John1

Ok, I'm done channeling Mr. Jagger and knocking back some shots, so it's time to return to this build. 
 
Next up is the addition of the right-side cockpit side panel, which is a beautifully detailed 3D printed part purchased from one of the folks on the AH-64 Modelers FB page.  In early Apaches, this item was nothing more than just a solid panel covering (I assume) access to avionics behind the gunner's seat.  At some point in the life of the Delta version, combat experience dictated that an Emergency Locator Transmitter (ELT) and racks to stow the crew's M4 carbines be installed.   Both, presumably, to give a crew more of a chance of being rescued if they were unfortunate enough to come down in bad guy territory. 
 
Here's a nice picture of a Delta crew getting ready for a combat mission.  Note the ELT (located in the cut-out next to the "Do Not Grab" label) and crew's stowed M4's. 

 
When the Echo model, the version I'm building, came online, the shape of the ELT housing changed.   See below (sorry for the red markup, I grabbed this picture from an online source):

Note that these M4's are sans any of the fancy optics issued to infantry units.   Those items would get in the way of the stowage system, so these later M4's just have pop up "iron" sights (real men don't need optics anyway, as I keep telling myself since my personal weapon when I was in was an M16A2 with nothing but iron sights).
 
On the Echo kit, Takom got the shape of the ELT housing wrong.   They also neglected to provide the rifle racks.   So as mentioned, I've installed the aftermarket part along with the CP/G's M4.   I'm going to hold off on the pilot's M4 until I have the fuselage assembled.    One comment on the M4's I used.   They actually have the muzzle openings present.   Amazing detail, that is nearly impossible to see without a magnifier.   
 
Still waiting patiently for Werner Wing's Apache Stencil decal set so I can add the labels to the ELT unit, as well as the "Do Not Grab" warnings that are plastered all over the cockpit.    Only extra item I added was a sling for the M4, cut from lead foil taken from a bottle of wine.   Here's my humble progress so far:
 
 
Ignore the reddish tone to the seat cushions, it's due to light source.
 

 Not happy with the magazine on the M4.   Going to repaint it medium grey, per the examples above. 
 

The A/C "gasper" units on the real thing are a weird metallic purple-ish color.   I'm pretty pleased with how mine came out.  
 

The white ELT looks pretty stark but again, I expect that it will be covered with some decals when the long-awaited Werner's Wings set arrives. 
 
So that's it for tonight guys.   I'm going to have another shot and listen to some Rolling Stones.    Thanks for checking in! 

Cockpit is getting there.   Added the CP/G's instrument panel and did some touchup paintwork.   Dialed back the pastels a bit.   
 

 

 

Also added some details to the port sidewalls of the cockpit.  The kit parts are pretty featureless, so I added some structural details, the CP/G's Grimes light with it's coiled cord, that yellow switch panel and some extra wiring.   Not my best work but it adds a nice level of clutter into the cockpit. 
 

 

 

Cockpit is coming together.  It's amazing how much work one can get done on a weekend when it's just me and my Chocolate Lab left in the house!   Crew seats are installed, I also added a few more cables from small diameter lead wire.    The cockpit looks pretty monotone in these pictures, you'll just have to trust me that it's not quite that bad in RL. 
 
Pre seat installation.   The good thing about pastels is that I can dial back the dust level quite easily. 

 
Given that GPS jamming is pretty common these days, I decided to provide my crew with an old-school map (in the PE mesh pocket by the pilots left leg).

 

 

 
That's it for now. 

Work continues.    I've added more of the cockpit upgrade parts.   One area the kit got wrong (aside from the lack of A/C ducts and other small details) is that the pilot's foot wells are open on the real helo and not sealed off with a bulkhead as provided by the kit.    Here's a pic of the real thing, just note that this is a D-model, which has a different, bulkier, helmet tracking sensor system (the two grey housings next to the A/C "gaspers").   The Echo just has one, much smaller sensor.   The avionics box in the open bay, the A/C system and the framework they are mounted on are all provided in the upgrade set (along with the M4 rifle rack and emergency radio housing shown in this picture). 

 
So here is where I'm at.    The kit just provides a plate to cover the opening in the bulkhead.   

 

 

I added the cable running out of the storage bin for the pilot's helmet mounted sight on the right-hand console.    IP and side consoles are from Quinta.
 
Hard to get good pictures of these parts in natural lighting when everything is pretty much 50 shades of black.

 
That's it for now, all comments / critiques are welcome. 

