Time for some weight so this sucker doesn't tail-sit.
I had some cut-off pieces of #5 rebar I had collected at work some time ago for just this purpose and this was the first time I had something they would fit. They tucked in nicely in the engine cowls, held there by a lot of thick CA and bits of sprue
A bit more weight in the nose. this time cut-off 1/8" lead plate saved from previous nose gear builds. Oh, and a whole lot if thick CA
furbar 57 When in doubt, add more. I got used tire weights from the tire guys in camp, easy to cut
Yea, that's why I love the 1/4" lead plate. You can cut it with a heavy scissors and I have an almost unlimited supply. Lead sheets they use to use between bridge beam barrings and the concrete piers. Every time I'm on a job where we are demolishing an old bridge I'm looking for it.
Never feel bad about work done in the cockpit. We all got to see the parts before it was put together. All that detail helps you understand how the real cockpit was built and how it fit into the plane. For nose weight, I like to use bird shot and CA.
I put on the canopy because the windscreen needs to be blended into the fuselage and I thought this would be easier before I attached the twin booms. The fit was very good, but the 3 pieces making up the center section were very fiddley to install. I wish they had made a solid canopy option for a closed canopy.
I also made up and painted the bombs & pylons. There was a seam part way through the pylons, part of them being cast with the bombs. The pylon part was much thicker than the part cast with the bomb, so a lot of filing and sanding was involved to thin the pylons out to match the bombs. Sorry I didn't talke any before pictures, but it did look ugly.