Well as per usual
another commision. This one was my first attempt with Alclad 2. The aircraft was
straight out of the box again, with scratch built seat belts, which upon
reflection I wonder if it was worth doing as they can't be seen now the canopy
is in place.
The kitset was quite straight
forward. The only 2 major things I had problems with were, getting the angle of
the wings correct, and the canopy flush. I expected that wings would be
quite directional as they had a spar going though the center of them to hold
them in place, which also went through the fuselage. But still I found them
to be quite flimsy, with about 10 degrees flex at the tip. After looking at
plans I figured out where they should sit and were both cemented and superglued
into place. They set very solid with hardly any movement in them.
With the canopy firstly it was
futured, then dry fitted, it was fitting perfect. I then appyed a little
superglue with cement and just as I expected it wouldn't fit. After a little
playing around I got it near perfect. Once dried I added a bit of filler and
sanded it. This was a bit of a mistake. The first rule about using Alclad 2
paint is that the surface needs to be perfect or it will bring up any blemish
underneath. I had my troubles here, but eventually got an average finish.
Click on
images below to see larger images
As mentioned earlier
Alclad paints were used. After researching the different shades on B-29's I
decided to paint all the pressurised compartments with polished aliminium (not
using a blac k base), the spar going through the wing with Duraliminium (you have
to be American to pronounce this word correctly), the overall colour with a
mixture of polished and dark aliminium, while finishing off around the engines
with pale burnt aliminium. The white for the tail and engine cowls are from the Gunze
acrylic range.
These decals were from the
box. I was quite impressed with them. They were thick, but with a bit of help
from Micro Sol and Micro Set they settled down nicely.
I was very pleased with
the way the tail decal went on as the rudder is inset a large amount from the
tail.
The Undercarriage is superb, it
is very strong, with nice detail I had no trouble with this at all. The
mouldings fit perfectly and sit at the right angles.
One piece of advice I can
offer with regards to the bombs in the bomb bays. Glue them to their racks
while they are exposed. I used superglue, but had problems with them snapping
free when I was trying to put the bomb bay doors on. I would suggest
you stick it out with cement even though the bombs don't fit well into the holes
supplied. Otherwise have the doors closed, there are well over 30 bombs to glue
together, paint and attach, way too much work!
This wasn't my best model. However when I build another for myself I will know where the pitfalls are. I
can recommend it for anyone who wants a bit of a challenge, which will end up
looking quite nice when finished.
Alan
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