1/48th Mitchell II - Allied Advance and Defense of the Reich WWII.

I wish I could come. It would be great to spend some of time with all of you there.

Yes, it would be great if you could get to one of the airshows at Duxford. I'd even pay for your air fare, if there were flights from near you to Stanstead.

Thank you for the kind offer, Pal. But you wouldn't really need to do that.

Maybe you can get over for 'Flying Legends', in July next year ?

And the build drags on (there's a song in there somewhere) !!
I got interrupted this evening, so didn't get as much done as I'd like, but I still spent a good few hours working on the port engine, and getting the port nacelle and engine assembly to the same stage as the starboard assembly.
A lot of time was spent working out how to fit the carb intake (removed from the kit cowling) and match it to the resin cowling, with countless test-fitting, trimming, sanding and more test-fitting sessions - an extremely fiddly process, as the part is small, and very difficult to hold when working on it.
As the resin cowlings are designed for the Revell / Monogram and Accurate Miniatures / Italeri kits, there is quite a difference in the way the carb intake on these kits fits onto the resin cowling, with a recess on top of the cowl, where the lower edge of the above kit parts would fit.
The intake on the old Revell kit I'm using is different in it's profile, being moulded with the curve of the cowl and nacelle included, as it was an integral part of the kit cowl.
This compound curve has been removed, as has the bottom lip, and the sides and edges of the small part thinned, and filed and sanded to an almost vertical profile, the original intention being to cut-back part of the recess in the resin, and set the intake into this, again a tricky job, as the resin is thin at this point, and flexes when being cut, with a risk of the part splitting. The cowling would also need to be precisely aligned, in order to glue it with the correct spacing for the cowl flaps, and also to ensure that the cowl opening was centrally located around the engine, with the nose of the engine casing just right - not protruding too far, and not set back too far inside the cowl ring.
I was just about to start cutting the resin when the solution to the problem suddenly hit me like a lightning bolt. A quick check of numerous reference photos, and the scale plans, showed that the rear edge of the cowl, where it meets the front edges of the cowl flaps, is directly in line with the front edge of the carb intake, meaning I didn't need to do any cutting of the resin, the intake could be attached to the original locating ridge on the nacelle, and the resin cowlings could be aligned precisely on the vertical line from the front of the intake.
The recess can be filled, and a new lower lip added to the intake, using thin plastic card.
The pics below go some way to illustrate this, although both the intake, and the cowling, are only tacked in place at the moment.

PIC 1. Both nacelles, with the extension rings, and assembled and painted engines, are now at the same stage, although the exhaust trough and the nacelle joints on the port assembly have yet to be filled with 'Milliput'.
PICS 2 and 3. The modified intake can be seen here, roughly tacked in place as a reference point, and the recess in the resin cowling is clearly visible.
A little more trimming and sanding is required, and a bottom lip needs to be added, then the intake will be properly attached, the cowl recess filled, and the cowling attached to the extension ring, using CA adhesive, and aligned with the front edge of the intake.
When set, the space between cowl and nacelle will be cleaned up, and then marked for the position of each cowl flap and its associated actuating rod. The rods, made from either thin brass rod, or thin plastic rod, will be fitted into pre-drilled holes,and the flaps, made from thin plastic card, attached around the periphery of the resin cowl.
Once that little lot is done, further detail, such as the fuel dump pipes, will be added to the nacelles, and then the wings can be attached to the fuselage at last !
After that, apart from the scratch-building of the turret, entrance hatches and telescopic ladders, and a couple of other small details, the rest of the build is straightforward and, with luck, I might get to the painting stage when I get back from Duxford, early next week.

Apologies for this long post, and many thanks again for the interest, and the good wishes following the infusion of the new meds.

Glad you are felling so much better Terry.

Thanks Wojtek, and thanks Wayne - can't believe the difference. Still got a few aches, but overall I'm loads better !

Looking great Terry and glad your feeling better as well

Thanks Paul.
I'm still fiddling with the intakes and cowlings. I wasn't quite right when I stated that the front of the intake aligns with the rear of the cowling - the front of the intake housing aligns, but the intake lip does protrude further forward, about half way into the recess on the resin cowl.
Consequently, the intake aperture and lip need to be thinned down some more, and the bottom edge needs to be removed, to create a 'step' and allow the lip to fit over the cowl. A new bottom surface also has to be made, using very thin plastic card.
The intake can then be fitted to the carb intake trunking on the nacelle, the cowl fitted in place, and the joints blended with 'Milliput'.
This will also allow the correct shape and profile to be created, with a slight increase in the curvature of the front lip and intake aperture, as the kit part is rather angular in appearance.
It's rather slow, and uncomfortable work, as the intake is small, and difficult to handle, but it's getting there, and should look acceptable when it's done.
I'll post more pics just a soon as I have this stage completed.

Cant wait to see them my friend

Looks like I could start that engine

No rush Terry....but the clock is ticking...

Its looking great Terry, and glad to hear your feeling much better.

Wonderful work there Terry!

Thanks a lot chaps, it's very much appreciated.

I've had another look at those carb intake front ends, compared them to scale drawings and detail photos, and then went back and had a look at the original kit cowling parts.
Bingo - problem solved !
The kit parts have the intake aperture a little too far back, which I hadn't noticed, so I've been trying to align the removed part in the wrong place all this time.
The simplest solution will now be to continue to modify the shape of the intake aperture, and fit the intake front sections on to the resin cowlings, in the recesses, then fit the cowlings to the nacelles.
This will leave a gap of around 4 mm between the intake trunking on the nacelles, and the front of the intakes on the cowlings, which can be filled and built-up with 'Milliput' moulded to shape - easy peasy !

I'll start work on the modifications, and post pics as soon as there's something to show. Another delay, but I might still make the deadline - just !

Success !
The first intake and cowling has been modified, adjusted, and fitted in place, and awaits filling of the gap between intake 'nose' and trunking, and the fitting of the cowl flaps.

PICS 1 and 2 Show the kit cowling in comparison to the resin replacement. Note how the carb intake 'nose' aligns with the hinge line of the cowl flaps on the kit part, on the left, whereas the correct position is further forward,as shown on the resin part at the right.The intake 'nose' was cut-back on the front, lower edge, to create a 'step', the aperture rounded-off, and a thin piece of plastic card cemented onto the bottom, to form the lower surface of the intake, standing slightly proud of the cowling surface.
PICS 3 and 4. When the intake had set, the resin cowling was glued onto the nacelle extension ring, using CA adhesive. The gap between intake and trunking can be clearly seen and, when set, this will be filled with 'Milliput', moulded and sanded to shpe, to continue the line of the trunking. After clean-up, the cowl flaps will then be made from thin plastic card, actuating rods added, and the flaps fitted in place.
This will then be repeated for the port engine, the fuel dump pipes added to the rear of the nacelles, and once all has set, the wings can then be fitted to the fuselage, before completing the main part of the build, and moving on to the first stage of painting the model.

Good work there Terry.

Very pleased to hear that your infusion worked Terry. Now make sure you set all the spider traps at Dux!

Great work on the Mitchell and glad to see that you've reached your eureka moment with the carb intake. Looking forward to those pics.