was required before the correct
orientation was achieved. I gauged
this by reference to plan views
obtained from the internet; I
aimed for a straight line along
the rear edge of the flaps.
Twist was the trickiest one to
solve. In the end, I glued some thin
plastic card panels to the tops of the
canopy stubs, bending their front
or rear edges up as necessary until
the wings had the same amount of
twist when viewed from the front.
This adjustment required the wing
slot heights to be filed slightly to
accommodate the additional panels.
Lateral alignment was the
easiest, achieved by enlarging
the wing socket lengths slightly
so each could be moved fore-aft
until they matched side-to side.
I now removed the solid wing
tip lights with a razor saw before
temporarily attaching some blocks
of clear sprue in their place with
PVA. These were then sanded to
shape before being polished smooth
with Micromesh. Holes were now
drilled into the clear plastic’s
inner surface to represent light
bulbs, with Tamiya Clear Green
and Clear Red dotted within. Once
dipped in Klear, the lamps were
put to one side for final assembly.
Photo-etch flap hinges are
provided, as well as a small
rectangular surround for the
antenna on the port inner wing.
The pitot tube was drilled out
before being attached to the
underside of the port wing,
immediately before painting.
Attention then turned to the
wing struts. I opted to scribe some
additional panel lines and rivets
using my RB Tools riveting wheel.
I also drilled the struts’ frontupper fairings for their photo-
etch tie-down eyes, which would
be added during final assembly.PAINTING, DECALS, AND
WEATHERING
At this stage, the model was in
seven main sections requiring
camouflage: the fuselage (with
tail planes, spats and stub
wings attached), the engine
cowling, the wings, the wing
struts, and the rear canopy.
I began the painting process
by masking all the open areas of
the cockpit with a combinationof Tamiya tape, tissue, Blu-Tack
and Winsor and Newton masking
fluid. After spraying the cockpit
framing with cockpit green, Tamiya
Fine Grey Surface Primer was
very lightly applied to the whole
airframe. The undersides were then
finished in Tamiya XF-21 sky.
A combination of Tamiya
tape and Blu-Tack was used to
give hard and soft demarcations
(wing leading edge wraparounds
and fuselage sides respectively).
I always use Vallejo Model Colour
70.879 Green Brown and 70.890
Reflective Green for early RAF
topside camouflage. In this case Ionce again used Blu-Tack sausages
blocked in with Tamiya tape to get
fine feathered edges between the
green and brown camouflage.
All three main colours were
subtly pre-shaded with Tamiya
XF-69 NATO Black. Once a few
bits of inevitable corrective work
were complete, a coat of Klear was
applied to protect the finish in
preparation for applying the decals.
The kit’s decals are excellent
quality, being both opaque and
thin. They were also easy to apply,
and settled down very nicely with
no silvering after seating on a drop
of diluted Klear and overcoating
with Micro-Sol. Another coat of
Klear normalised the finish in
preparation for weathering.
I’m not too confident with
weathering, so followed my
usual very simple recipe of a MIG
dark wash applied to panel lines,
and also dotted and streaked
in random areas with a cloth
damped with thinners. Brushing
behind the engine cowling and
around the wheels with Tamiya
powders (usually Oil Stain and
Mud) added another light layer
of grime. A few very subtle paint
chips applied with a silver pencil
completed the process. The
whole airframe was then given a
final coat of Winsor and Newton
Matt Varnish, and left to dry
overnight in the airing cupboard.FINAL ASSEMBLY AND
DETAILS
At this stage, all the previous
planning, fettling and trial-fitting
paid off; doing this after painting
would have undoubtedly damagedWWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • MAY 2018 • 71
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