The seats and cloth seat belts that HpH
includes look nice. I assembled the cockpit
photoetch parts which are again really nice
looking. Before the final fit of the seats in
the cockpit, I realized the back seat was
too tall, so I had to cut about 3mm off its
height. Best done before details and paint!
Instrument panels as well as control panels
on the side consoles are provided as pre-
coloured photo-etched parts.
The biggest struggle, to me, were the air
intakes, which needed special attention to
be aligned with the fuselage. After
assembling the fuselage, it took a little
putty here and there to fix some gaps.
I built the engine exhaust collar from
scratch as it’s not represented in the kit.
For painting the model, I opted for MRP
laquer-based paints.
To get the correct shade I combined grey
(MRP-039) with a drop of blue (MRP-238).
For painting the airplane identification
numbers and national insignia, I used
masks. To be able to represent the model
as I wanted I needed a set of dedicated
decals. I drew all the stencils and technical
marks on the computer along with the
mascot and the emblem on the
airplane's nose.
By the courtesy of some good friends, Ihad masks cut and decals printed.
To represent all the stencils I took advice
from a friend who has worked on this type
of aircraft for a long time. All the work was
sealed with a glossy lacquer (MRP-048), I
made a small highlighting of the lines and
rivets with AK-2072 panel wash. I made
some small traces of fluid leaks with AK-- Finally, I covered everything with the
MRP-125 clear matt. As most of us do,
details such as landing gear, ordnance and
the canopy are detailed and painted
separately ready for a final fitting.
Before removal of
the excess panel
line wash...and after; re-working the
rivet detail was worth the
effort, especially in 1:32.The red of the numerals was airbrushed through a self-
adhesive mask and outlined carefully with a fine brush.