Thanks again chaps!
The model itself is virtually finished, with the prop, canopy and bombs now in place. There are a couple of areas which need re-touching, and the prop needs to be re-fitted, with the prop shaft cut back, and the boss re-painted.
The prop shaft, apart from being slightly too long, causing the prop to sit too far forward, is also extremely tight, and does not allow the prop to move at all, not that this is a major concern. Also, the silver paint I used for the prop boss was, once again, horrible Humbrol, and it's dried streaky, rough and rather grainy.
PIC 1. The poor finish on the prop boss can be seen here, together with the 'sit' of the prop itself, as well as some areas which need re-touching. One of the stencil decals also needs attention, and then the whole lot toned-down slightly, to reduce the bright, 'new' look of the decals and paintwork.
PIC 2. The 1,000 lb bombs were spares from an Academy kit, and these had the nose fuse vanes removed, and re-positioned inside the tail fins, to represent a tail-fused weapon. The yellow bands were hand painted, and then the entire bomb casings were given a worn, dirty and weathered look, before mounting on the brass pins, with the sway braces also sourced from Academy spares.
PICS 3 to 6 Show how the model looks to date.
PICS 7 and 8. A couple of low-angle shots, to give an impression of how it should look on the diorama base.
I hope to get most of the base done over the weekend, and maybe make a start on the figures, if replicating the Sommerfeld tracking doesn't take forever.
Thanks again for your kind remarks and general interest and, with luck, I should have some more pics tomorrow.