I am sorry that there has been such a long gap since the last entry. I had some scheduled leave and I also made a fairly colossal error in the early stages of week 11s build. To try and make up for the hiatus, I’ve worked hard to catch up to where we should be at this stage.
As a reminder, this is where we were at the end of diary 10;
Having put in the flare chute, the jack, a couple of parachutes and a life raft.
This time we had these three sets of pieces;
First: the skin for the top-side of the port wing, another cover for a fuel tank, the parts to make a flap, and some internal details including the Elsan toilet, first aid kit and a parachute.
Second: the parts for the port-side horizontal stabiliser (tail plane), and the attached elevator, the air vent to go behind the wing leading edge on the port side, and internal details including a pair of fire axes, equipment pouches, and a compass.
Finally: the parts to make the port aileron, the skin for the elevator, flap and port wing trailing edge, and an ammunition box and tool box for the interior.
Clearly, a lot to do.
First, I started by taking the parts for the flap,
And assembled them using the jig provided (seen here partially removed).
Next I did the same with the frame for the port fuel tank cover.
Before adding stringers to both of the pieces.
Then I began on the most troublesome part of this build, preparing the three panels for the top of the wing. This is where troubles arose that led to a significant delay for this build diary, as I had to start again.
First, I used masking tape to position the three sheets in the correct places and secured them to one another.
Then I used the locations of the frames and stringers to mark out where rivet lines should be.
Before applying the rivet lines.
I then set these pieces aside until I could paint them.
Next, I attached the strips of metal with holes in to the proper places on both the wing and the flap.
Before attaching the hinges.
Then I inserted the metal details into the wing leading edge assembled in the previous diary.
And proceeded to assemble the metal and resin parts which needed gluing together.
Next, I began work on the tail-plane, removing the parts from the fret.
Before assembling them.
Then doing the same with the parts for the elevator.
I couldn’t resist putting the tail-plane/elevator assembly together for a dry-fit at this stage.
Then, I built the elevator.
Before adding stringers to the tail-plane, elevator, and aileron.
Next, I assembled the ammunition case and set it aside to be painted.
Skinned the flap,
And the elevator.
Before, finally painting every component.
Then, I placed the strip of bullets into the ammunition box before setting it aside for the immediate future.
Before assembling the “internal decorations”
And adding them to the interior of the model (the screwdriver is unfortunately not visible in the fifth picture).
Following that, I added the air-duct and wiring to the interior of the port-side wing leading edge. This time I got a better result due to braiding the metal thread first to straighten it.
Finally, I moved on to adding the skin to the wing and trailing-edge
Bringing us to the conclusion of this week’s build diary (the build is now more than half-way through the instructions).
Next week we’ll be adding the door to the rear turret amongst other internal details.