Just a test before I button up the fuselage. A cover and the seat get fitted at the very end and I wanted to see if there was a particular order they fit in. Test was good. Now I'll tidy up the sprue stubs, glue in the cockpit and the the fuselage halves.
If we all recall back to Post #15 where I showed that Revell had finally wised up and left their calling card on the inside of the fuselage, well sir...all I can say "well done Revell....bloody well done". You got me.
Also notice how rough it is inside the cutout to the right of Revell's awesomeness. Its a bit worse on the other side and its on the other kit as well. This does hamper what looks to be a pretty good fit. All of the mating surfaces on the fuselage are rough as well. Some elementary sand show that I will get a good fit and may not have to use any filler. This is a good thing as the panel lines are raised on both kits
Starting to button things up. The locating pins were throwing the top half forward by about ½mm so I removed them. Lined everything up, taped it together and starting to glue from back to front. I haven't check the other kit yet but I assume it will be the same
LOL...getting closer. By removing the locator pins I removed the steps from the front of the fuselage, the rear of the fuselage and more importantly where the tail section joins the fuselage. This photo shows, badly, the step that would have been there had I left the pins in place.
I've only found two other builds online and this join and that of the intakes both looked like this....
A test fit of the tail section to the fuselage shows an almost seamless fit now. Speaking of intakes, by removing the pins I created a small step here. This was easier to take care of with plastic card.
So this is where it sits. I'll get the other single seater up to this point today
Thanks Andy. Skipping ahead several steps that involve all the breaky-offy bits I looked at joining the tail section to the fuselage. This is how Revell wants you to do it...
....however, a check shows plastic will need to be removed as it is hung up on the speed brake wells. This is about ⅓ of the way down ...
......however....it fits perfectly fine when inserted from the other end.