Scale aviation modeller international

engines’ front plate.

The electric motors were now

slid into place and secured with a

drop of superglue before adding

the nacelles. No problem with the

fit here: nice and tight and precise,

with no filling or sanding required.

Stages Eighty to Ninety-three

cover the addition of the extensive

glazing, defensive armaments, and

various other fittings attached to

the inside of the canopy. To improve

defensive firepower the Luftwaffe

changed the ammunition feed from

drum magazines to ammunition

tanks feeding the machine guns

using flexible feed chutes. For the

front gun, the ammunition tank

is fitted to the inside of the nose

glazing. After detailing the bin with

etched parts from the Eduard set,

it was time to fit it to the glazing.

After studying the instructions

for some time I finally got a clear

idea of where it was meant to

go. However, the location points

are not very secure and the risk

of marring the clear part was

very high, so I had to come up

with a more secure method of

attachment. Accordingly, I drilled

two small holes, one through the

framework of the glazing and the

other in the ammunition bin. This

allowed me to fit a piece of wire

through the holes and attach the

ammunition container firmly.

Before attaching the glazing,

the wires from the back of the

instrument panels were tucked

away down the back of the side

consoles. I also added two hydraulic

lines to the rudder pedals’ pistons.

The nose glazing, lower glazing,

and bombsight fairing were finally

attached to the fuselage using

Tamiya’s extra-thin cement,

allowing capillary action to let the

liquid to flow around the seam.

Before attaching the rest of

the transparencies, it was time to

deal with the three machine guns.

As mouldings go, the barrels of

the machine guns feature some

very nice details, but they do

not compare to the extremely

fine detail provided by Master

Models’ turned-brass items.

The barrel and cooling

jackets are separate items that

slide over each other to provide

the most intricate looking gun

barrels I have ever seen. I think

they must use alchemy or some

sort of otherworld technology

to produce these fine pieces.

Once the sleeves were fitted

over the barrels, I used tarnishing

fluid, usually employed to darken

metal AFV tracks, to turn them

from shiny brass to a dull dark

finish. When rubbed with a

graphite stick, I had some very

impressive-looking gun barrels.

The single front machine gun

is moulded in one piece, so I cut off

Kit’s decals on the left. EagleCals’ centre and right

Oil paint dot filter applied

Panel wash applied to create a

dark contrast

EagleCals’ decals, with their two-part swastikas

Blending in using a flat brush

and thinners

Rather than use the decals

for the prop spinners’ hubs, I

masked and painted the white

segment

First pass with the brush and thinners

Finished, masks removed

Filter applied over the whole airframe

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