Around five or six hours work has got me to the stage shown in the pics below. Most of that time was spent in cutting card templates, checking fit, adjusting, and then cutting the first parts from plastic sheet. The tunnel area, and the extra void for further lead weight, was straightforward enough, although the nose had to be temporarily fitted, removed, fitted again and so on, in order to check for interference, and some trimming done to correct the fit.
The multi-part bulkheads between the radio compartment and the bomb bay took a lot longer, as adjustments and cuts had to be made to clear the raised mouldings on the inner fuselage walls, where the wing roots ingress, and allowances had to be made in order to clear the wing locating tabs, when the wings are eventually fitted.
Between measuring and cutting sessions, as a diversion from the tedium of fit, check, remove, fit, check etc, the rim of the cockpit and instrument cowl was rebated, to allow the canopy to fit flush, and the small oval windows in the rear fuselage were blanked-off internally, ready to be filled, on the outside, with 'Milliput'.
PIC 1. Shows the basic structure of the crawl-way tunnel between cockpit and bomb-aimer's compartment, which will now align with the forward bulkhead and hatch opening in the nose, which is part of the separate, nose compartment 'tub'.
PIC 2. Plenty of room is available, on the left side as viewed, for a substantial amount of lead, held in place with 'Plasticine', which can be packed-in right back to the rear of the nose wheel well bulkhead, and up to the top of the fuselage in the extreme forward section.
Once the instrument panel has been fitted, this will create another 'compartment', above the tunnel, where more weight can be added, and I'm fairly confident that enough can be packed in to prevent a 'tail-sitter', although I will, of course, do a balance check before sealing the area.
PIC 3. The basic structure of the radio compartment / bomb-bay bulkhead has been made and fitted. Although looking a tad rough, and somewhat bare at the moment, further sections have yet to be added, along with some detailing in the form of ribs and frames, and this, along with the radio gear, jump seat, 'Gee' receiver and other equipment, should be sufficient to create the illusion of a fully-equipped compartment, allowing for the limited view through the canopy.
PIC 4. The cockpit /tunnel assembly has been loosely placed in position, ready to align the additional radio compartment and entrance well parts. Once these have been made and fitted, the cockpit can be detailed and painted, and the seats etc added, although this won't be commenced until after the rear fuselage internal construction has been completed.
All being well, the next stage, constructing the rear sections, should be fairly straightforward and, given I get most of it done tomorrow, work can then commence on adding some basic detail and panting the interior.
Thanks again for the kind words and interest, and I'll be back soon with another up-date.
Meanwhile, my hands and wrists now hurt like ****, so I'm going to have a wee snifter and get some kip !