Started work on the cockpit.    The seats in the kit are "decent".   However, the PE belts that come with the kit are crap.  Quinta's decal set includes a full set of harnesses but they are completely straight and (IMO) nothing looks more artificial than an aircraft with perfectly aligned seatbelts on every crew seat.    I opted for Eduard's new harness set.   Nothing special about them but they get the job done.   Aside from that, I used Quinta's decals for the seat cushions.   They add a bit of texture that's present on the real thing, see below:

Note - these seats are for use in similulators so there are a few minor differences (such as the box below the seat that isn't present on the real thing.   The real thing's cushions also tend to fade to a weird purplish-grey color in some cases.   

 
Here are my initial attempts at the seats.

 

I ended up using RLM75 for the cushions. Seemed to be a decent match.    The remainder of the seat is Tamiya NATO Black with some bits picked out in ModelMaster Acrylic Interior Black (my favorite blackcolor) and Semi-Gloss / Flat Black.   
 
Also started prepping the 3-D cockpit correction / upgrade set.   A quality set of cuticle scissors is absolutely critical for this work (although the material used is surprisingly durable). 

 
Here's the aft bulkhead being prep'd for some of the parts above. This included cutting off the basic molded on electrical wiring and duct work.   The electrical wiring will be replaced by lead wire, the ductwork on the kit part is inaccurate.  Most of the ducting on the real thing is behind a fabric cover, the kit also neglects to include the prominent outlets.   You can see one of the replacement parts in the picture below.   

 
That's it for now, thanks for checking in. 

This is going to be a less involved build than my previous ones (F4U-1D, F-51D, Mosquito FB.VI, P-47D and AH-1G).   In this case, I don't have direct personal interest in the particular subject so I won't be taking a very deep dive into the real thing.      My only personal connection to the Apache is that I was once an Army grunt and always enjoyed flying (as self-loading cargo) in the back of Hueys (for a very brief time when I first got in) and Blackhawks.     The Apache is the latest Army Aviation subject I've built.    The rest of the "family" consists of:
 
The Ultimate Army helo, the classic UH-1H Huey.

 
Next up, one of the very first "Littlebirds" in service with the 160th "Nightstalkers". 

 
After that is Apache's scouting teammate for a couple of decades, the OH-58D Kiowa Warrior.

 
Lastly, the Apache's Grandfather, the AH-1G Cobra. 

 
So now I'm onto the Apache.   I'll be modeling a current version of the Apache, the AH-64E V.6 Apache Guardian.    This helo has all the latest bells and whistles including much improved night vision equipment and most notably - the ability to directly control UAV's (drones) and flow the UAV's sensor feeds directly into the Apache's cockpit, as well as to other aircraft and ground units.  It's truly a revolutionary capability.    For those interested, here is a rundown of the new features included in the V6.

 
One reason why I'm looking forward to this build is that I finally get a chance to try to replicate the horribly weathered look of these helos (especially when they are deployed).    Who says US army helicopters are just a boring overall dark green?

 

Makes late-war Luftwaffe paint jobs positively boring by comparison. 
 
So, from a modeling perspective, right now I'll be using the following aftermarket items:
 - Quinta's full cockpit set.
- Eduard's newly released cockpit seatbelt set. 
- 3D printed parts courtesy of Simone Plai of Italy.   These include his cockpit correction / upgrade set, a couple of M4 carbines, much improved SATCOM "eggbeater" antennas and air data sensors. 
- 3D printed parts courtesy of Shane Bezembinder of Australia.   These include a fantastically molded countermeasures control panel that was added in RL to the pilot's glareshield, Hellfire seeker heads, anti-collision light housings and much improved rockets / rocket pod faces. 
 
More about all these bits later.   I may also add some other 3D printed parts as they (hopefully) become available.  The list may include SPIKE long range missiles (currently being added to US Army Apaches) and the new version "R2D2" UAV control antenna mounted on the rotor hub.
 
Lastly, I'll be going with aftermarket decals.   Right now, Werner's Wings has announced a complete stencil set for the Apache (the kit decals are pretty bad) which I'll be getting.   Werner's Wings and Caracal Decals have also announced decals sets for this kit.   My purchase will be based on whatever subject looks the "coolest" and represents a later version Echo model. 
 
That's it for now.   Sorry for the extremely long-winded kickoff post.   I'll be back to show some actual plastic shortly.  

Thanks Shayne, hope you get on with your build, it looks awesome so far.  
 
