giemme

Neat! Ciao

Glad it worked, Simon! Ciao

Sounds like an appropriate mantra for this kit.... You will prevail! Ciao

Thank you Alan! So far, all the resin seats I used in my builds sported very good harness detail, well defined and all. When not using resin, I tried to scratch build harnesses only if I deemed feasible scratch building the various buckles too, otherwise I resorted to PE... Thank you, you're both very kind Erwin @VT Red Sox Fan, as CC says, the bottom cockpit plumbing is completely invisible, once the fuselage is buttoned up. Completely invisible is where I draw the line; if there's a hint of a possibility you might see something, I then go for the detailing, otherwise I can't be bothered. In some cases, determining what would be invisible by dry fitting the parts isn't enough, so I ended up sometimes adding detail that turned out to be invisible, but that was sheer misjudgment. Ciao

It looks a neat paint job to me, Simon! Ciao

Thanks Simon, glad you like it! At least the cockpit looks busy enough from normal viewing distance... OR is it the other way round? Thank you Cookie, much appreciated! Thanks Terry! Yes, I did mention chipping, which I am going to do inside the main wheel wells and their doors and, later, on the wings and fuselage. Now, for large flat-ish areas like said wings and fuselage, I would normally go with the salt technique, but the wheel wells are way more complex in terms of geometry, so I'm thinking of hairspray. I will conduct an experiment before committing to that; if it goes according to plan, I might use it on the external surfaces too. BTW, I've never used dedicated chipping fluids, so I have no idea about how they work and perform Thank you John, very kind of you I tend to prefer molded or scratch built harness myself, they look more realistic, especially in 1/48. In 1/72, I think PE is still a good option; I did use previously PE harness in 1/48 too, it takes a bit more of work to have them looking more real and you have to content yourself with very standard poses. As for the IP, it definitely looks the part once inserted in the fuselage - heck, even in some of the pics of the assembled cockpit framing it looks OK - still, it bothers me to have displaced decals on the bezels As for the pics, one thing I noticed re-reading my post is that for some reason those pics shows the internals with exaggerated features, like the ribbing being too thick, and in general a sensation of the thickness on all details being slightly overscale. It certainly doesn't look like that at the naked eye... Ciao

Interesting camouflage scheme, Alain And yes, it's a weirdo Ciao

Doing good, Simon! Ciao

I like it that way, Simon - but then you know I'm not one for ultra-even paint coats... Ciao

Thanks Simon Wait no more, there's loads below... Thanks Ian, glad you approve of Thank you Alain, much appreciated! Glad you like it, Cookie! Cheers Erwin, thank you! Alright, this update is picture heavy - I warned you! I detail painted and weathered all the parts composing the cockpit, including the interiors of the fuselage halves: The resin seat is a real plus - thanks again, Alain @corsaircorp! The next bit is the one I'm less happy with, the IP I used clear resin to simulate the bezels glasses, but that's not the point: all the instruments were on decals (one for the side panel, one for the main one), so I cut the main one in pieces in the (vain) hope of being able to place it better. Next pic shows better the misalignment I got: Feet rest and rudder pedals Not sure what this is for.... Control stick and the fuselage halves I used white oil to highlight the ribs (by dry brushing it); it's easy to remove if you overdo, and it gives enough light to be seen once the cockpit halves are buttoned up. Bottom window area Then I glued the various bits together The cockpit assembly just snugs in place on the fuselage side Most of the details remain hidden , though.... Let's try a dry fit, shall we? Dark in there... Let's try with a bit of flash All looking good, but I decided it wasn't worth adding any more piping at the bottom of the IP, it would be totally invisible. So I glued the assembly to the fuselage side: And then I glued the fuselage halves together: This will now cure, before I tackle the join line - which is running all along the fuselage, top and bottom.... All comments welcome Ciao

I will refrain from commenting... Ciao

Good looking camouflage there, Alain! Ciao

Brilliant! Ciao

Ciao

Sky coat looking good, Simon Ciao

Neat job, Ian! Ciao

Definitely enough! Ciao

Ditto!

Terminator CC - Great to see you're recovering fast! Ciao

Well, you should be! Ciao

Smooth paint job, Simon Ciao

I can only agree with all the above re you coming back to the bench, Crisp Ciao

Looks good from where I sit Ciao

Looking good already, Cookie! Can't wait to see more metal painting going on! Ciao

It would sure make for an epic build! Thanks for the vote of confidence, Erwin! Thanks Alain (for the pics too) Thanks for the info - and the praise! Hey, you two, this time there actually was paint; happy? Before that: Alain kindly supplied some detailed pic of the interiors which, added to the ones I already have, led me to the conclusion that I need to assemble the cockpit before I can add any more piping/wiring. The additional wiring will be done most likely before joining the fuselage halves; anyway, there was some piping to add that I could do beforehand, in the main wheel wells. They first needed some clean up from sink marks: On the left I had already removed them with a chisel, on the right you see - marked with red dots - the amount of marks to be removed. Same kind of job needed on the top part of the inner wings All done, after brushing on some TeT to clean up any styrene residuals To add the relevant piping, I also had to involve the wing inserts used to mount the outer wings: here's a dryfit, the pipes will obviously be tidied up only when the definitive assembly takes place repeat for the other side I used solder and copper wire for the task. I then airbrushed Tamiya Flat Black as primer, followed by YZC (it's actually a mix of Tamiya Flat Yellow and Cockpit Green) I then airbrushed a Future coat; the idea is to then spray the underside camouflage color (white) and scratch it out in places, to reveal the underlying YZC layer. Cockpit green for the bottom window framing Same for the sidewalls, while the area behind the bulkhead and the rear wheel well were airbrushed YZC (flat black as primer again, I think it gives a nice depth to the top coat) Other cockpit bits received their Cockpit Green and/or Flat Black coat All of them also received a protective Future coat. Now I'm ready for detail painting and weathering - next time, though. Meanwhile, all comments welcome Ciao