Well I'm
really looking forward to the relief of, having delivered them on 31st May, getting on the aircraft to Groningen on June 2nd !!!
So, the work begins. Fairly basic parts, so fairly basic work and painting, with the main cockpit parts assembled and painted 'scale black', with some pure black for contrast, cockpit installed and fuselage joined, and the fuselage insert fitted, and the joints sanded, after filling with CA adhesive.
PIC 1. Main cockpit assembly and interior of fuselage painted. The upper section of the radar, and the instrument panel, were fitted later, on the fuselage insert, but I forgot to photograph the instrument panel !
PICS 2 and 3. The cockpit assembly, with some paint wear on the seats, and very basic highlighting, with simple, painted seat harnesses. The control column is a tad large - more like 1/48th scale !
Pic 4. The fuselage assembled, with the insert for the sliding canopy alongside. I'm always very wary of fuselage inserts, as, however well engineered they might be, fit is rarely perfect..
PIC 5. This insert was no exception, and needed to be attacked with two types of jeweler's file, and then sanded and polished after it set. The black line is paint from the interior.
PICS 6 and 7. With the sanding done until the joints had virtually disappeared, except the transverse joints, which I expected, a thin coat of white enamel was roughly brushed on, to check for any remaining gaps.
PIC 8. Although the main fuselage joint is very close to acceptable, and should disappear once primer and paint are applied, the front and rear transverse joints, as expected, need a little more work. I'll probably fill these when the nose cone and fin are fitted, so that all the work can be done at the same time.
That's it for now, but I hope to get a lot more done tomorrow.
Thanks for looking.