Bud, Rick and Lance, thanks for the comments, and sorry for the long delay in responding.
I thought I'd post a quick picture to show that I have, in fact, been slowly chugging along on this:
Lots of work, but not too many additional steps completed. Fuselage is closed up and the center seams have been filled, sanded and primed (the black in the photo above.) I won't say I won that battle, but I've at least beaten them into modest submission. I painted the leather and grey metal work before installing the cockpit assembly, which went in this evening. I will need to do a bit of work to get the join where the cockpit floor and fuselage meet smoothed out, but I'll let things dry overnight first. The wooden gunnery deck is just sitting in place for the moment.
In addition to the exhausts and crank case, I have painted all of the engine bits and assembly awaits. I am still fumbling about for a strategy for the ignition leads so have been procrastinating a bit there. The wings have had their upper surfaces primed (also black, their lower surfaces will get a lighter colored primer in anticipation of CDL), as have the prop, stabilizers, rudder, etc. Struts have been wood-grained, and I've started work on painting the Gaspatch Lewis gun(s).
I have also spent a LOT of time on my computer working on the artwork that I will send to my Silhouette cutter to cut the masks I am going to use for the aircraft's markings. Perhaps taking my cutter enthusiasm a bit too far, I have also been scanning various kit pieces to make assorted other paint masks. Give a man a hammer and everything looks like a nail....
Oh... I have chosen my scheme as well, and will be portraying 'A-7182', from the 48th Squadron. As I mentioned in the opening post, this was the aircraft that Lt. Keith Park was flying on Aug 17, 1915, when he and his gunner, 2Lt Arthur Noss, were credited with 4 downed Albatros D.IIIs. Other than the color profile in Guttman's Osprey book, I have been unable to find any reference materials for this particular aircraft, so I am going to have to make some decisions regarding the build. Am I safe to assume that unless otherwise recorded, the gunner's standard armament for a Brisfit in September 1917 was a single, rather than double, Lewis gun? Also, are there rules of thumb as to the likelihood of a 4 blade prop (Harry Dempsey's profile of the aircraft in the Guttman book shows a 2 blade prop), or a Cooper bomb rack (not shown in profile)? If anyone more knowledgeable than I can educate me, I would be most appreciative. (I may put a post up in the Info forum as well if the semi-double post isn't frowned upon.)
I hope to have more to show in the next day or two. Thanks for checking in, and as always, questions, comments, and in this case info are always welcome.
Chris
