Finally decided to finish the fuselage of the Sunderland. Easy task, you might think, except, no, not this time. Before one can assemble the fuselage, the 3 turrets need to be attached, and the cockpit too. The upper turret is easy, it sits on a shelf which you attach to one side. The front turret sits on a slider, a little more work, but OK, whilst the rear sits on, well, the rear! The cockpit, as with so many cockpits, was a pain. Still, it all came together. However, this is not true of the fuselage, which left massive gaps! Out with the Plastic Weld, out with the clamps, and, eventually, out with the Zap-a-gap. During the fight, one porthole became partially pushed in. If it goes fully in, I’ll have a dead model, so, need to rescue it. Also, the gun from the front turret became dislodged, so, using a cocktail stick, need to re-attach.
The turrets themselves are very simple affairs, with no lines for painting. Still, they’ll do. Speaking , it’ll do, the fuselage is now looking much better, and begining to resemble a Sunderland. With the top sanded down, and the bottom now looking better too, it’s all go! Next up will be the rearplanes and the fin. After this, mask the canopy and turrets, then spray on some Mr.Surfacer. Normally I don’t use this, as a bit rough, but need it this time I think.
Not much else this week, except the re-painting of the Mustang floor. Now resembles a plywood floor, to which black paint has been roughly applied, and thence worn away in places. Pretty pleased with that!
Need to sort out a ‘works programme’ to complete all kits sitting on my workbench. Most of them are near the end, so, I should be able to clear a lot, quickly. The current kits are (and next stage) – all 1/72 unless otherwise indicated-:
Short Sunderland – Attach rears elements; B-45 Tornado – need to repaint engine covers; Horton – repaint swirls; Draaken – mask canopy; Spitfire – mask canopy; 1/144 Lancaster – fix gap, repaint; Submarine – get the energy to attach bits!; Sea Fury – mask for final paint; 1/48 Mustang – cockpit; 1/48 F-14 – cockpit; 1/48 Spitfire – next layer of brown
Whilst I know what I’m going to build next, nothing is release to the workbench until these are completed or binned!
