Hi all - progress has been slow, but ongoing... I have kept my focus in the engine bay for now.
The kit engine is mounted on a "C" shaped flat piece of plastic. I decided to trim the back end of this piece off, and make up some formers to sit around the engine bearers. I didn't add too much detail here, as much of this will be hidden.
I now had all of the basic formers in place:
The kit models the front of the fuselage as fully closed off behind the spinner, whereas this area was open on the real aircraft. I thus removed the plastic at the front end and thinned the walls down with a dremel.
Next, I fashioned the small tank that sits next to the engine, using an offcut from the kit sprue sanded to shape:
I added some bearers to the rear engine bay former for the guns:
...and then fashioned the fuel tanks out of laminates of plastic, with a couple of details added:
And with the kit ammo boxes:
I now have all of the essential components needed for the engine bay. It's all starting to take shape...
Cheers!
BC