Quick update on mine.   I'm simply doing small sub-assemblies right now, killing time until Werner's Wing's gets around to releasing their decal set.    I need to get the decals on my helo before I start the final assembly.   So far, no progress from W-W, same status as 4 months ago - the artist is still working on it.   At this point, I'm now leaning towards passing on the W-W decals and just wrapping up this kit using the Caracal ones, even though they only have a very limited stencil selection and none of their subjects really jumps out at me.    We'll see. 
 
Anyhoo, first mini project were the countermeasure dispensers.  No extra details added to the kit parts, they are very accurate and don't need much, if anything added.   Originally, the Apache simply had a chaff dispenser and an ALQ-144 "Disco Light" IR countermeasure lamp fitted.   Multiple losses to modern MANPADS during the Iraq conflict showed that the -144 wasn't able to decoy modern IR-guided missiles.   The solution was to remove the Disco Light, add two flare dispensers on the tailboom and connect them to the missile warning system so that they would automatically deploy a "cocktail" of different flares when an incoming SAM was detected.   This system seemed to do a good job of minimizing shootdowns.   Here's a picture of the real thing.
 

 
Here's a great reference that was posted over on the Apache Builders FB page by a kind gent.   Shows the various types of flares and how they are loaded in the dispensers.   Each flare gives off a different infra-red signature, for optimum effectiveness against modern SAMs. 

 
Here are my dispensers.   I'm just missing the warning placards that go on them.    The middle dispenser is loaded with chaff cartridges.  

 
So that's it for now.   Thanks for checking in guys! 
 
 

Bringing this build back from the dead.   Haven't been able to do much until Werner's Wings finally releases their decals (sounds like they may be out around Christmas time).   I did complete the tail rotor assembly.   Very complicated build.  Lots of small parts that you need to precisely align and again, the crappy instructions were of very little use. 
 

 

 
Also received a package from Italy.   Wonderfully 3D printed accessories.    Late style weapons pylons, 110 gal external tanks (the detail here is amazing, you can actually make out the carbon fiber surface on these tanks) and the MUMT-X rotor hub antenna housing.   Amazing quality here, this really is the future of aftermarket bits. 
 

 
That's it for now, hopefully I can finally wrap this build up once we get into the new year.     In the meantime, I've got my UH-60L build to keep me entertained.   
 
Thanks for checking in! 

Next mini-update - the rotor head.    This thing takes quite a while to build up.   Many tiny plastic and PE parts, surprisingly none of which I lost!   Looking at the reference pictures, it seems that Takom did a nice job here.  All the features of the real thing are captured, only parts I added were wires that run from the hub to each individual rotor extension.   
 

 

 
A note on the colors, the actual paint on the hub (and the model itself) is darker than what shows in these pictures.   Also, after looking at pictures of the real thing, I toned down the brown edges on those "plates".   I went over the paint with a dark brown "Sharpie" marker and they now look more accurate.  
 
That's it for now, thanks for dropping in! 

So the wait for Werner's Wings decals continues into 2024.   In the meantime, I figured I'd pick away at some of the 3d printed parts that just arrived.    First up is the bizarre looking MUMT-X antenna housing.   I think I mentioned it previously, but this is housing is a brand-new addition to the Apache.   It allows the Apache crew to remotely control large UAV's from extended distances (upwards of 50KM or more from what I've read).   Supposed to be a game changer, as in addition to controlling the flight path and sensors, Apache crews can now employ the UAV's weapons as well.   It's definitely an interesting looking rig. 
 

 
The picture above shows the basic MUMT-X housing.   These Apaches are also receiving yet another piece of kit as well.  It's a radio receiver set that mounts to the front and rear of the basic cylindrical housing.   This rig allows high quality direction finding of threat radar / radio signals.   The Apache can now precisely locate a threat emitter and either engage it, send the location to another Apache (or an Army HIMARS system or an AF jet) via data link or employee a nearby UAV to target the threat.    This system is also mounted on Longbow radar equipped Apaches.   The latest version is called the AN/APR-48B. 

 
Anyway, enough of the background info.   The MUMT-X antenna I received is wonderfully detailed.   It comes with complete with the exterior cables.    Pretty basic assembly, I painted the main antenna in Helo Drab and the two AN/APR boxes in NATO Green.  Most of the pics I've seen of the real thing show them to be a lighter greenish shade.  To that, I added a placard from my scrap decal stash, picked out some nuts and bolts in a darkish metal color and called it a day.   
 

