With the cockpit completed and the fuselage halves sealed, I turned my attention to the landing gear. Simultaneously, I assembled the wings, horizontal stabilizers, and other small fuselage details. I also attended to the canopy during this time.
Landing Gear
All the necessary parts were cut from the sprues and cleaned. The assembly was quick and easy due to the low number of parts. Next, the struts and landing gear bays and doors were painted and weathered using the same process as the cockpit. The only difference in case of the landing gear bays was the base color - I used Mr. Color 352 Chromate Yellow Primer. These steps were done concurrently with the cockpit build, so I mention them here for completeness.
Weathering
For the landing gear bays and covers, I began by applying A.MIG PLW Green Brown wash. On top of that, I added an Industrial Dirt oil wash. I then applied Starship Bay Sludge to the surfaces closest to the ground and blended it in after 10-15 minutes. Finally, I protected everything with a thin layer of matte varnish.
The struts were weathered starting with a Landing Gear wash, applied over all surfaces. Around the protruding elements, I added Shafts and Bearings grease, which was blended in after a few minutes. This was also protected with a thin layer of matte varnish. In the next step, I painted the shock absorbers using liquid chrome Molotov Ink. The following day, once the ink was dry, I weathered them using Engine Fuel & Oil from A.MIG.
Wheels
I used resin counterparts, which are more detailed and simulate the weight-on-wheels effect. I started by removing the parts from the casting blocks and cleaning them up. In this case, the tire and wheel are made as a single piece. Rim covers are rendered with photo-etched (PE) parts, so I cleaned them up first and then attached them to the rims using CA glue.
Rims
In the next step, I applied Mr. Hobby Metal Primer with a brush and then primed the wheels using Mr. Surfacer black. Once it was dry to the touch, I masked the tires and applied Alclad Dull Aluminium color. After that, I sprayed the rims with clear gloss Mr. Hobby H30.
Tires
I removed the masks from the tires and applied new ones to the already painted rims. Next, I painted the tires using Tamiya Rubber Black and then covered them with a layer of gloss varnish. For weathering, I started with a mix of PLW Pacific Dust and Earth washes, which I brush-painted onto the tread surfaces. After a couple of minutes, I removed the excess with a kitchen towel. In the next step, I dry-brushed the tread with A.MIG Rubber and Tires paint to soften its stark appearance. Then, I applied a mix of Landing Gear Dust and Earth washes to the sides of the tires and covered everything with a thick layer of matte acrylic varnish. Finally, I removed the masks.
With the rims and tires ready, I proceeded with the final weathering steps. I started by applying Dark for Panzer Grey and Black Brown oil washes over the rims, removing the excess after a few minutes. Next, I dabbed Airfield Dust and Light Dust pigments around the rims, then added Dark for Panzer Grey again. On the sides of the tires, I used Dust oil wash to emphasize the lettering and other details.
At this point, I realized that the part of the strut inserted into the center of the rim should go through to the other side to allow attachment of the landing gear cover. This meant I had to drill a hole through the already glued and painted rim covers. Starting with a lower diameter drill, I slowly created an opening. After punching through, I progressively increased the diameter, checking each time if a larger hole was needed. In the end, I successfully drilled the proper opening for the strut without damaging the part. As a final step, I applied Earth and North Africa Dust pigments to both the rims and tires.
Fuselage
Assembly & Adjustments
The wings are assembled from three parts: one bottom piece and two upper halves for the left and right wings. I started by drilling holes in the bottom part according to the instructions. Next, I glued in imitations of the air inlets and enhanced them with PE elements provided by Eduard. In the following step, I dry-fitted the wings to the fuselage using masking tape where necessary to hold everything together. There was a slight misalignment between the fuselage and the bottom part of the wings around the air inlets. It turned out that the PE part at the back of the inlet was a bit too high and prevented the fuselage from fitting properly into place. After removing the excess, I repeated the dry fitting and the result was much better, though still not perfect. This will be taken care of using putty later on.
