Steps 23-26
involve fitting out of the main gear bay, air duct and nose gear
For those of
you who were wondering, I've been working on this kit since right after the 1st
of the year, waiting on the 8th FW decals to be released from TwoBobs. I
figured while I was waiting for the release of the decals, I'd get the model
ready. That is why there are pictures of the almost completed kit
mixed in here and there to show detail that I might have forgotten to take
pictures of.
This will be a
short installment, as it only covers 4 steps
Step
23 -- Main Landing gear
Step
23 consists of the assembly of the main gear and wheels. There
are some mold seams on the main gear that can be taken care of with a
small file. |
After
sanding out the seams on the gear, the parts K5, and the drag links (parts
F24) are attached with CA adhesive, and the gear was sprayed with 2 coats
of MM Flat White.
I've
built quite a few of the Tamiya 1/32 jets with the metal gear, and when
using enamel paint, I've never discovered the need for primer.
The
wheels and brakes were painted according to the instructions, but I left
them off the gear until much later in construction. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Step
24 -- Attaching the main gear
This
step consists of assembly of the battery box, and attaching the main gear
door actuators, the mid-bay bulkhead, and the gear actuators. |
Both
the main gear actuators and main gear door actuators can be left off until
after final assembly. and I would recommend that, as it will make masking
and painting easier.
The
battery box is 3 colors -- MM Flat white for the framework, Testors Yellow
Zinc Chromate for the battery box itself, and MM Aluminum for part F54
Note
that there is a small scoop (part C5) that gets attached here. I
missed it in the instructions the first time. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Step
25 - Attaching main gear compartment parts
|
Before
attaching part F12 (the fore-aft divider for the gear bay), attach part
F53. It will be a tight fit, and press down hard. You may need
to trim a bit off of the top so that part
C27 will fit. The goal is to have C27 fit flush at the aft end.
F12
was painted per the instructions.
The
ventral antenna (B1) and field arresting hook mount (B25) were both
attached at this point. I left the arresting hook off as it is a
loose fit so that it can be lowered if you want to remove the engine.
I
also left off the PE flare/chaff dispensers and will put them on as one of
the final steps. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
|
Step
26 - Ventral fins
There
are some ejector pin marks on B18 and B19 (the ventral fins) that will
need to be filled. |
Alignment
of the ventral fins is good due to bevels molded into the fuselage and the
fins themselves, as well as the attachment points. These could be
left off till later to make handling, painting, masking easier, but I
decided to put them on here.
I
would also recommend leaving off C23 for now in case you need to clean up
the seam where C27 mates with the lower fuselage. Mine just needed
some minor sanding. After that, I attached part C23
I
also left off the PE flare/chaff dispensers and will put them on as one of
the final steps. |
Click on
image below to see larger image
|
|
|
Steve
|
|