ErikP

Gotta love the internet! I have been eyeing up other's builds of this kit and have been in awe myself. Motivation!

Ok gentlemen, sorry I have been away. Another week in the books. Starting off with a few photos again. Here we have the back cockpit wall with some slight modifications. Eduard photo etch hydraulic mounts installed and kit accumulator and tank added. I decided to use the kit parts after all but slightly modified them. Here is a shot of just the photo etch and styrene modifications And of the turtle deck cockpit roof. wiring to be added as soon as I research where the wires were routed specifically. I do know that a few went along the top of the windscreen and down the pilot's side to the IP but the majority of them ran along the roof back towards the top turret. Any info on this would be greatly appreciated! More to follow

Thank you for the kind words gentleman! Unfortunately I am working the very hated second crew this week so progress has been slow. I have added the basic detailing to the front side of station 4. Will snap a few pics of the progress if I can stay awake long enough.

Very nice work indeed mate! Just be aware that you can add up to 10 images per post, so there's no need to start a new post for each new image - only necessary when you get to number 11! Kev Thanks Kev, with Iain's help, I was finally able to just get the pics coming! I promise I will master this to minimize space but keep things coming along!

Thank you so much gentleman! these are all the pics I have for now and hope to have the station 4 details sorted out to round out the cockpit! I too am still contemplating how I shall do the wiring harnesses. some will be done pre fuselage close up and some will be done post as in the cockpit area. I plan to full detail the underside of the pit as the front crew access hatch will be open! I have detailed 48 scale forts pretty close to this level but in 32nd, I can really go nuts and it should be way more visible than in 48. Thank you again and will keep the pics coming as I sling more styrene!

A few pre painting shots of the bombardier station

Sorry about the bouncing around but this photo shows the chin turret drive before painting

The lever bank has been repositioned closer to the fuselage and slightly back towards the bomb panel shortly after this picture was taken

Back to the nose. Scratch built the chin turret drive mechanism.

The cockpit sidewalls have been moved out and the angle of the lower wall has been increased. Now, a small portion of the fuselage curvature will be seen above the walls as per the original. I have read the posts on the inaccuracies of the kit and I can live with most but this is one I had to fix. Wiring harnesses abound this area and will be added before the turtle deck goes on

Bird's eye view showing the Uschi wood grain decals to good effect. washes and more weathering to come. I am waiting for my Kits-World stencil decals to arrive to doll up the seat cushions with the appropriate markings

Head on view. Rudder pedals were modified kit parts. Seen on the co-pilot's side is the scratched up manual hydraulic pump handle

Plumbing added to the hydraulics. The tails will be plumbed into the hydraulic accumulator and reservoirs on station 4 once detailing and modifications have been made. Also barely visible under the seat frames are the inverter motors.

The hydraulic panel was scratched up using small components from the spares box and the pump motor is actually a modified HO scale freight car brake piston!

Cockpit progress photos

Washes to be added. Silver zig zag piece is the heating duct to which the bombsight heater hose will also be added. The .50 cal is the Aires waist mount with Eduard photo etch and a few kit parts added for realism

Still a lot of detail to go. Have to add the oxygen lines and wiring harnesses. Also to be added is the nose gun spring and pulley system

Scratching up the airframe. It is not crooked in person. Plus my photo skills are very lacking.

Looking forward into bay. The gear motor will be installed when the gear has been installed. Also, the sheen will be dull coated

Looking rear ward into bay

completed gear bay. Barely visible in the photo is the engine control cables and the manual gear extension crank shaft

The white on the oil tank is Squadron white putty which was painted black to simulate the self sealing bladder over the metal tank