Initial construction
Construction begins with the cockpit tub and wheel well. This is a one piece affair and the Eduard PE significantly enhances the detail in the wheel bay and cockpit walls.
The cockpit side walls are fitted and the tub locates positively into one half. A coat of primer and topcoat, I use a Panzer Dark Gray rather than a pure flat Black for the cockpit and the wheel well is left in primer for the moment as it will get a coat of Aluminium later. At this point I fitted the Eduard self-coloured PE instrument side panels.
Adding a little lead weight in the nose, the forward fuselage halves are a good fit with little filler needed on the seam. The same story for the rear fuselage after fitting the engine (which incidentally you don’t need to paint as it won’t be seen at all.
Unlike some Kitty Hawk kits this one doesn’t have huge panels opened up to expose the interior, so the airframe is a strong solid shell and front and rear fuselage align well.
The Aries resin intakes are direct replacements for the two piece kit items, however they are a little shallower, so a couple of strips of styrene strip on the fuselage intake mounts is required to bring them flush with the airframe. Once again only a small amount of filler was required around the intake seam.
More Eduard PE enhances the main wheel wells.
