MORE STUFF
More work progressed behind the seat. The built up area in the shot below has about
half of the scratch built details done. More pivot arms and brackets have yet to be intalled. The photo below that shows the complexity of the arrangment I'm trying to capture.
With the auxilliary engine intakes cut out and boxed in, and the major parts of the cockpit detailing done and painted, I decided it was time to glue the fuselage halves together. The 3 glasses of wine beforehand no doubt helped with making that a quick decision! Below shows the Testors/Italeri fuselage glued together and the cut off nose of the Monogram kit next to it. The latter will be used on the model so I didn't bother gluing the nose on the halves I'm going to chuck out. The decision to use the Monogram nose was based on the nice cannons and the detailed wheel well, vs the crap provided with the Testors kit.
Here is the nose cut off and plastic card reinforcing/locating strips attached.
Several dry fits and checks against a straight edge were done to ensure the mating faces were aligned and perpendicular. Once satisfied, I proceeded to glue the new nose piece on. The shapes of the different pieces were surprisingly close and, despite what appears to be a lot of putty, should feather together nicely.
The above assembly will be allowed to fully cure over night. Sanding and scribing of the fuselage will be one of the main focuses oer the weekend, along with continuation of the canopy mechanism details. You'll no doubt see more progress photos tomorrow, unless I get hit by a bus.