Well lots more progress has been made though not too much to show, a lot of it involved sorting out final positioning of things, plus I rebuilt the Pave-Gat!
I spent quite a lot of time trying to figure out how the new cockpit was going to fit and how the canopy would fit.
So once the general position of the cockpit was worked out cuts were made for where it was going to sit, I didn’t need to change these. The height was the issue, as I wanted the canopy to be quite low and not appear to have been “stick on”!! I was lucky in still having two bulkheads still in place, so these were shortened as required until the cockpit sat just right.
The canopy for sometime had worried me as I like the look of it but the frame profile was all wrong, it had quite a pronounced curve on it (to match the B-57’s nose profile).
But I didn’t need or want this, I wanted an almost straight frame. So out with the scalpel and nail-polishing file and off to work we went (plus a quick dip in some oven-cleaner to remove paint). I now have a canopy free of framework and pretty clear and scratch free. Just needs a quick going over with 12000-grit micro-fibre, polish, and a dip on acrylic floor polish and she’s done. I can now have the framework I need to suit the fuselage profile.
Ok the engines were fitted next, they went on trouble free, though I did use lots of thin CA glue and accelerator. This made the join cleaning up process a breeze with very little filler required.
Next was the cut-out for the Pave-Gat, I probably should have done this before I fitted the engines as it would have made the process a bit easier, but…… I faired off the rear section just so it didn’t quite act like a brick. The gun platform is fixed, so this is a permanent modification, the rear section of the bomb bay is now an additional fuel tank.
Ok the Pave-Gat itself, as mentioned I was quite happy with the look of it after reviewing the drawings and photo. So I pulled it all apart and gave it proper 2 axis movement, as it should have had. It looks much better now and a bit closer to the actual unit. The initial coat of paint looks a bit sad but it’s just an undercoat.
It does look pretty cool once fitted but there is one issue! Unless the aircraft is really moving quick there is a chance that ejected shells could hit and damage the port engine, so an additional strengthening plate has been added to that engine. Good old aussie engineering at work!
The bodywork is now pretty well completed, I just need to finish painting the cockpit and fit. The work required to profile and fit the canopy is quite minor compared to what has been done! The wings will be next, they just need to fit smoothly, no filling required, because the wings or the real ones could vary their incidences. The tail will be the last piece to be fitted, as that would be the first piece I’d knock off!! Plus I have started painting up undercarriage and engine bits.
Gosh at this rate I’ll be finished soon, then what would I do!