Category: General

Last week there was a very long build diary covering all of the work I had to carry out to catch up to where I should have been.

This week we focused on some of the interior of the model.  But as always first we begin with a picture of this week’s parts.

The first thing which I did was glue the metal parts together into subassemblies.  Including the six small metal panels which went onto the elevator.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take any photographs of the elevator this week, but these are the other metal subassemblies.

Next, I added rivet marks to the piece of “skin” which was to go on the underside of the starboard wing trailing edge.

Having done this I put all of the metal parts aside to be primed and painted later.

Then, I began putting together the flap corresponding to the same trailing edge as the skin.

First, I removed all of the pieces from the fret.

Then I put it all together.

And put it aside to be painted.

Next was building the stand for the hydraulic pumps which would be added to the model later.

I then modified the starboard wing trailing edge with two metal strips and two of the pieces from the fret with the flap to form a small triangular cut-out at the rear-inboard edge.

As you can see in the photo above I also masked off the assembly for painting.

Next came the most difficult part of this week’s construction.  The installation of the hydraulics required working in extremely tight confines.

So the decision was taken to remove the side of the section in question.

This made it somewhat easier to access the interior of the model.

I then put this section aside until I had finished painting the various subassemblies.

And then put some of the pieces together even further (Hydraulic pumps, doors, and rails and a parachute).

I next decided to place the doors into the rearmost fuselage.  The main problem was, how to hold them in place long enough to get both doors in?  I settled on creating a jig out of five cocktail sticks and an elastic band which can be seen here.

This provided a temporary ledge I could place the doors onto as the glue dried.

Then I installed an oxygen bottle and the four hand rails into the aft-most portion of the fuselage.

And a ladder into the area just above the door.

Making this section nearly complete (except for the turret, skin, a light and the two ammunition feeds).

I now installed the skin onto the wing trailing edge.

And finally moved onto installing the hydraulics for which I had removed the side of a section of fuselage.

And I placed the parachute behind the pilot’s position in the cockpit.

This brings us to the end of this week’s work.  I have left the side off of the model as there are several more additions to make to the hydraulics in that section before it’ll be complete.

Next week we’ll be adding the port-side vertical stabiliser and rudder, and adding an electrical panel and its attendant wiring to the cockpit.

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.

Last week we added the first piece of skin to the model.

This week, we began as ever by taking out all of the parts.

The first thing to be done is to take these parts:

And assemble them into the frame for the starboard side fuel tank cover.

Then I stuck together a few other pieces to finish all of the wooden assemblies for this week.

Next, I added rivet marks to the metal pieces (with the exception of the skin for the tank cover.

Following a great deal of filing to curve off two of the wooden blocks, I added rivet marks to one of them (very faint in this picture):

Before adding any metal components that were necessary.

I then set these pieces aside for painting and moved on to assembling the flare chute.

Following this was making some wiring, I had to strip the end of a wire, and tease apart the end as shown here.

Next, I added the stringers to the hatch cover:

Before using it as a template to mark out rivet lines on the skin to cover it (I forgot to take a photo here), and attaching the two smaller pieces to the frame between the fuselage and the inboard starboard engine.

Following this, I primed and painted all of the pieces which needed to be black.

And then all of the pieces which needed to be green.

Before adding colour where necessary.

Then, I added the wire I began preparing earlier.

I next moved on to placing the jack into the fuselage.

Followed by the divider.

Then I glued the flare chute into the aft most piece of fuselage, and attached the small panel to the frame above it, connecting pieces of wire to make it appear to be wired up.

And then added a flare.

Following that, I painted the two parachutes and the life raft with a mixture of paints.

Before placing the parachutes into their respective boxes.

The completed the assembly to the point where I could install the two metal plates, one of the parachutes, and two of the wooden assemblies into the bomb aimer’s position.

And the life raft and other parachute went in different parts of the fuselage.

