag so that the dust does not remain suspended in the environment.

Łukasz Gliński
Thx, it's summer so I usuallly sand outdoor in the mask. But never thought of a bag! But why does the Chef's pleasure bag immediately come to my mind? 😋

Thomas Kolb
Looking great Łukasz! But resin is a b*tch, take great care avoiding the dust as the plague. Let me know how you manage working with superglue. For me, superglue and resin is the horror. It bonds in less than a second, so it's really just one shot to get parts *exactly* where they should be. No second chances.

Erik De Smet
Just some info for Thomas and maybe Lukasz: zap a gap medium ca+ does not dry in a second and Ammo ultra acrylic glue is a great alternative to ca for pe parts. It applies like white glue , allows adjustments and makes a strong bond after 10 minutes or so.

Thomas Kolb
Erik, thank you for the tip with the Zap A Gap! I know about the acrylic adhesives, but the bond is not very strong for critical joins and also the glue has a volume which affects the fit.

Łukasz Gliński
Thanks Erik for the hint.
Thomas, well I don't like CA that much. I try to glue what I can with PVA glue or Kristal Klear. If it comes to big resin parts, that have to be strong I either use the black CA (need to finish the package) or non-stinking CA glue by Deluxe Materials. No matter which one, I leave it away for long to get stiff and to avoid inhaling too much of it.
For rigging I use the accelerator too, but not for strong bonds - it dries quick, but seems more fragile afterwards.

Andy Ball
Oh my, 2 projects on the go?…..hello

Łukasz Gliński
Nah, usually more, up to 5-6 sometimes 😉

Andy Ball
@Ł you multitasker, you!

Mirko Römer
You're a brave man Łukasz! 🙂 Seems like you're talents pay off and it will become something very admireable in the end! Good luck!

Mirko Römer
And... check six, Italeri is coming! 🙂

Cuajete
Yes Łukasz... We want you to finish it, because according to Murphy's law, the new mold will not be published until the old one is not built... And many of us are waiting for the new one to be released 😛

Łukasz Gliński
I'm one of you, waiting for the Italians and decided to speed'em up a bit by building this kit 😄

Cuajete
But it's not enough. I still don't see any progress from Italeri 😄

Thomas Kolb
Amazing work, I cannot but admire you enough for this superb effort.

Cuajete
Retaking the project?? 👏👏👏

Adam Gudynowski
Difficult stuff (!)

Łukasz Gliński
Thx, it was never stopped, it's just too hot at the attic nowadays 😉

Łukasz Gliński
The weather deteriorated today and hence there's some progress.
That's how scale modelling works, isn't it? 😉

Cuajete
Good progress, Łukasz!... Make AMX great again 😄

Davide Tessari
Good job! With a kit like this you need a lot of willpower! My resin Amx from cunarmodel was a nightmare!

Łukasz Gliński
Thanks mates. Actually the most needed elements are the filler and CA glue 😄
Always thought mine was bad, however the fit is quite good 🙂

Michael Kohl
nice progress. Looks like this is going to be a beauty.

Łukasz Gliński
I do hope so 🙂
Btw. Does anyone here happen to know where I could source the replacement fuel tanks? They are missing in my kit 🙁

Michael Kohl
As this plane has quite a beautiful shape and looks even good on wheels you might even consider building it without any ordnance.

Davide Tessari
My kit had 4 fuel tanks. I have two spare if you want.

Moreno Baruffini
Wow!!!!! I miss this! Great job!

Łukasz Gliński
Welcome mates!
@Davide: let me see how it looks completed w/o tanks and if it's gonna be not nice enough I'll ping you. Mille grazie!

Łukasz Gliński
Not my best day today. Returned to the AMX only to find out there's a lot of sanding residue in the cockpit. Probably the result of the exhaust drilling 🙁
It needs to dry now before I can continue, will leave it for couple of days.

