SPA Modeler

I figured out that I should glue the upper wing flaps in now so that I can address any issues that show up on the top side of the wings. A combination of a light grind along the brass and a bead of CA glue along the edge should smooth this out.



With the game plan established for the attachment of nose/engine assembly, I decided to test fit the bulkhead using two spots of CA glue. No tabs or alignment aids here so I just eyeballed it.


Pretty close... the engine slide into place without interference.


But the nose would not shift up completely, leaving this gap. I need to trim the bulkhead height down a touch to allow the engine block to shift up. In pencil I marked the bulkhead stringers on the fuselage so that I could line the bulkhead up in this same position.


I shaved the bulkhead bottom a few millimeters and tried again.


This allowed me to close the gap on the bottom. Ok... I think this is do-able.


I'm going to paint the bulkhead before I glue it into place so I've primed with Mr Primer Surfacer like the engine. Here is the engine + bulkhead together mounted on the nose. Can you tell I am procrastinating on the painting of the engine?

Amazing detail. Looking forward to your skillful painting of that beauty.

Good work on sorting out all those fit issues John!

keavdog wrote:Amazing detail. Looking forward to your skillful painting of that beauty.

Thanks guys! Haven't gotten started on the engine painting but have been moving forward on other aspects of this build.

Slowly finishing the clean up work on the wing roots...



The tail stabilizers aren't a perfect fit so I'll probably want to glue them in and do the necessary putty work at the joints before I go any further on the engine.


The underwing drop tanks have been painted. Yes, one is darker than the other! This was intentional!


The funky clear drop tank pylons have been painted and decaled. Extreme care needs to be taken when handling these parts as they are very delicate and prone to cracking/snapping.


Drop tank mounted on the pylon... the edge reflection through the clear part is not good.


So I brush painted the contact surfaces black. I still need to weather the drop tanks.


And finally... I've painted the engine bulkhead but have yet weathered it.

The horizontal stabilizers have been glued into place. I'll be addressing the gaps with Milliput and Mr Surfacer.



Making sure the stabs are on straight.


Weathering applied to the drop tanks. Kind of a lazy approach I've been tinkering with lately. Splattering watered down pastel wash onto a flat finish. Creates little stains that can be wiped off to modulate the effect. You can build layers of this stuff in different colors to achieve some tonal depth to the stains. The clear pylons have not been glued on yet so I can still work on the weathering if I feel like it.


The engine bulkhead has been similarly weathered.


I'm ready to glue the bulkhead into place. I need a strong attachment but I also some time to finesse the positioning so this JB Kwik Weld is a good choice. It starts hardening about five minutes after mixing.


The bulkhead has been glued into place. There are some gaps around the circumference that I'm going to have to tidy up but before I do that, I'll verify that the engine/nose assembly fits without interference. Hopefully, the dry-ftting has avoided the need for any awkward trimming.

BlackSheep214 wrote:

Exactly!

BlackSheep214 wrote:

Yeah that .....

Thanks guys! Appreciate it!

After the bulkhead was glued into place, I verified that the nose/engine was able to slide into place without interference.


There are some slight overhangs that I'm hoping can be corrected with finger pressure during the gluing process. Bigger gaps will be filled with sheet styrene or sprue so that I can increase the joint strength as much as possible.



The width of the nose section is a bit tight at the forward edge of the wing roots. It may be causing a bit of anhedral so some slight trimming might be necessary.


After the test fit, the seam around the edges of the bulkhead were filled and cleaned up. I'm not going to bother doing any paint touch-ups now as it will be easier to do that after the fuselage camo painting is done.


The stabilizer joints have been cleaned up as well.