Next, I removed the imitations of plastic navigation lights, which will later be substituted with painted transparent parts. I also attached the landing light on the port side using Clear Fix glue and masked it with properly cut Tamiya tape.
Due to the imperfect fit of the fuselage to the lower wing part, there was a small but visible gap between the rear bulkhead of the front landing gear and the central part of the bottom wing element. To remedy this, I used two-part epoxy putty from Tamiya. After forming the proper shape, I waited for it to harden and then painted it accordingly.
In the following step, I attached the upper parts of the wings as well as the horizontal stabilizers. For gluing, I used a combination of Tamiya Extra Thin and Tamiya Cement. Immediately after, I cut out a small PE part, which was then added as a divider into the turbo air intake.
Meanwhile, I prepared the machine gun gondolas and checked their fit to the wings. The fit was far from perfect. First, I had to fill in the small holes that were imitating cartridge chutes, as part of them was still visible after attaching the gondolas. Then, using Mr. Dissolved Putty, I removed the crevices between the gondolas and the surface of the wings.
Canopy
It was time to take care of the canopy. Having already masked it, I first airbrushed the exterior camouflage color onto the interior frames. This step prevents potential issues where thicker or slightly shifted internal frames might expose the cockpit's interior color when viewed from the outside. With that in place, I applied the interior color of Dark Dull Green, then protected everything with a thin layer of gloss varnish. Once dry, I added a small amount of oil wash for weathering effects and then airbrushed the frames with matte varnish. As a final touch, I added a few scratches using weathering pencils.
Next, I attached small PE parts, including the mirror, windscreen protection, and gun-sight. After bending and painting these parts, I attached them using Clear Fix. Finally, I secured the canopy to the cockpit using CA glue.
The next stage involved masking the cockpit interior and landing gear bays in preparation for further steps of the build. For the cockpit, I used Tamiya masking tape, and for the landing gear bays, I used pieces of sponge.
Surface Corrections
Most of the work focused on the wing roots, where a slight misalignment created a step between the fuselage and wing elements. Additionally, I had to eliminate seams between the fuselage halves and the wings' leading edges. Corrections were also needed around the air inlets on the wings' leading edges. I started by applying Mr. Dissolved Putty. Once it dried, I removed the excess using sanding sponges of different grades. I then airbrushed all corrected areas with Mr. Surfacer 1000 to check the results. If further fixes were needed, I repeated the process using either Dissolved Putty or Putty Surfacer from Ammo, depending on the situation.
After completing all surface fixes, I realized that the recognition lights on the underside of the port wing were not included in this model. I decided it wasn't too late to add them. After some consideration, I chose to use ready-made light lenses from AK or another supplier. This required determining the correct size and location at this stage of the build. Once I had that figured out, I drilled holes of the appropriate diameter and checked the fit of the lenses. The lenses themselves were painted using transparent colors and would be attached at the end of the build.
Panel lines rescribing
First, I airbrushed the entire model with Mr. Surfacer 1200. Once it was dry to the touch, I used Dymo tape as a guide and a modeling scriber to restore lost panel lines. For small details, I used various templates as guides. Finally, I airbrushed all corrected areas with Mr. Surfacer once more.
Next, I polished all surfaces with polishing sponges of different grades to prepare them for a layer of gloss black and then Polished Aluminium. I didn't spend a lot of time on this step, as the natural metal finish (NMF) will only be slightly visible where the camouflage paint is chipped off.
Recap
I was a bit surprised by the amount of work needed to correct all the issues with the fuselage assembly. It wasn't complicated or unmanageable, just time-consuming. Overall, I am quite happy with the build so far. I'm particularly satisfied with how the landing gear struts and wheels turned out. I think I achieved realistic chipping and weathering effects. As I prepare to paint the model, please check out few additional photos below.
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