 

 

 
So that's it for today.  Hope everyone has a safe, happy and productive 2024! 
 
John

Riveting is completed.   I've got nothing but good things to say about those Archer decals.   I applied them to unpainted plastic, flat painted surfaces, whatever.   They stuck perfectly and after a quick dab of Micro Sol, the carrier film disappeared.    Very resistant to handling as well.   These things are great.   I added a few solder balls to areas that were impractical for decals.   In retrospect though, I should have done the entire fuselage in decals.  would have been much quicker.   Oh well, maybe on the next kit (NOT!). 
 
Note also that I modified the aft trailing edge to represent the later style shape with the Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) sensors added.   These were introduced in the 2006-2007 time frame after Blackhawks began taking losses to MANPADS in Iraq. 

 
After that, a quick paint job on the vertical stab.   I also very lightly hit the "United States Army" markings with a dusting of green OD to tone down the starkness of the black.   I really wish decal manufactures would go with a very dark grey color for these markings, straight black just doesn't look realistic.   After that, I applied the tail markings.    Werner's Wings got the serial number wrong.   On the real thing, it's Gunship Grey, not white.   Not much I can do about it.   They also left off the subdued 101st Airborne division patch on the nose.   Thankfully a kind ex-Blackhawk crew chief over on FB send me the marking, which was contained on the Academy UH-60L decal sheet.    I'm really impressed by the support I'm getting over on FB.  
 

 

 

 
Note the overpainted United States Army marking isn't quite as stark compared to the picture above and the newly applied markins on the tail.   I'll get the tail markings overpainted next.   

 
Next up will be to add some last details to the cockpit and get the windshield and crew chief's windows installed.   

Wonder if they just sprayed OD over the bombs with the clamps in place and the rings are just exposed primer?

Riveting is completed.   I've got nothing but good things to say about those Archer decals.   I applied them to unpainted plastic, flat painted surfaces, whatever.   They stuck perfectly and after a quick dab of Micro Sol, the carrier film disappeared.    Very resistant to handling as well.   These things are great.   I added a few solder balls to areas that were impractical for decals.   In retrospect though, I should have done the entire fuselage in decals.  would have been much quicker.   Oh well, maybe on the next kit (NOT!). 
 
Note also that I modified the aft trailing edge to represent the later style shape with the Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) sensors added.   These were introduced in the 2006-2007 time frame after Blackhawks began taking losses to MANPADS in Iraq. 

 
After that, a quick paint job on the vertical stab.   I also very lightly hit the "United States Army" markings with a dusting of green OD to tone down the starkness of the black.   I really wish decal manufactures would go with a very dark grey color for these markings, straight black just doesn't look realistic.   After that, I applied the tail markings.    Werner's Wings got the serial number wrong.   On the real thing, it's Gunship Grey, not white.   Not much I can do about it.   They also left off the subdued 101st Airborne division patch on the nose.   Thankfully a kind ex-Blackhawk crew chief over on FB send me the marking, which was contained on the Academy UH-60L decal sheet.    I'm really impressed by the support I'm getting over on FB.  
 

 

 

 
Note the overpainted United States Army marking isn't quite as stark compared to the picture above and the newly applied markins on the tail.   I'll get the tail markings overpainted next.   

 
Next up will be to add some last details to the cockpit and get the windshield and crew chief's windows installed.   

Riveting is completed.   I've got nothing but good things to say about those Archer decals.   I applied them to unpainted plastic, flat painted surfaces, whatever.   They stuck perfectly and after a quick dab of Micro Sol, the carrier film disappeared.    Very resistant to handling as well.   These things are great.   I added a few solder balls to areas that were impractical for decals.   In retrospect though, I should have done the entire fuselage in decals.  would have been much quicker.   Oh well, maybe on the next kit (NOT!). 
 
Note also that I modified the aft trailing edge to represent the later style shape with the Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) sensors added.   These were introduced in the 2006-2007 time frame after Blackhawks began taking losses to MANPADS in Iraq. 

 
After that, a quick paint job on the vertical stab.   I also very lightly hit the "United States Army" markings with a dusting of green OD to tone down the starkness of the black.   I really wish decal manufactures would go with a very dark grey color for these markings, straight black just doesn't look realistic.   After that, I applied the tail markings.    Werner's Wings got the serial number wrong.   On the real thing, it's Gunship Grey, not white.   Not much I can do about it.   They also left off the subdued 101st Airborne division patch on the nose.   Thankfully a kind ex-Blackhawk crew chief over on FB send me the marking, which was contained on the Academy UH-60L decal sheet.    I'm really impressed by the support I'm getting over on FB.  
 

