Step 35 --
Assembly of upper and lower fuselage
I added the vertical
stabilizer support to the upper fuselage earlier.
Before attaching the upper
fuselage, be sure to put the poly caps in that the horizontal stabilizers
will be attached to.
The fit is good, but there
will be some minor seam filling around parts B21, B22, the honeycomb
structure aft of the wing, and right behind the horizontal stabilizer
mounting holes.
To protect the detail on
the honeycomb area, I masked off to either side of the seams with masking
tape (I use Tamiya tape).
For putty, I use Squadron
White Putty thinned with lacquer thinner, and a small paint brush to
"paint" it where it needs to go. After it sets up for a
few minutes, I peel the tape off.
This is the 1st kit where
I've tried the masking tape method, and it's great for protecting delicate
detail, and reduces the amount to sand.
There might be some sanding
needed on the leading edge extension right where the leading edge slats
will be.
Step 36
- Adding lower wings
There are 4 small poly caps
(2 per wing) to put in prior to gluing the lower wing surfaces on.
These are used for mounting/dismounting the 370 gallon drop tank pylons.
Step 37 - Landing Light,
nose gear door, HTS
I left the landing light
till later, as the gear doors won't be attached until after the kit is
decaled and flat coated.
I did assemble the nose
gear door, and sprayed the interior surface MM Flat white.
Since the picture I saw of
the specific jet I'm building does not show the HTS mounted, I skipped it
completely.
Step 38 - Mounting the
gear doors.
See step 37
Steve |