Another one I've had on the severely cluttered bench is the old Heller W.U.A. (World's Ugliest Aircraft), Amiot 143. Originally thought about doing it as a civilian sight-seeing bird, all those windows would make it ideal. But then another idea took hold; pressed into service as an anti-submarine/maritime patrol aircraft. Interior, non-existent in the kit, has been cobbled together with various lumps of plastic and significant quantities of imagination, including the downstairs copilot's (Yes, really!) seat, and his control column hanging from the ceiling. Again, really. The French were... different that way.
Tonight I finally got the two halves together, and found out what I thought I would find - the fit could be better. Much better. Might have been better if Heller had designed the fuselage as a set of sub-assemblies instead of just two large chunks of port and starboard. Scheme will be sort of a standard sea grey over white, done with a hairy stick because it leaves the sort of rough appearance that many maritime aircraft devolved into after flying over, in, and near, salt spray.
Lot more painting and cursing to do on this, but the end is in sight. Armee de l'Aire, or Aeronavale? Probably the first, because trying to find the anchor to go over the unadorned fin flash would be an exercise in futility, and making them myself would just lead to more grey hairs. If I have any left that aren't.
