Thanks very much, Hugh and Glenn. This one might be familiar to you Hugh, as it was based at Leuchars before the Squadron was disbanded as a fighter squadron and re-formed in the ECM role with Boeing Sentries.
Glenn, I'm happy to say that it's nowhere near as bad as the Buccaneer, as far as the joint goes, but I'll admit, I expected it to be worse than it turned out.
I've now got the joint fully sorted, apart from some minor polishing here and there, and it is actually better than it looks in the photos - the different coloured and textured plastics make things appear differently. A couple of hours work with the power tool, files, and wet n' dry got the joint as smooth as a baby's bum, and it's now ready to have the access panels engraved.
First though, the air intakes need to be altered and fitted, and I was right in expecting some work here. Test-fitting shows that some sanding, probably some shims, and a little filler will be needed to get the intakes aligned and seated properly, and the intakes themselves need some work, not only to correct some areas, but also to get the splitter plates to fit snugly and without gaps!
PICS 1 and 2 Show the fuselage joint now fitting snugly. The odd small scratches will be erased after the panels are engraved. The latter were very poorly defined on the top half, and shown as raised lines, not all matching, or in the correct place, on the lower half !
PIC 3. One of the air intake outer halves, showing the moulded nav lamp and the incorrectly positioned, and wrong sized, suction relief door. I've decided to pose the front doors slightly open, to detract from the otherwise plain appearance of the fuselage, so work has started to get this done, before fitting the intakes.
PIC 4. The front section of the 'lamp' has been removed, leaving the remainder as the fairing, and a transparent part will be made and fitted later. The relief door has been scribed in the correct place, and the right size, and is shown here being cut out. The door cover will be made from thin plastic card.
PIC 5. A comparison showing the 'new' door opening, next to the original part.
Once the intakes have been assembled, filled as required, and painted internally, they will be fitted to the fuselage, with copious amounts of plastic shims, filler and, no doubt, a variety of new swear words!
Thanks for your continued interest and compliments, and I hope to have more to show tomorrow.