Thanks very much, John, Paul and Hugh. I'll look for that lens another time - it's in the domain of spiders !
The carb intakes have been sanded, and the first set of cowl flaps have been made and fitted. I tried using thin aluminium, cut from some old litho plates, but I had problems trying to attach them, using CA adhesive, as they had to be held too long in order for the glue to set enough to let go !
So I used thin plastic card instead, which held just enough to allow each flap to be left until the glue was almost fully set, when they could be adjusted for angle and overall position against the cowling.
PIC 1. A thin strip of plastic was attached to the rear of the gap in each nacelle, in order to mask any 'see through' effect under the flaps, when fitted.
PIC 2. The gap was then painted matt black, which is still drying in the photo.
PIC 3. The individual flaps were then fitted, a long and tedious process, and allowed to set after basic adjustment. They are just roughly positioned in this shot, and have since been adjusted to the desired angles.
I had intended to fit flap actuator rods, but after a trial fit I found that these would have been very short, and hardly worth the effort, and wouldn't be seen anyway, so I saved some time and effort and abandoned that plan !
As I'm in hospital again tomorrow, for the second infusion of the new meds, I probably won't get any more done now util some time on Saturday, at the earliest, but if the second set of cowl flaps go as well as the first, I should be able to make some decent progress, and might even get to the first stage of painting by the end of the weekend.
Whether I get the model finished by the extended deadline is another matter, as I still have to make the entrance hatch doors and integral ladders, and scratch-build the bulk of the dorsal turret, as well as do some work on the undercarriage and the wheels 'borrowed' from the B-25J kit, but it may just be possible.
Thanks again for the continued interest, and I'll be back as soon as I recover from the drowsiness following the second meds infusion.