**** DONE: 1/48 Kittyhawk IV "Cleopatra III" - Aircraft in Foreign Service WWII

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Thanks guys. Well, I overcame a major hurdle today and finished the complex bomb racks on the wings.

I spent a fair amount of time thinking how I would go about this. At first, I thought I could use the kit-supplied center racks shown below but two things prevented me from doing this. First, they would have had to be modified as the alignment pads are placed at the incorrect angle. Secondly, I will need a set for the center rack which is still seen in the photos of this subject. I therefore resolved to scratch build the racks. I started by cutting discs from plastic rod for the alignment pads.



To assemble these tiny bits, I felt the best way would be to glue the bombs onto the racks, add the discs, and then build the racks up to the bombs. Doing this any other way would have made it very difficult to get the exact angles and strut lengths correct. Here is one of the bombs with the discs glued on.



Next, it was a matter of biting he bullet and fabricating the swing arms and adjustment struts. The former were made of card and the latter with stretched sprue, in the center of which is a short length of aluminum tape to represent the adjusting nut. All these were individually cut and glued into place with CA. The below pics show the results if my efforts.





The next step will be to carefully remove the bombs by sawing them off the discs with a very thin photo-etched razor saw so that the bombs and the racks can be properly painted. I'll remove the bombs tomorrow when I've stopped shaking!
 
Thanks guys.

Peter, in hindsight, you are 100% correct, though I think I still would have to use the saw. Truth be known, my original plan did not involve disassembling the bombs and I felt that, despite the rat's nest of parts, I would somehow get everything properly painted. Once the assemblies were together, it occurred to me that taking the bombs off might work, though now I'm second guessing this option. I think I'll go easy on the coffee and try one or two to see how it goes.
 
Bl**dy nice work there Andy! I hope you can get the paint in the right places, though masking the bombs could be a bit of a b*gg*r.
Maybe a 'T Stoff' or two, to steady the nerves. For medicinal purposes of course, you understand........
 
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