I think I've been able to figure something out that had been bothering me about this project. I want to have a resin engine with the panels off the cowl, possibly being worked on(never did figures before). Well, to me, the material of the cowl in the kit is far too think, in scale, to make it look even close to "right" looking.
So, I decided to take a page out of my experience as an A&P and see if I might not be able to make a cowl out of much thinner material, say .010 or .016 aluminum. A word of advice, never ask any of the younger clerks at Hobby Lobby where the maple blocks or 10 thousandths aluminum are, because they really don't know, even though it is there.
Anyway, if I'm need to replace one of the wingtip ribs on a 727, all that is needed is a soft faced mallet, a block of maple, rasps and files, and a large piece of .0625 soft aluminum. Shape the maple, then beat the heck out of the soft aluminum until it conforms to the maple block. You then send it out to be hardened to T6, and rivet it in place, paint with chromate, and go on to the next task.
Well, I'll be doing the same thing. I think that .016 thick aluminum will look scale enough, and if I like how it turns out, I can do it again for the D4Y2S Judy that I have in addition.
I'll still be using parts of the original cowl, such as the radiator intakes, but I plan on adding sub frames and then the receptacles for the cowl fasteners(I think they're quarter turn, or Dzus). After the cockpit then the engine, the cowl looks to be a fun part of the endeavor.
I do have a further question: what kind of primer did the Japanese use? I read somewhere that it is a kind of blue grey, but the Maru Mechanic issue I have shows either a kind of chromate, as well as a green similar to the British interior green. And someone told me a long time ago that the primer is actually a transparent blue green lacquer.