Update 2 - Let’s get ‘er done!
Priming was pretty uneventful, as usual, with Stynylrez. I chose gray since the final coats would be black and white. The final black coat was again, Stynylrez, it’s just so easy. The plan for white was also Stynylrez, but it didn’t seem to be covering, so I switched to my only other option, Tamiya XF-2 Flat White. In hindsight, what I thought was a lack of coverage may have been poor lighting since the Tamiya also looked like it wasn’t covering. But when I finally saw it in better light, it was fine.
This was followed by a good coat of Aquagloss, maybe a bit too heavy. There was a small run that I carefully sanded, repainted and re-Aquaglossed. Sorry, no photos.
At that point it was time to start assembly. I new this would be tricky because I had left off the rear plate where the engines mount but had already mounted the two square covers for the smaller engines. I had test fit it before painting and it was tight, but I was able to get it in. After painting however, I guess I was a bit too aggressive and popped off one of the covers. I reattached it with CA, but there was a noticeable crack. I filled this with more CA, sanded, re-primed, sanded, primed, etc. it was better, but not perfect, oh well...
But assembly proceeded...
Unfortunately, I wasn’t done screwing up. I affixed the windshield with PVA glue and a little squeezed out. To clean it up, I put a little water on a cotton bud to wipe it away, along with the clear coat and paint!
A quick sniff of the bud and I discovered I had grabbed the IPA bottle.
Oh well, another imperfect touch-up...
I also wanted to get a feel for mounting on the base, so I did a test fit.
And Phil needed some weathering and his face shield...
And finally, decals, which of course gave me an opportunity for another screwup. There were two decals that were the same, but different sizes, well, I put on the wrong one. I noticed it after applying Solv-A-Set, but before things had completely dried. So I attempted to remove it by applying more Solv-A-Set. This was going well, until I hit a nearby decal! Oh well, I had to remove both and just left the one.
Anyway, a final coat of Aquagloss was added, then some final assembly. And, it’s done!
Tomorrow I’ll work on reveal photos.
Bob
