BlrwestSiR

With the extra work done to the back half of the fuselage, the Eagle is now a tail sitter. So time for some nose weight. 17¢ was put in the nose cone and glued in place. Once dry, I can then attach the nose cone.

Chris, here's the jig for setting the outer wing angle that I have. http://nautilusmodels.com/32-802.htm The angle is 12.5° otherwise. As for the wing pylons, they need to move inboard 4.7mm

I guess that's better than one about navel lint.

Vertical tailplanes are filled and sanded. I'll see what touchups, hopefully minor if any , are needed after a coat of primer. I've now glued the horizontal tailplanes on. Again, some decent sized gaps along the top edge so duly filled and puttied. This just leaves the canards to mount.

I think I'm going to stick with the drop tank. It'll be closer to what's seen in the anime. Although I will definitely be keeping the ASAT for a future project.

So in other words, you need to have the shops send one sprue at a time.

Next up are the wing pylons. I'm using the Tamiya ones as the detail is a bit more refined. They're a simple fit, just need to drill holes instead of the slots the kit pylons use. Both fitted but not yet glued. For the centreline, I can use the centreline tank. Another option I have is mounting an ASAT. One of the Revell kits still has the original sprue with an ASAT in it. Could be an interesting load out. Tom Clancy's Red Storm Rising anyone?

With the intakes dry and the gaps mostly dealt with, I finally added the vertical stabs. Because they're canted outwards instead of straight up and down like they were originally, I've had to fill in the gaps along the base. Once that's dry, I'm sure there will be more sanding and filling until smooth.

Great job on a not so easy kit. Nice choice of markings too

That will be different. The RCAF had at least one P-40N during the war that was NMF.

Thanks Martin. Yeah, it was really annoying. The intakes warped one way while the upper bit warped in a different direction. Plus the lower lip was a butt join and only a couple mm wide.

Peter, nice to see you working on something different. Really shaking things up can make it all interesting again. My oldest son likes ship models and has already amassed a bit of a stash of them. For myself, I've only got the Type XXIII sub I did a couple years ago and the started but yet to finish Vosper MTB.

Looking at the before and after pics, you wouldn't know they were the same kit. You're definitely taking this kit.

The fit of the intakes needs a bit of work. Thankfully I was able to get the lower lip lined up. That's probably the weakest bit of the intakes. With a few clamps in place... ...much better. Now to let it dry.

Another book on my favourite jet fighter.

Scott, rotor span is the biggie for me. The AH-1 is great since it's only a twin rotor so easy enough to put it inline with the fuselage. If there wasn't the rotor fold upgrade, I probably wouldn't have picked the kit up.

Some really nice pics there Chris. The intake splitter is definitely perforated. They all were. Something to do with the air flow. Excess air taken in through the perforations gets expelled through the vents on the top and bottom. The radome being fibreglass might explain the differing finishes seen. Some were even tan and not black. When you get to the wing tanks, they need to be moved outboard. Let me check how far out they need to be moved. I keep remembering stuff as I follow your build. Hopefully it comes in time.

It's starting to get a bit big.

Time to join the front section to the main fuselage. I needed to add a spacer to get the correct height between the two sections and not have a step. On the bottom, I glued the section immediately aft of the nose gear bay. Once dry, I'll push the rest into place, again trying to limit any steps/gaps.

Looks really nice John. Having just built the kit a couple months ago, I know how fussy the kit is.

Oh, that's a dangerous rabbit hole to fall down. Wait until you find other stuff that they carry ...

Chris, I use Gundam markers for the little details. They come in many colours and widths and are meant for models. They're great for doing the red edges on aircraft landing gear doors.

The BV138 will be impressive. And not just the price either.

Nice patch job Scott. In the last pic, the Bondi looks grainy. Is that just due to the closeup?

Thanks Martin! The cockpit is now done.