something that you will have to do
on this kit; there is no avoiding it
after the amount of sanding you
will have to do on most of the wing
and fuselage. For re-scribing I use
Funtec scribers, sold by Ultimate
Modelling Products. These produce
a very clean panel line and are
very easy to use, plus they come in
every possible size you will need.
A large amount of sprue glue
was needed on the underside
wing join, as there was a gap that
was 1mm wide. This was packed
with plastic, cut to shape, and
sprue glued over. Sprue glue will
be a very good friend of yours in
the construction of this kit.CLEAR PARTS
There is not a whole lot to say about
the very small sprue of clear parts,
except that they are some of the
most crystal-clear transparencies
I have ever used. Unfortunately,
I can’t let the poor fit of the front
canopy go unmentioned. The front
canopy section is moulded with
a section of the upper fuselage,
so you do get the appearance of a
seamless, perfectly fitting canopy.
This would be if the canopy
fitted into the cut-out of the
fuselage, but I needed quite a
lot of work with superglue and
UMP sanders to get it perfect.LANDING GEAR
CMK have been excellent in their
production of resin goodies for this
beautiful bird, and the wheels are
no exception. Stunning cast-resin
wheels with the Dunlop logo on the
side of the tyre are a much-needed
improvement over the plastic ones
in the kit (although it does have to
be said that it is nice to see that the
plastic wheels are still weighted).
The landing gear legs and
mechanism must be some of
the fiddliest and most complex
landing gear I have yet to deal
with. I would highly recommend
that you skip ahead a few steps
and do this as early as possible
in the build to avoid a future
headache. I myself decided to do
the landing gear once the aircraft
was all painted and weathered. Did
I regret that decision? Yes, I did.
The landing gear legs
themselves are very nice indeed;
I would say there is no need for
an aftermarket replacement. I
painted all the landing gear parts
with Ultimate Modelling Products
Gloss Black Primer and then AK
Extreme Aluminium. I found this
was a little overkill, as it turned
out looking more nearly chrome
than aluminium, and it being a
mechanical moving part I wanted
to achieve a look of wear and tear.
This was done by again using AKengine wash, which has a perfect
colour and finish when dry makes
the shiny area look like a well-
used machine: oily and grimy.
Around the leg compressions
and dampeners, I used a small
amount of Oil Effects to simulate
the grease that gathers around
moving parts. Although the
landing gear is composed
of many small and intricateparts, its structural integrity is
superb, with not a wobble when
the aircraft is on its legs.PAINTING
None of the schemes in this specific
kit really float my boat, but theWWW.SAMPUBLICATIONS.COM • AUGUST 2018 • 67
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