BoweModels

Fuselage interiors done. Plenty of ejector marks in here, however all very thoughtfully kept out of sight.

Guns installed.

Cockpit together.

Cockpit side frames.

Cockpit internals coming together.

Starting the Camel by painting up the instrument panel.

It's that time of year again when the bench winds down for Yuletide. Thanks you all for your support and interest over the last year, I wish you all a fantastic Christmas and my best wishes for 2024. There's plenty lined up, see you on the other side! Steve.

Next up! Anyone who is fortunate enough to have built a Wingnut kit knows what a treat I am in for. One of the greatest recent tragedies of the modelling world is the loss of this manufacturer of sublime WWI kits and I am fortunate to have got my hands on this. These kits are vanishingly rare and eye wateringly expensive if you can find them. Will it be the last chance I get to build one? I hope not but I fear it may be....

58-0035, 7th Bomb Wing, c1959

And decals done!

Finally! Painting finished, ready for decals.

While waiting for varnish to cure, built an MD3 generator to accompany the KC-135.

Fed up of staring at the MainTrack short tail cap knowing it's not right. So embarking on some modifications...

White priming for the dayglo markings.

Some panel work. Very tedious but worth the effort.

First painting stage, the base aluminium.

Engines on. I'd normally do this right at the end but these need so much work to fit that the paint would never survive. So I'll just have to suffer at the masking and painting stage....

Some surgery required to the engine pylons. Nobody else seems to have noticed that the kit engines are pointing upwards about 10 degrees and that is just plain wrong.

Engines with a little correction courtesy of Flightpath.

Wings and tail on. Starting to look the part now!

Shortening the tail to early style - added the resin cap from Maintrack and scratch moulded the actuator covers.

Wing alignment and droop protection applied!

Getting really fed up with trying to get the seams acceptable, had to call in the CO, Captain Milliput...

One of the toughest canopy installs I've done for a while, hope it paints up OK. Anyone building this kit (or it's variations), the "bump" above the cockpit in the kit part should be removed.

After something of a vicious battle, finally got the fuselage together....

I have been corrected on my choice of undercarriage colours for an early KC-135, fortunately just in time. Metal legs and chromate main bays.

Installing the fuselage

Next up! A bit of a beast of a kit, this one, and over 30 years old - originally put together by AMT/ERTL in the early 90s. It isn't particularly complex, but it does have major fit and rigidity issues that need some addressing, and to add to the kit-bashing this will be built as an early short tail version so some clipping to be done. I have a fair few goodies to go with it, but I may need a bigger bench....

ML407, 485 (New Zealand) Squadron, RAF, Hornchurch UK, 1944

Propellor done.

Undercarriage parts ready.

Decals on!

Main painting done.

All masked up for the paint booth.

Dressing up the cowlings.

Right - all ready for some painting.

Engine installed!