Hi,
some progress with fuselage closed up and seams tidied up (I think - we'll see when the overall primer goes on). A common problem with short-run kits such as this is the variable thickness of the plastic that makes a first-attempt clean join quite difficult. I masked off the upper and lower fuselage seams to protect the nice fabric-over-frame to concentrate on the mid-line flat strip. The extreme rear of the fuselage where it meets the stern post, on upper surface, dipped slightly so that a test fit of the tail fin (lower edge straight) showed a gap. It may have been me being overkeen with sanding but it is worth looking out for. I built it up with my sprue/liquid glue paste and sanded it level.
A similar issue (variable thickness) is with the cowling that also has no supports - although it is actually pretty good and could be applied without any. I decided to add some small punched-out discs to help with the fit - these have to be glued one at a time with the cowling held flush with the main fuselage to ensure a fit. These won't interfere with the engine and can't be seen. The 'museum-quality' builders on the site won't like this though - you know who you are!
Third picture just shows the wing spar arrangement - the main receiving brass tube can be slid into place with a longer piece of the thinner tube inserted and a spot of glue to fix it.
One foul-up so far - the tailskid went AWOL somehow and I had to scratch one based on the kit's drawings.
Paint on soon.
Cheers,
GrahamB
