Scale aviation modeller international

teardrop moulding needs removing;

the length is correct, but it needs

to be fatter. Later I replaced it

with a suitable bomb-half from

the spares box, but note that the

extreme end tip of the fairing

continues onto the surface of

one of the bomb-bay doors.

At the front end, I removed

the first 3 mm of the mouldings,

plus the centre engine mounting

collar; on the real aircraft there’s

a noticeable step at this point,

like a ruff around the neck of a

lizard, which Airfix have missed.

A rarely noted detail at the other

end is the tail-cone fairing; the

lower half of the cone was often

discarded, although why is hard

to say – it may simply be that it

was prone to damage or to the

collection of debris. The area to

be removed is along a level just

below the tail navigation light,

and on a vertical just to the rear

of the tailwheel housing.

One source seems to suggest

that the roof of the tailwheel

bay was plated over. I did so, but

rightly or wrongly, I left the area

behind the tailwheel itself open.

Airfix’s simplified tailwheel

location works quite well, but if

you want to fit a proper tailwheel

arm you’ll need to widen the recess

(I used a spare Italeri tailwheel

on my model). I now cut out the

two rectangular windows, on

the underside, one on each side

of the gondola; again, these are

missing from the Airfix kit.

With consignments into the

waste bin over, I could start

construction proper. I started by

fixing some microrod to represent

the long structural tube that runs

internally along both sides, from

front to rear. These run just below

the cockpit windows and along

the seating of the dorsal hatch.

I then cut and fitted a couple

of large plain blanks of 10 thou

plasticard, cut to fit hard up against

the line of the new “tubing”, as

far back as the front post of the

entry door. These blanks serve

to seal off the wing root voids.

This basic plain interior now

became my new canvas, and with

suitable references to hand it was a

pleasant job to fit out the inside of

the fuselage shells, replicating the

tubular structure of the original,

using more microrod. Less pleasant

was the cutting and fitting of

umpteen pieces of microstrip to

represent the horizontal battens

to which the fabric walls were

attached. The small windows in

the rear fuselage can be fitted at

this time, and their inside surfaces

masked for later spraying.

I decided to install a false ceiling

in the rear cabin, using a curved

section of 10 thou plasticard, for two

reasons: one, to hide the centerline

fuselage join when viewed from

the inside, and two, to act as a base

to fit more microrod tubing in the

ceiling. At the same time, I also

fitted a false floor to the rear of the

gondola, for the same reasons.

FITTING OUT THE INTERIOR

The Airfix cockpit floor is too long.

I shortened the floor by cutting off

the rear section, leaving a floor of

only 38 mm in length. Eduard’s old

set 72 064 included flooring detail,

which I used to face over the floor,

but the floor could easily be detailed

instead by simply scribing on some

closely spaced crossways ribbing.

The Airfix bulkhead Part 9 is

a bit of a construct; in reality, the

only bit of Part 9 to be found on the

actual aircraft was the left side. I

decided to instead use a spare Italeri

bulkhead, which suffers similarly.

I made an executive decision to

keep much of this fictitious area,

as I intended to replicate some

of the arched structural tubing

in the ceiling area, and I thought

that it would be handy to have

something to build this on. I

also intended to build the radio

equipment on the right side.

Next, I thinned down the

bulkhead, Airfix Part 10, and

sanded off the doorway detail. I

also cut off everything below floor

level and shaped the bulkhead

to match Eduard 72 415, Part

39, and then butt-fitted it into

place at the aftermost end of the

floor. Still at the aftermost end

of the floor, but now beneath it,

I shaped and fitted a plasticard

bulkhead to serve as the front face

of the lower bomb bay space.

A start can now be made on

the Eduard items. I started with

the equipment and I found that a

couple of the items have too much

depth. With hindsight, I might

have done better to have used

only the faces of Parts 32 and 33,

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