Right, having reverted to Plan B due to the bomb doors fiasco, these are now in place, and have been given a thin wash of zinc chromate to repair the damage. They'll be dirtied a little later; PIC 1.
Fitting these now will cause a little bit of difficulty in masking and painting, but not much.
PIC 2 shows the joint in the wheel wells, which has been filled with my home-made 'porridge' of varnish and talc mix. It really is great stuff for small gaps, and for reaching the parts other fillers can't reach. (With apologies to a particular UK beer advert - I'm sure Jan will understand, if no one else does!)
The small air intake scoop on the rear fuselage has been drilled out, and awaits tidying up, PIC 3, and a hole has been drilled for the trailing aerial fairlead. There is a small depression moulded into the kit, but no part is provided, and the moulded 'hole' is in the wrong place anyway; PIC4.
A fairlead will be made from scratch and added near the end of construction, after the painting etc.
The next job, after masking and painting, is to make the kit turret, as shown in the instruction sheet drawing, in PIC 5, look something like the real turret, as shown in the schematic in PIC 6.
So far, so good, with only a couple of minor hiccups. Anyone intending to build this kit, when it comes to the bomb bay doors, I reccommend ignoring the instructions, and fitting the actuating mechanisms, leaving off the split, folding doors until after painting.
So, it's now time to mask the model, and apply the first coats of paint, starting with the Sky Gray on the underside, this being the Du Pont 'equivalent' to 'Sky', used by Eastern Aircraft Division of General Motors.
As this build has progressed a lot faster than I thought, I might have a short break, and carry on with some other unfinished projects, including the Hunter. Afterall, I've still got almost 3 months in which to complete it, and I probably won't be 'entering' another model in this GB. (Yeah, right.....)
Thanks for your interest and comments.
Terry.