Military Illustrated Modeller – September 2019

 Military Illustrated Modeller - September 2019

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At this point I have tacked on the flaps. They are held in place with tape. Next, I'll use 5-minute epoxy

to secure them permanently. I would recommend this technique for many purposes. 5-minute epoxy

is incredibly strong and is very easy to apply with a tooth pick. You can apply it thickly and quickly

remove the excess with a Q-tip dipped in alcohol. The main advantage is that it does not shrink,

making it perfect for attaching canopies.

A bit of advice for anyone building this kit; the photo-etched parts are rather thick and rigid. I passed the belts over

a candle flame to anneal them, but still they were a challenge to bend realistically. The photo-etched perforated ring

on the nose has been white glued to the cowl to check its fit. Also I started working on the canopy. I used some

diluted white glue to tack it together for a positioning check. Later it was fixed with epoxy.

I planned to use the painted decal strips

for the canopy frames, since they are not

represented on the kit parts. This would make

using the kit supplied masks a challenge. I

started with a coat of RLM 02 on a piece

of clear decal film, then gloss black and

finally silver. Screws and rivets were then

be embossed on strips, which were then be

cut to represent the frames. Although many

modelers dip their canopied in Future Floor

Wax, I’ve gotten very good results using

Dawn Dishwashing Soap. If you haven't tried

this on canopies, I would recommend it. There

is something to be said for dipping them in

Future. But when you run some 5-minute

epoxy around the edge to seal the canopy in

place and remove the excess with denatured

alcohol with a Q-tip, you will have problems.

The alcohol will remove the Future as well.

Painting has commenced. Here the white wingtips and rudder have been

painted and masking of the canopy and wheel wells is completed.

Here are two of the paint mules on which I have conducted unholy experiments. I've tested various silver mixes and

determined that painting the white wingtips before painting the silver eliminated the masking ridge.

The Anton has gotten its first coat of Silberweiss. Again, the Gunze witches brew went on well.

Next will be

touchups and a

few contrasting

darker silver

panels, followed

by some in black.

I've added some contrasting panels with a darkened version of my silberweiss mix.

First I added a drop of Gunze USAF Neutral Grey, which wasn't dark enough but one

drop of gloss black did the trick.