 

 

 
Note the overpainted United States Army marking isn't quite as stark compared to the picture above and the newly applied markins on the tail.   I'll get the tail markings overpainted next.   

 
Next up will be to add some last details to the cockpit and get the windshield and crew chief's windows installed.   

Though I have not posted any updates recently, I have been either researching or testing techniques on mockups.  After a lot of reading about how running rigging actually worked, and then testing some ideas over several bench sessions, I finally arrived at the stage where I feel like I can put the sails on the yards and then either rig to show them brailed or clewed up, or deployed to catch the wind.  Following is the Mizzen Royal sail, that I have rigged clewed up.
 
Detail shot of part of the sail "bent" to the yard.  Due to the scale it is not possible to bend sails to the yards as they would have actually been, so I used a 
technique I learned from a very good sailing ship modeler.  Though I did not get everything perfect it actually looks pretty good when the entire process is
complete - IMHO that is!
 
This poor shot shows the two different lines that were either attached to the lower corners of smaller sails, such a Royals; or blocks positioned at the lower
corners of larger sails.  The smaller line on this sail will be run through the clew block and the larger line will be run through a pair of blocks on the Topgallant yard below the Royal sail. 
 
The lines in place.  On actual ships they work in together as we shall see.
 
Ok stupid me, ignore the image above, below is the correct one.  The small frays will not be seen once I have clewed the sail up.  For sails that will be displayed
as deployed I will have to make sure I get them cleaned up.
 
An example of how this part of the running rigging works.  I have pulled on the clew line (the smaller one) to bring the corner of the sail towards the center of the 
yard.  The heavier lower would have been slackened on real ships to allow the sail to be clewed up.  The process was reversed when the sail was deployed.  
 
Though I still need to make some adjustments to the footropes, and do some minor forming of the sail, it has now been "clewed up" just as it would have
been on sailing ships of the day.  I brushed on watered down white glue so that I could shape the sail and also stiffen it in place when dry.  I then bunched it 
as would have been done on an actual ship and tied off what were known as long reef lines to finalize the placement.  I made sure to keep the two rigging
lines clear as they will be run down to their respective location on belay pins and tied off later on.
  
Photo of the front.  Again, I did not do a perfect job here, but I think it looks the part.  I still need to do some minor cleaning up and shaping, but this Royal
sail is almost done.
 
I plan to do the Main and Fore Royals next.  The huge challenge is going to be "brailing up" the Main and Fore Courses as there are a lot more moving parts and the yards are much more crowded than the Royal yards.  Keeping my fingers crossed I am up to the challenge.
 
Ernest

Funny you mention this... the thought of converting to a late double windergarden platform crossed my mind.
Downside to that is that most of these late war U-boat lost the 88mm forward gun from 1943 onward, at least those operating in the Atlantic. And imho the 88mm (105mm on Type IX) are quite a U-boat feature. Maybe that's why most of the models are for early war U-boat.
But I agree with you, they look much more interesting. 

Wonder if they just sprayed OD over the bombs with the clamps in place and the rings are just exposed primer?

HTH... 

Riveting is completed.   I've got nothing but good things to say about those Archer decals.   I applied them to unpainted plastic, flat painted surfaces, whatever.   They stuck perfectly and after a quick dab of Micro Sol, the carrier film disappeared.    Very resistant to handling as well.   These things are great.   I added a few solder balls to areas that were impractical for decals.   In retrospect though, I should have done the entire fuselage in decals.  would have been much quicker.   Oh well, maybe on the next kit (NOT!). 
 
Note also that I modified the aft trailing edge to represent the later style shape with the Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) sensors added.   These were introduced in the 2006-2007 time frame after Blackhawks began taking losses to MANPADS in Iraq. 

 
After that, a quick paint job on the vertical stab.   I also very lightly hit the "United States Army" markings with a dusting of green OD to tone down the starkness of the black.   I really wish decal manufactures would go with a very dark grey color for these markings, straight black just doesn't look realistic.   After that, I applied the tail markings.    Werner's Wings got the serial number wrong.   On the real thing, it's Gunship Grey, not white.   Not much I can do about it.   They also left off the subdued 101st Airborne division patch on the nose.   Thankfully a kind ex-Blackhawk crew chief over on FB send me the marking, which was contained on the Academy UH-60L decal sheet.    I'm really impressed by the support I'm getting over on FB.  
 