Concluding the work for this week.

Next week we’ll be working on the port wing, including adding part of the skin to it.

Last week we finished up the undercarriage and painted some pieces to be put inside the model.

This week we will be building a second engine, assembling the small parts from last week and adding the first skin panel to the model.

To start with as always is the unpacking of the parts for this week’s build.

Before starting on the work proper by putting aside everything metal which needs painting and spraying the pieces with primer.

Whilst that was drying I moved on to marking up the skin panel for rivet lines, using the starboard wing trailing-edge section as a guide for where each row of rivets should be.

Then I did much the same with the smaller piece of skin which covers the life-raft using the frame which will be attached to the underside of the hatch (shown in the second picture).

Next, I moved on to assembling the main structure of the engine prior to painting.

Whilst I was waiting for the glue to dry I glued the bench/stool like piece built last week into its position inside the wing main-spar section of fuselage.

Before adding the large tank from the same set of pieces.

Whilst the glue was drying, I assembled most of the other parts from last week.

Then I glued the assembly into the fuselage.

And then installed the two small tanks.

The final action I took with last week’s parts was installing the partition wall (seen here before the glue had dried).

Then I built the port-side wing leading-edge.  The assembly was almost identical to the one of the starboard side component.

At this stage I took everything which needed to be painted interior green and applied an airbrush to them.

Then I masked off the interior of the skin and did the same with anything which needed painting black.

That done, I was able to complete assembly of the engine (having removed any excess paint).

And add the wing-root detail to the cockpit section on the port side.

Next I painted the life-raft pieces.

Before placing some inside their alcove, and gluing others to the hatch.

After testing that the hatch fit in place,

I attached the skin.

Before testing the fit again.

This brought this week’s work to a close.

Next week we’ll be building the starboard cover for the inboard fuel tank, and adding some more internal details.

Last week we started on the undercarriage.

This week we finish off the undercarriage and prepare some parts of the interior.

First Step as always is to get out and unpackage the parts for this week’s work, some parts of which are instantly recognisable.

The next thing I did was prepare all of the parts to be painted.  The most obvious of these were the parts for the interior of the model.  These had to be assembled as shown.

Then I primed everything that needed painting. I put aside anything that wasn’t part of the under carriage for later.

Then I painted the parts of the undercarriage black.

Then I removed any paint that wasn’t necessary to reveal the metal beneath.

Before adding a number of “Bolt heads” to some of the pieces.

Then came adding some wire to mimic the cables, the hardest part of which was tying the wire to the main assembly.

Then some black wire was added to mimic brake cables.

Next I had to attach the two short arms to the main assembly with a pair of screws.

Before connecting the whole thing to the arms installed last week.

Then I bolted the short arms from this week to the longer arms from last week.

Next, I put the smaller cross-brace into the two hollow arms installed last week, and then connected them to the main assembly with another pair of screws.

At the same time I added the square frame into the back of the undercarriage bay.

Then I added the “locks” at the corners of the main hinges to prevent the joints from over-extending.

Following this came the time consuming and delicate task of adding the cabling in the undercarriage bay.

The final stages of the undercarriage assembly involved putting a metal collar onto the axle bearing arms, and adding “bolt-heads” to the sides.

Before assembling the wheel, by inserting the hub, and then gluing on the two hub caps.

Next I took the two springs and bolts shown in this photograph:

And used them to secure the wheel.

Finally, I returned to the interior parts I set aside at the beginning of this diary, starting with a divider and a stand/bench.

First I removed them from their fret.

Before applying the green paint.  The wing training edge appearing here is a replacement for the original one, which the instructions told me to build back-to-front.  This new one actually matches up with the frames in the port wing.

And then added black, white and silver paint to the relevant sections.

Bringing us to this week’s conclusion.

Next week I’ll be building a second engine, the port-side wing leading edge, installing the pieces put together in this diary, and putting the first piece of skin on the model.