Thanks Aaron.
I guess most reviewers just guessed it was supposed to be a cookie Evan - a lot of people forget about the other bombs, and particularly SBCs, TIs and so on.
Anyway, made some good progress, after another six hours work. Wing bomb bays are done as far as they can go for now, wing tip nav lamps are fitted and shaped, and the wings are on.
PIC 1. Some basic structural detail has been added to the port wing bays only, as the starboard bays will have SBCs inside, obscuring the view of any detail. Also, by adding detail here, it could make things difficult when fitting the scratch-built SBCs. The final touches, and the 'split' doors for each bay, will be added near the end of the build.
PIC 2. Pieces of roughly shaped clear sprue were 'superglued' into the pre-cut notches in the wing tips, and when fully set they were filed and sanded to shape. Note also that the wing joints have been sanded smooth, paying particular attention to the tips, and the joint where the ailerons will fit, which can often cause problems on older kits such as this. The ailerons are designed to be movable, and are supposed to be fitted when joining the wings. But as these are going to be set in the neutral position, they can easily be added later, by simply cutting off one 'hinge' pin, slotting the part in place, and cementing it. This helps prevent damage to an otherwise delicate moving part.
PIC 3. The nav lamps have been sanded to shape, and have had the first rough polish. These will be polished properly later, then masked. Once the model has been painted, the masks can be removed, and each lamp will receive a coat of transparent red / green paint for port and starboard wings respectively.
PIC 4. Once the wings were cemented in place, the model was set on a level surface, in this case inverted, because of the H2S dome, checked for vertical, and items of equal height placed under the wing tips to maintain an even dihedral. This was checked regularly before the cement hardened fully, as there was a little 'play' in the starboard wing, which was not such a snug fit as the port.
PIC 5. Once the wings had set enough to be able to move the model, it was turned right way up, and positioned on top of two tins, under the level section of the bomb bay, and measurements taken at identical spots on each wing, in order to verify that the dihedral was equal, and all 'square'. This proved to be a useful exercise, as trying to judge by eye on this aircraft is affected by the asymmetric shape of the cockpit when viewed from the front, and the H2S dome from the rear.
PIC 6.How the bomb bays look now the wings are in place. Further structural and attachment point detail will be added once the 'load' has been constructed, although this will be minimal, as not much will be seen. The eight-section bomb doors will also be scratch-built, and fitted near the end of the build. Note that the slight misalignment of the yellow bay wall flange, on the left in the picture, has since been corrected.
PIC 7. Next stage is to fit the engine nacelles, and in order to minimise the number of 'dangly' things which can be troublesome when handling and painting, the inner nacelles were checked to see what can, and can not, be added after constructing and fitting these. Here, one nacelle has been taped and loosely fitted to the wing, with one of the doors and the rear struts of the landing gear being tested. This showed that the main gear legs will need to be fitted, but can be folded back into the bay, and the remainder of the parts, with very slight modification, can be fitted after painting.
PIC 8. How the model looks to date. Note that the tail planes and fins, according to the instructions, should have been fitted at this stage. However, being twin fins, these are also relatively delicate items, and could get damaged when handling the model to fit the engine nacelles and engines, so they will be fitted after this work has been completed. It also means that any filler which may be required, for example, around the engine nacelles, wing joints, and the joints between fuselage and tail plane, can all be done at the same time, rather than have to prepare and fill repeatedly. For those new to modelling, it is this sort of forward planning, and the constant test-fitting and checking, which makes the job of construction and fault correction so much easier, rather than 'bashing on' quickly, only to find at a later stage that mistakes have been made, or parts damaged, leading to frustration and further unnecessary work.
I hope this is continuing to prove helpful, and interesting, and again, many thanks for your kind words and interest to date. I hope to post a further up-date very soon.