Hi all,
Hello petrov27, and Shoggz, thanks for the kind words, much appreciated guys.
Hi Max and Carl, glad you like the chipping and weathering, thanks.
Hello Dennis, I've found it pays to try to follow the instructions on Tamiya builds as they can be pretty complex and it's easy to miss the optional parts. (Ask me how I know
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Ayup Pharty, thanks man. Glad you likey. Those Flying Fortresses are monsters are n't they? Recently saw the box in a model shop. Wow! You've got your work cut out mate but I'm confident you'll succeed. Go for it. Such an impressive chunk of plastic parts when they're built.
So I got back from my trip without too many problems but yesterday was a bust as I was too tired to see straight.
After a night's sleep I managed a little work on the Spit between this and that.
The photos show the results of stages 4, 5 and 6.



I had planned to create the dials on the IP from scratch using punched acetate and Airscale decals but I ran into a couple of issues.
Firstly the punch set I use has a limited number of pieces so there were a couple of instrument faces that were slightly the wrong size.
Secondly, I was having difficulty deciding which of the Airscale decals to use where. Although there is a list of the instruments in the pack, none of the dials looked the same as reference photos that I'm using. Additionally the decals seemed to be a bit large for the Tamiya IP.
The net result is that I ended up using the kit parts and I'm happy with the finished article. Once it's buried in the fuselage I think it should pass muster.
In parting for this update a quick snap of something I bought on my trip.

I'm not sure whether these are necessary but they certainly look good in the packet.
Thanks for taking a look. More when I can get to it. Next up, the seat and harnesses. I am going to eschew the kit parts in favour of aftermarket so a bit of research is in order.
Cheers.