Hi all,
Update as promised -- I've got the interior painting done and weathered. It's OOB and the detail level is basic compared to the AMs and scratches going on here, but still not too bad for the scale. The metallic is Humbrol 11 Silver mixed 10:1 with 56 Flat Aluminum. The mix slightly dulls the finish and serves to harden it so it can withstand some handling, even masking. The aluminum is then weathered toward the lower parts of the wheel bay with Tamiya XF-64 Redbrown, brushed on highly diluted with thinner and streaked with a broad brush, the reverse-chemistry of oil wash weathering. I might have been a b it heavy-handed with it, though it looks more subtle for real than in photos.
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The cockpit sills are in XF-63 with a little gloss added, standing in for RLM-66, and the mating surfaces have all been unmasked. They were protected with razor-cut strips of masking tape.
Next, more subassemblies. The intakes and shock cones were sprayed with the same aluminum mix, while the exhaust cans, flow-cones and ducts were sprayed with a different mix to simulate heat-stained metal. I used the remaining drop of the first mix as the base, then added Humbrol 53 Gunmetal and 153 Interior Red at a ratio of 5:1. The tonal difference doesn't show up very well in photos but it's quite marked in the flesh.
The wing is assembled, the seams are done on the nacelles and the gunbay is assembled and mated to the cast metal nose gear bay/weight. I left out the guns as I won't be opening the bay, but the bulkheads are structural parts and need to be there.
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I'm thinking my next A-1a may get the royal treatment, with the Aires set, open gunbay, open canopy and Am decals, I'm sure enjoying this build. I clicked the fuselage halves together and sandwiched them into the wing and -- talk about precision engineering! -- the wings flexed closed about them and held the assembly together, with no visible wing root joint lines!
The way the nose gear assembles, one is obliged to mount the nose strut before closing the fuselage, which feels odd as I usually leave gear off until all main handling is over. That means I need to shoot some more aluminum in the bay and some RLM-02 on the struts, before I can assemble the fuselage, but the engines I can now proceed with without delay.
Cheers,
Mike/TB379