Andy Ball
Stay patient Ł, rewards will come….

Cuajete
I agree with Andy. No pain no gain, Łukasz! 💪

Juergen Klinglhuber
Agree with Andy and Cuajete - ....don't lose heart!!!

Łukasz Gliński
Thank you for your support, it really helped me to come back to the bench and keep on wrestling the ancient AMX kit.
Cleaned the cockpit as much as I could and reattached the canopy. Then blended the rudder with fuselage using the miliput (my fav UK putty is not really scribable).
I was reluctant for years to try it, but I really like the way it can be flushed before drying using water and earbuds.
Today was the second priming round, most of the bubbles are gone, however some lines will need rescribing.

Cuajete
Well done, Łukasz!
Good restart 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Gracias amigo 👍
Meanwhile I continue the cockpit-blending sessions (using miliput and water) and added the landing gear today.

Rui
Well it's starting to really look like an AMX now. 😎
Great job with what looks like a difficult kit. 👍
Looking forward to the finish project.

Cuajete
Looking so good, Łukasz! 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Thank you, glad to see you like it.
I managed to break front landing gear in 3 pieces and glue it back in the meantime 🙁
Today I also corrected the main gear geometry which was screwed a bit.

Łukasz Gliński
Started spraying today, lighter camo grey first. slight shading scheduled for the weekend.
@Davide: Is your droptank offer still valid?

S M
Nice progress! Finally painting phase😎

Łukasz Gliński
Long awaited indeed 🙂

Moreno Baruffini
GREAT! Looking for more pictures 👍🏻 Hope that Davide will reply soon!

Cuajete
Looks great, Łukasz.
We invoke Davide for that voluntary donation from the droptanks (no pressure here... supposedly 😄) 😛

Patryk S.
Looks great! Very nice indeed!

Davide Tessari
Of course! It's still valid! I'll look for them this week! It's an honor to help with this project and then, if I remember correctly, when you finish your AMX, italeri will finally bring out the new mold!😂 Let's get in touch about shipping in private 👍👍

Cuajete
@Davide: That's why we are wishing for Łukasz finish his 😄
And also to see the final result, of course 😛

Łukasz Gliński
Perfetto, mille grazie!
Of course I hope they will release it v.soon 😄
Believe me or not, the original decals are still working 😮 (did some testing over the weekend)
@Davide: writing to you a PM right away 🙂

Andy Ball
Nudging the right way, Ł…great colours!

Łukasz Gliński
They have to be, shades from original instructions 😄 😉 😛

Marius
Looking very good so far! Resin kitd are a pain....

Cuajete
Those colors looks great, Łukasz! 👌

Łukasz Gliński
Thanks 👍 The vintage ones in particular Marius 😉

Michael Kohl
I really like how you handled those junks of crude plastic. Looks very promising. Keep up the good work and us posted.

Moreno Baruffini
Friends, Italeri just announced that: "In the 1:72 line we would like to highlight the release of the AMX" 🙂

Łukasz Gliński
Indeed! italeri.com/en/article/816
Lovely, I feel my mission is close to accomplishment 😄
No need to thank me for that mates 😛

Cuajete
😂😂😂

Łukasz Gliński
Morning.
Reinforcements have arrived, just half an hour ago 👍
Aside of the 4 😮 tanks I got couple of Sidewinders with rails, wheels and lots of other stuff.
Mille grazie Davide!

Andy Ball
Warheads for foreheads.
Good job, ongoing!

Moreno Baruffini
Super cooperation between Italy and Poland! Well done! Good job!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Łukasz Gliński
Thx A.
@Moreno: not the first time in history, is it? 😄

Moreno Baruffini
@Łukasz . yes 😉 We have also this quoted in our national anthem 😉

Łukasz Gliński
And vice versa 😄
In the meantime I started decalling, but I was unable to find anything I could use to scratch the tail markings.
The ones in the kit have wrong size and font, therefore I ordered new ones. That might take some time though.

