Thanks Wayne!
Didn't get any more done to the base for the Beaufighter. I needed to do the basic covering, with sand, outside, and just as I was about to start, the heavens opened again! Drat!
So, at least I got a lot more done to the Boston. The main landing gear legs have been fitted, with some additional struts from plastic rod, and have now been painted and the engine nacelles fitted around them. Don't why I bothered adding extras, most of the gear will be hidden in the wells, or covered by the doors!
The stub uxhausts have been drilled out, and the rear of the cowlings thinned, with the grouped exhaust pipes added from plastic rod, which was drilled out and then painted in a base colour. These will be painted properly after the model has been sprayed and clear coated. If I hadn't had some excellent material sent to me by Paul (Micdrow), I wouldn't have been able to add these details - but they are all shown in great detail in an actual Boston Servicing Manual which Paul sent me! Thanks again Paul - I now know how to assmble, service and dismantle a Boston!!
The engines have also been assenbled, painted and fitted, and it was here that I found the only real niggle with the kit so far. The engines just push into the cowlings, and there are no locating or alignment lugs, which means that extreme care has to be taken to align the engines the right way up,and straight, and hold them in place until glued. Anyone unfamiliar with the Boston or its engines could very easily make a mistake here. Also, although the engine cowlngs and carb intakes fitted perfectly in a dry run, once the engines were inside them they sat slightly forward at the upper edges of the cowlings, leaving slight gaps. The intakes also pop out of line, and some filing and sanding has been required, with a little filler yet to be applied.
It was very evident that the model would be a tail-sitter unless a lot of weight was added up front, which was a bit of a problem due to the clear nose. However, by cutting some lead roof flashing into small squares and strips, I was able to pack this down alongside the nose wheel well on either side of the fuselage, and up into the void behind the cockpit, gaining access through the bomb bay. With a chunk of Plasticine modelling clay moulded in place around the lead, it's now firmly in place and doing the job. The model now weighs a bit though!
PICS 1 and 2 Show the main landing gear before and after painting. Some tidying and detail painting has since been done - waste of time!
PIC 3. Shows the moulded-in exhaust stubs at left, and the drilled out example, with the thinned cowling walls and plastic rod exhaust groups at right, the latter yet to be sanded and cleaned here. Note the different arrangement between Port and Starboard exhausts.
PIC 4.. The engines are as provided, and only painted and a wash applied.
PIC 5. The cowlings and exhausts in place on the nacelles.
PIC 6. How the engines look in situ. Good enough without adding any extra detail, which wouldn't be seen anyway, especially with the props in place. Note the slight gap at the bottom of the carb intake. I think the latter is a lttle too angular, and could possibly benefit from having the top edges rounded off a little more.
PIC 7. Where the lead is! There is no mention in the instructions at all of having to add weight, although experienced modellers would obviously realise it's needed. But, it would still be possible to model the bomb bay open, if the weight was planned and distributed around the front gear well and the space behind the cockpit, above the bomb bay. There is a lot of weight packed in there, and it's needed!
PIC 8. This is the area around the cowling joint, and the separately supplied carb intake. Some filing and sanding has already been dione, and the next stage will see some filler smoothed over the required areas.
PICS 9 and 10 General upper and lower views of how the model looks so far.
Once all the sanding has been done, the scratched or blemished areas will be polished, and the model cleaned. Then, it's back to some detail work, with the scratch-building of the fittings for the glazing and shell for the Nav/Bomb aimers nose compartment. This will include fitting a small, vertical instrument panel to the port side of the glazing, along with the associated wiring and 'plumbing', and the fitting of the Course Setting bombsight and mounting brackets, all of which I have yet to make. Once the nose compartment has been married to the fuselage, then a few other parts can be added, before the first stage of painting commences. But that's some way off yet.
Thanks again for your interest and kind comments.