GazzaS

Excellent!

That PE work is just stunning, Mark!

Your struts look great, and it's even better that they stay in place without cement. Improving a model always feels good. Like you said, with WNW, there isn't much need to use your skills to make improvements-- you just have to avoid screwing things up. My first WNW I did I felt a bit disappointed as I used an in box scheme... I just felt like I was copying, The two since then have used schemes that I researched or configured myself.

Stud!

I'm at the ugly stage. Cleaning up the seams. For you readers, the pictures will be relatively useless... unless you see all of the black areas where seam cleanup is required. The seams in the wing roots were 1.5 to 2mm wide. And I haven't even started the wings yet. Using CA as a filler, and an electric toothbrush with 320-grit speeds up the process.... Here's one where the flaw can actually be seen in the photo. The faults remaining on the fuselage will have to be filled with very thin CA. Happy modelling!

Looks great Martin! I reckon there just might be enough room on that turret for a classic Russian slogan like: За Родину и щи!

A rigid landing gear is great. One thing I find disturbing about even WNW models is that the LG assembly is not very solid.

Nicely done! Startling colors. I said Good-bye to Okinawa in 1989.

Thank you, Rob. I'm closing it all up and finding lots of filling to do. Worst of all is substantial gaps on both wing roots.

Well Done, John!!

Stunning looking IP.

Thank you. It really depends on the model. A 1/48 scale kit has a lot less tolerance for stuff like that.

Congratulations!!

I did some work with home made sprue goo a couple years ago. A week after I used it, I sanded the area smooth and continued with the build. Then, I applied the primer. Much to my horror, everywhere that I had used sprue goo, the plastic had continued to shrink after I had sanded it smooth, leaving shallow ditches. Hopefully the stuff you used stabilized quicker than mine.

With this kit, you can look in from the front or below until you install the engine. So, I did all of that before I even considered gluing. The IP's are all measured from real IP's, so are very accurate... However, no WWII fighter plane had fuselage walls as thick as a plastic model. So you're left with the choice of where you want to lose from. On my first PCM kit, I elected to remove from the Fuse-walls. It was scarily thin and I spent the rest of the build afraid to do anything in that area. So, this time, I attacked the IP instead. Easy peasy.

I really was merciless in trimming the pit to fit instead of thinning the fuselage walls. I probably went 1/2 mm too far... but you can't really tell.

Please pardon the not-so-crisp photos. I was lazy and took them with my phone instead of breaking out the tripod and wife's Canon Olympus. Anyway... I'm closing her up. Say 'bye-bye' to the cockpit... And Hasta la vista to the rear landing gear details.... Also... I've attached the new S.O.W landing gear struts to the mounting points on the kit gear. The kit gear are in the photo for comparison: Somehow, someway, I got things a bit tweaked. You can se the small discrepancy at the rear edge of the wing. It was quite difficult to glue the halves together. I decided to start from the tail and work my way forward, using the rudder seam as a guideline. I used CA to quicken the process. Torquing, squeezing, and applying sloppy lines of CA along the seam as I advanced forward trying to align tail LG and cockpit tub in the process. The first time I installed the engine, perfectly with the guide lines inside it was painfully obvious that either my tweaking of the fuselage, caused it to be pointed somewhat down and forward. So, I had to break the engine joins and do it it a different way. I ended up cementing the large forward cowl first so that I could align everything with fan, propeller, and copper shaft dry-fitted. So, despite all of the bad angles that I have created, the prop spins easily without too visible a wobble. The white tabs are to keep the upper cowl parts from falling through once I try to fit them. My disaster of the day: I spilled Tamiya Ultra thin on top of the MG 17 breech cover part... I immediately set the part aside and allowed it to dry. Fortunately, not too much detail was lost to my clumsiness. I really had to fight the temptation to try to wipe away the spilled cement.

I would like to do a sub, myself. But I'd want to make certain I had a good weathering plan. Otherwise, they can be a bit plain, or you can go to the far end and highlight every weld line and end up with the dreaded checkerboard look.

Looks Like Italeri want to sell more versions of the Tornado? https://issuu.com/italeri/docs/previw_italeri_2021/8 Honestly... I don't know a lot about modern jets. So, I can;t just go buy any old Tornado and chop it up to make the version I want.

Great looking covers.

That is a great detail there! Nicely done! I'm a big fan of annealing. Obviously, if a piece is flat, I don't bother. If I have fine parts, I have an old pan that I anneal in. I have melted parts by mistake before using open flame... I wept bitter tears.

Very sharp, John!

I just got some fantastic looking LG legs from Synthetic Ordinance Works. They are of composite construction with a stainless steel oleo and steel guitar wire used to add strength. The detail is very sharp!