Cuajete
Looking so good those new parts, Łukasz 👍

Łukasz Gliński
They look grand indeed, however the FAB AMXs didn't carry such a modern Sidewinders while in the old camo. I have also finished painting the wheels already, so mainly the tanks will be used.

Ekki
Coming along very nicely!

Łukasz Gliński
Thx mate, long time no see 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Added the wheels today, starts to look like an AMX 😄
The panel line trenches make it look bit diecastish/Matchboxish, but it's resin, so it's gonna stay like that.

Maciej Bellos
Wait till you see the Marianna trench on my 48th scale P2V7 Neptune...

Looking good my friend!

Michael Kohl
I too think it looks good. I suppose I will get the new Italeri when it hits the shelfs. Thanx Lukasz for making this happen 🙂

Cuajete
I agree with the mates. I also think it looking so good 👍

Moreno Baruffini
Mamma mia! I totally like it! I don't know how, but the resin add a special touch to this "Tornado tascabile" 🙂

Andy Ball
Baby takes its first steps. Nice!

Villiers de Vos
Nice progress.

Bernd Grün
Outstanding build with great effort and skills. 👌 Congrats, Lukasz!

Łukasz Gliński
Thanks for your positive replies, much appreciated. I started to think of not washing the panel lines, so they don't become more prominent.
I have to wait for the tail decals for about 2-3 weeks now as I don't want to re-glue all the bits, pieces and tanks all over again 😄

Mirko Römer
Take this Italeri! What a great result so far, wow!

Dean Harpster
Nice work! Resin kits certainly aren't very easy!

Moreno Baruffini
Uh! Wow! Finally with decals! Superb!

Guy Rump
Incredibly impressive, having recently started an aircraft with just a few bits of resin, I couldn't imagine doing a complete one! Congrats! 👍

Cuajete
Wow... magnificent result, Łukasz. I love it!
The end is near. This means that Italeri has little left to comply with Murphy's law 😛

Łukasz Gliński
Thx, seems like Italeri is still procrastinating (oh man, I know that feeling! 😄) while I'm adding all the tiny bits and pieces, mainly scratchbuilt of found in the scrapbox.

Moreno Baruffini
Super! In the meantime I've purchased a decals sheet for the Italian AMXs, but I fell that Italeri, as usual, will procrastinate again and again...

Cuajete
😄 😄 😄

Łukasz Gliński
The tanks are there! All credits, thanks and kudos -> Davide 👍
I removed the masks and well, the sanding residue is still there - need to take a break to think how to fix it.
Aside of that (sigh!) there are only Sidewinders left (repainted currently) and the white antenna needs a bit of filling.
PS. Yes, I know the position lights are bit too big, but I'm gonna leave it.

Ludvík Kružík
Łukasz, AMX looks very good. 👍
Too bad about the sanding dust on the cockpit cover. Probably the only way to get rid of the dust is to carefully remove the cab overlay. 🙁

Łukasz Gliński
So, I can either have a well blended dirty vacu canopy or a clean one with everything around destroyed - guess what decision I made?

Andy Ball
You did right, Ł

Moreno Baruffini
I agree with Andy. Keep it up!

Marius
Lukasz, it's sad that this happened, but not all is lost. Trust me, I am an expert in such disasters and last minute saves. I would personally try to fix the canopy in a way or another even with the risk of having to sand down some small areas around.
Before you try removing it (in case you decide on that) take first a very sharp blade and scratch/slice the paint just around the canopy contour down to the primer. Like this you can make sure that the canopy won't take additional chunks of paint and primer with it.

Is there any way to get a replacement canopy, like another vacuformed aftermarket one? I would definitely try looking for one.

Robert Podkoński
Brave choice! Keep it up, Łukasz!

