Scale aviation modeller international

are supplied on a CD that includes

tutorial videos for some aspects of

the model; I cannot recommend

the study of this disc highly

enough. Before I even started

this model I looked through the

instructions numerous times

and watched the included videos

over and over again. By doing

this you will familiarise yourself

with the build process, which for

a kit this complex is essential.

As a modeller I do not build just

plastic kits, I also enjoy working

with balsa wood for free-flight

aircraft or boats for my trips to the

local boat pond with my daughter.

I have also worked with metal and

photo-etched brass. Whilst not

essential, experience working with

these various mediums will be

very helpful in building this kit.

LETS START

After spending so long looking

at the instructions, I decided to

vary the build sequence from that

suggested by the manufacturer. I

was very keen to see just how big

this model would be and how the

unorthodox fuselage assembly

would go together, so that is

where I was going to start.

The first thing I noticed about

the metal parts is that most of them

had a small seam line that needs to

be removed. So the first job was to

get out my diamond jeweller’s files

to start cleaning them up before I

began construction. The fuselage

itself is split into sub sections,

which are joined using brass collars.

So you will need to invest in some

superglue, I found that a medium

viscosity worked best for this job.

The assembly went together

well and quite quickly, and after

an evening’s modelling I had

the basic fuselage framework

assembled. This was no time to

rest on my laurels, though, as this

basic framework still needed a lot

of work! There followed several

evening sessions with diamond

files cleaning up the joints and the

continued removal of the seam

lines, as every time I thought I

had got them all another would

appear! Eventually though, I was

happy that I had got them all.

With the basic framework

cleaned up, it was time to add

all of the etched-steel internal

rigging attachment points. These

are quite fiddly to do, especially

when your superglue wants to

stick to everything but the model!

Once these are all attached there

are still a few other bits of the

framework that need to be added,

before the final bit of cleanup and

the first coat of primer. For this, I

used Halfords grey primer, after

it had dried I spotted a few more

seam lines that needed a quick

cleanup before another coat.

At this point work on the

fuselage was halted for a bit,

because I wanted to assemble the

rudder and tailplane; these are

the same colour as the fuselage

framework and I wanted to spray

them all at the same time. The

“THE AIRFRAME WITHOUT THE

ENGINE COWLING IS 43CM/17

INCHES AND IT HAS A WINGSPAN

OF 36CM/14¼ INCHES”

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