Wheel Well Adjustments

To get my custom wheel wells to fit in the wings I needed to shave off the edges to fit the wing contours.

Better Wheel Wells

I was not impressed with this kits recommended method to display the wheel wells which consisted of applying black decals underneath the wings. Since the model will be suspended from my son Terry's ceiling where it would be very visible I searched for a better solution. It took some time to figure out the best method but what I came up with was purchasing a 1/4" thick piece of balsa wood and using my dad's press drill as I do not own one to create 3" wide holes for the tires.

Need a Needle

Needed to find a way to keep all the small lead weights in the nose and not rattle. The solution was to purchase the largest needle available at a local pharmacy. Was a bit awkward to explain why I needed a needle but once the pharmacist understood what I was trying to do she was very helpful and cooperative.

I put some glue in the syringe which will also add some weight and inserted it into the small whole in the body and with a good amount of pressure was able to squeeze out several ml of glue. I also decided to add some glue inside of each feel tank, although the holes are too small for lead weight the glue will be better then nothing. Now I just got to let the parts hand downwards for a couple of days while the white glue cures.

Gone Fishing

Bought the smallest fishing weights I could find but they are still too big. I have been busy cutting them up into 8 smaller pieces and heating them up with a small torch to make them round balls which fit into the tiny hole where the landing gear is supposed to go.

Tail Dragger

Back landing gear installed, had installed the forward gear but had to remove it. This plane is what we call a tail dragger, too much weight in the back of the model despite the marbles I glued in the nose.

I will go out and buy some fishing weights made out of lead and insert it into the small hole where the front landing gear goes.

Taking Shape

Glued the wings to the body of the aircraft, now this project is starting to take shape!

Black Mask

Painted the black section underneath the cockpit window.

Autograph

Autographed my work…

Tail Wings

Tails wings are back from the garage with a few fresh coats of paint, glued them to the body of the aircraft.

More White to Paint...

Unfortunately I realized that I forgot to paint the wings ailerons white as I relied on the box art of the kit and did not analyze the instructions properly. What tricked me is the artist who made the very nice box art added reflections that blended the grey color of the top wing with the white of the ailerons.

Same thing for the tail wings, the top should be white when I thought it was grey. I masked up the parts and will be heading back to my garage to apply a few coats of white…