Thanks guys.
Erich, here are some more pics as I close in on the finish. Like you, I'd be interested in seeing if there's anything new to come out of this paper as well. In the meantime, I'll just do my best to be as accurate as possible - or probable as is more likely the case here. By the way, I've now come to think that it is unlikley this plane had the rear radar coverage and am leaning toward your thinking that the double set of FuG220's in the R/O's position is probably wrong. Problem is, it's pretty tightly glued in now and I'm afraid I'm going to break something if I try to yank it out. However, I did carve off the rear antenna mount as can be seen in the first pic below.
Anyway, here goes with the progress shots. Since the last update, the decals have been set and another coat of Future was shot on at lunch time today. I'm now allowing the Future to cure fully before I shoot a flat coat on.
Overall shot:
Underside is next. The one reference shot of this plane has a very high contrast and the underside of the wings are completely in shadow and don't show these crosses, so it's possible these were not carried on the real aircraft. If evidence point to their omission, these can be easily sprayed over as I still have some of the mixed faded black paint. Also just visible are the aileron mass balances and the two little antennae for the FuG101 electronic altimeter set on the starboard wing nearest the camera.
Here's a close-up of the engine area. The exhaust stacks only needed paint close to the engine as the rest of the stacks will be hidden under the flame arrestors which are yet to go on.
Here's an updated shot of the rear fuselage showing how the aircraft code "T" now fits into the painted patch shown in the earlier post. The gloss coat has darkened everything so the variation in shades of black is no longer visible but this should come back once the flat coat goes on this weekend.
Finally, here are the SN-2 antennae all painted up and ready to be installed. The white/red striped ones are at the lowest points and were so that ground crew would not become shishkabob.
There's a fair amount to do yet and it will be tight to finish this weekend. Yet to do is to finish the canopy outside and inside and glue the pieces to the fuselage, add the SN-2 array, paint and install the flame arrestors, do some final work in the wheel wells, add the main gear doors, add the retractable crew ladder if I decide to do so (Tamiya cheated here a bit and molded the ladder in the retracted position, not leaving a hollow bay if you want to model it extended), add the readio mast and wires, and of course, spray the final flat coat and do some final weathering.
Thanks everyone for your compliments. As always, any constructive criticism is most welcome. Cheers for now.