The next job was to close up the fuselage. You don't need to fit the cockpit beforehand, it can be added from underneath, which is good because that helps to avoid getting it glued lop-sided.
Here's the underneath after the tub has been put in its place:
And looking in from the top:
I think the cockpit looks suitably busy and effective! I've added the IP as well - I used the moulded one as there didn't seem to be an advantage to the etched version. It has a decal over it containing the dials etc, which again needed several applications of setting solution but settled down nicely. Once dry, I matt-coated it and then picked out the dial glasses with gloss varnish. I've since managed to knock it off.....
The upper coaming is a separate piece, which also has decals representing controls to go on it - I haven't painted it yet so that's on the "to-do" list. Another thing I forgot was to add the tail-wheel into the lower rear fuselage before I closed it up. Hopefully, a bit of wiggling should get it into place.
The wing panels consist on a one-piece lower panel and two separate uppers. Where possible, I like to fit the lower panel first and then add the uppers, but in this case the wheel wells sit below the fuselage and are included in the wing upper panels. I'm using Tamiya's AS-29 Grey Green IJN for the lower surfaces (yes, I know that's a Navy colour and this is an Army plane!), so the wheel wells were treated to a blast of that and the wings assembled:
The section below the cockpit has since had a brush coat of the interior green colour!
The wings have lovely, fine trailing edges, but even so I think its worth spending a little time with a sanding stick making sure that the mating edges are flat and also as thin as possible.
A quick word about how I bodge stuff together. I use a combination of medium-viscosity CA and MEK solvent. The initial assembly is done with spots of CA, usually starting at the wing-tip or tail fin, obviously taking great care with alignment, then somewhere around mid-span or near the cockpit opening, then finally wing-root or cowling. Once that's cured, I seal the joints with a small quantity of MEK solvent - not too much on thin areas like the wings' trailing edges as it causes sinkage.
Cheers,
Mark