So as promised some progress shots. Tell you the truth, I still am not sure if I want to weather the upper surfaces or not. Nothing like having a plan!!!!!
If I do go down the path of some weathering it will be very basic, perhaps some chipping near the wing root, that kind of thing.
So first shot is the LG leg as ive painted them. Some of the other online builds have added brake lines and in the following shots of the wheels you will see that Tamiya have added suitable details of the brake lines to those wheels. It will be fiddly though.
Here are the undercarriage fairings with the wheels dry fitted . Ive dry brushed the brake drums which shows that nice brake line detail pretty well. ive painted the tyres by hand using rubber black. they are only dry fitted to the fairing at the moment , whilst I try and work out how to get that dirt look around the rim of the tyre. I also need to make a decision about the brake line detail and whether I should shade them differently to the wheel rim casing....maybe a slightly darker colour?
The UC fairings . if I fit these lines it would be to these that the attachment would be made
Starboard side finish. Like I said....its shiny......ive added some details in the cowl area by highlighting the circular inspection plate, painting the exhaust stubs, and also highlighting those latchy looking things behind the exhausts. I painted and shined up that round thing that will sit behind the spinner.
The shiny finish was the result of a respray, followed by two clear lacquer coats. I let them dry for more than 24 hours applied a very light buffing to make it shine. it might not be war, or closely historical, but I got a kick out of doing it just the same.
The port side showing a bit more detail. The canopy did not bed in as good as I had hoped and at this magnification, the imperfections of the painting really do reveal their ugly selves. but you can see my exhaust detailing pretty clearly here as well as those latchy things closer to the canopy. The bits of fluff are just leftovers from the buff I did.
A better shot of the port side cowling detail