 

 

 
Note the overpainted United States Army marking isn't quite as stark compared to the picture above and the newly applied markins on the tail.   I'll get the tail markings overpainted next.   

 
Next up will be to add some last details to the cockpit and get the windshield and crew chief's windows installed.   

With the rear deck now thoroughly affixed, glass fit is perfect. Yay!!!
 

 
Waiting until the head armor was painted, may have been an error, as some sources say this area is the same interior green as used in the ‘pit.
 

Not much over the weekend. Cone finally blue-white. There are also period photos where it is white. The brake hoses are still missing on the chassis kegs.
 
 
 
 

Riveting is completed.   I've got nothing but good things to say about those Archer decals.   I applied them to unpainted plastic, flat painted surfaces, whatever.   They stuck perfectly and after a quick dab of Micro Sol, the carrier film disappeared.    Very resistant to handling as well.   These things are great.   I added a few solder balls to areas that were impractical for decals.   In retrospect though, I should have done the entire fuselage in decals.  would have been much quicker.   Oh well, maybe on the next kit (NOT!). 
 
Note also that I modified the aft trailing edge to represent the later style shape with the Common Missile Warning System (CMWS) sensors added.   These were introduced in the 2006-2007 time frame after Blackhawks began taking losses to MANPADS in Iraq. 

 
After that, a quick paint job on the vertical stab.   I also very lightly hit the "United States Army" markings with a dusting of green OD to tone down the starkness of the black.   I really wish decal manufactures would go with a very dark grey color for these markings, straight black just doesn't look realistic.   After that, I applied the tail markings.    Werner's Wings got the serial number wrong.   On the real thing, it's Gunship Grey, not white.   Not much I can do about it.   They also left off the subdued 101st Airborne division patch on the nose.   Thankfully a kind ex-Blackhawk crew chief over on FB send me the marking, which was contained on the Academy UH-60L decal sheet.    I'm really impressed by the support I'm getting over on FB.  
 

 

 

 
Note the overpainted United States Army marking isn't quite as stark compared to the picture above and the newly applied markins on the tail.   I'll get the tail markings overpainted next.   

 
Next up will be to add some last details to the cockpit and get the windshield and crew chief's windows installed.   

Glad you're still at it Anothony!  Nice work.  

I'm back after a bit of a hiatus.  Between a wonderful vacation in London and work being somewhat demanding, I haven't had much time for modeling.   What little time I did have was devoted to continuing to dress out the cockpit.   My main focus has been on the fixed-mid section of the canopy.  Lot of details in this area.  Pretty much a rats nest of wires and general clutter.    A few bits stand out.  Note the cylindrical "bellows" pointing upwards.  This was a flexible fitting that sealed against a similar mating surface on the canopy.   It was the pressurized air connection to pneumatically seal the canopies.   Also note the grey cylinder mounted next to it.   This was connected to a yellow handle in the WSO's cockpit, which allowed the WSO to command eject both him and his pilot.   

 
Here's another shot of this area.   Note the two openings in the frame.   The Tamiya part was molded solid.   

 
Here's the backside of the WSO's cockpit.  In this case, note that the canopy seal "bellows" is installed on the underside of the canopy and the flat mating surface is mounted on the bulkhead.   The opposite of the pilot's set up.   Also note the oval lightening hole at the top of the bulkhead, this was molded solid on the kit part.   Note also the yellowish canopy jettison handle peaking through the small side window. 

 
I spent a hell of a long time on this area.   First off, I drilled / carved out the lightening holes that I noted above.   I then boxed in the upper bow of the roof with sheet styrene.   After that, it was pretty much just adding all the details that I could squeeze into this area.   The Quinta set provided a few instruments for the upper bow in the WSO's cockpit.   I scratchbuilt the canopy inflation seal bellows and mating surfaces with various diameters of styrene rod and PE.   Wiring was added using flexible lead wire and some stretched sprue.       Here's how it looks.  Still have additional wiring and a few small details to add.  I'd say it's about 90% completed.
 

 

 

 

 

Not quite happy with the paint chipping on the upper intakes and canopy sills.   This area was heavily weathered but I think I'll still do a few tweaks here.   
 
And a final overall shot.  

 
Thats it for now, as always, thanks very much for check in.