Nighthawk Calling 1

Hi John, The access panel on the front of the top cowling is to gain access to the coolant headed tank so it can be refilled and topped up.

Thanks Dekon, It's not a bad kit with no surprises so far. Have fun building yours. Stuart

Update the engine is coming back together and has had a coat of silver and then a light coat of black to give it a bit of depth and highlight the detail. This image shows the start of the cockpit, the raised detail has been removed and some of the recessed detail filled in preparation for the Quinta Studio set, the top side panels are now black. internal structure and tail wheel bay in place in the fuselage and the main undercarriage bays in the wing. And finally some of the ordnance made up along with the firewall and engine bearer. Thanks for looking enjoy the rest of the weekend.

Great work so far on correcting all the issues with the kit. The A26 was the best looking of the medium bombers that the US produced during the war. Looking forward to seeing your progress and the finished model.

Looks fabulous congratulations.

She’s looking good Duke.

Nice recovery John.

Your build Sir is fantastic I remember seeing these at Alconbury once, they came to train with the F5E's, such a great looking jet. Looking forward to seeing it finish.

Looking forward to seeing this progress,happy modeling.

Peter Those legs are an outstanding piece of engineering, congratulations.

So this is the state of the engine after last weekend catastrophe with the paint and its removal this is where I am at with it rebuild, The four cylinders have been repaired and glued back on to the center casing, next up the rocker cover and then fix the oil tubes. It doesn't look so bad, now the cylinder are back on, the main thing will be to get the oil tube ring on correctly as it aligns the engine. I just want to say thanks for all the input so far it has been interesting to read and help with final makings.

Great looking cockpit. That camo is just mad, going to follow for sure

So not the best weekend of modelling. Saturday I primed the engine grey with the usual paint only to see it go like sandpaper, I’m not sure what went wrong, anyway it needed stripping and repainting. You what they say “ one step forwards two back” this felt like 10, in the process of stripping the paint I managed to brake off 4 cylinders, the the back row developed a crack across the back of the part. All but 4 of the rockers came away at one point I had more parts than the kit started with. So at present the engine is under major repair. I suppose the saving grace is that it will be hidden in the cowling in the end.

I did think that the Grey was odd. I did not know that it was a State side aeroplane, may have to look into it more.

No, so not authentic then. Still very smart.