Michael Kohl
I feel for you. I did not solve but ameliorated a similar problem by drilling a hole in the fuselage at an inconspicuous spot with connection to the cockpit. Then I instilled destilled water (so that no residues are left when dry) and flushed the inside more or less clean.

Łukasz Gliński
Many thanks for your support mates 👍 Very much appreciated.
I try to cover the cracks with putty and paint just to cover it. I have to admit I'm running out of patience towards this kit.
@Marius - theoretically I could try making one on my own, but that would require complete rebuild of the cockpit area, I don't want to do that again.
@Michael - I tried it, but the residue was bit sticky, perhaps because of its resin origin, dunno.

Cuajete
Somewhere (I think a fellow SM) I read that he did the same as Michael mentions, but with air instead of distilled water. Then that small hole is covered and a small touch up is made.

Cheer up, Łukasz!

Juergen Klinglhuber
A long way you have to go,...but you work it out,...👍. good luck on the last meters ! 👍

Marius
Lukasz, it is actually a visible and positive improvement. Don't forget how unforgiving these macro, close-up pictures are in 1:72. On top of that this was not an easy kit and the repairs around the canopy look good.
A 1:72 model should generally be looked at from a certain distance and I can't see any obvious imperfections at the canopy from a fair distance. Maybe some Future/Pledge on the canopy would even out some of the areas which aren't that shiny anymore.
Honestly, I wouldn't insist on any further repairs.

Congratulations on this beautiful model mate!

Robert Podkoński
I agree with Marius. Good job!

Cuajete
I also agree with Marius and Robert. Now looks better 👍

Łukasz Gliński
Really glad to see you like it more than I do 😉
Uploaded the new pics, in order to deceive the beholders' eyes I added the line decals around canopy, so the wrinkles under the paint are less prominent.
The canopy is covered with the thin Chinese UV resin I bought some time ago, it covers scratches very well.
Sidewinders left, wish me luck that I don't break anything again, like the front gear yesterday.

Łukasz Gliński
Nearly there - after few evenings of constant corrections of the Sidewinders I attached them today.
Preparing for the sunny photosession tomorrow, while the super glue on the front gear is drying yet again 🙁

Moreno Baruffini
According to me, it's BELLISSIMO!!!

Ekki
Excellent work!

Guy Rump
Great work! 👍

Ludvík Kružík
Great job. And the repair of the transparent part of the cockpit was done very nicely.

Villiers de Vos
Your repairs on the canopy were well worth the effort.

Juergen Klinglhuber
👍 👍 Well done Lukasz!

Michael Kohl
Congrats on the result. In case you should have forgotten how far you have come, take a look at pic one 😉

Cuajete
Łukasz, you've done an outstanding job with that mess of resin. A result at the height of a quality plastic kit. You can be proud.
Congrats!

Łukasz Gliński
Thank you mates. I do appreciate a lot that you like this build more than myself 😄
Added the promised pics today, you can see on the box the 1995 redenomination stickers, so the kit must be at least from 28 years old.
You can also see how bad the kit's geometry is 😛

Curatorm
Great work!

S M
Well done! You made it before Italeri 😎

Łukasz Gliński
Thanks mates
Indeed, the preorders are popping up lately in various shops. 😁

Villiers de Vos
Very nice work.

Andy Ball
Another fine addition from the pit of despair

Łukasz Gliński
Thank you gents.
Your comments always make my day A. 😛

Andy Ball
And just to rub salt into those inflamed wounds, I note Italeri have announced their version….naturally not as build-able as yours!

Moreno Baruffini
Er voilà, it seems that Italeri followed you work ahahah!
[img1]

Cuajete
Good news, Moreno! Congrats for the purchase 👍
Łukasz can wait for the two-seat version to be released 😛

Moreno Baruffini
Didn't purchased yet 😉 just posted for those interested!

Cuajete
I'm sorry for the mistake, Moreno. So I wish you could get it cheaper 😛
Many thanks anyway 🙂 👍