You have a couple of choices for the external fuel tanks.
1. No tanks or pylons at all
2. Capped off pylons and no tanks
3. 150 Gall tanks
4. 300 Gall tanks
5. A mixture of either of the above.
The kit wheels are ok but I opted to replace them with eduard Brassin resin ones. These are a level up in my opinion and well worth the money.
The kit has two options for the canopy depending on which mark you build. In my case the later variant I chose had the sliding side windows and folding back top section.
As I showed earlier the kit plastic gun barrels had been removed and they were now replaced with metal ones from Master. The detail in these are far superior to the kit parts and again well worth the money.
The final parts to add were the canopy and aerial. I added the aerial first. Have a look at the reference photo for details of the fixture points aft of the canopy. Add the canopy last due to its delicate nature.
Rick says
That’s another awesome model Dave. I’m going to have to give the Maskol chipping a go, it’s a very realistic effect. Regards Rick
Bill Michaels says
Beautiful build! I love the maskol effect with the aluminum paint underneath- that is an idea I am definitely going to use!
One thing I noticed- using the decals for the red warnings near the cockpit afterwards makes them look like they were reapplied freshly on top of the weathered aircraft. (Did they do that? I have no idea.). If not, I wonder if there is a way to make them look equally weathered? Would dabbing little bits of aluminum on them work?
Bill Michaels says
Please understand that my above comment is not meant as a criticism of the build. I’m totally impressed with the results, and will use this article ( with the wonderfully explicit descriptions of the techniques used) on my own effort, and will be pleased with a result that is half as nice. I am asking the above question because I am unsure of what the usual practice was, and also wondering if my idea is a. Not historical; and b. Bound to fail…
davecoward says
Hi Bill,
No issues with your remarks. My thinking was the “NO STEP” on the sliding windows would have been less worn as the whole idea was not to step on them, the ones below would have been a lot more prone to “chipping” with boot toes as they were lower down.
That said in hindsight I would have applied the lower “NO STEP” decals and over wing fuel tank marking before removing the Maskol. This would have given them more consistent wear with the background as the decals over the Maskol would come off when the Maskol was removed giving a consistent wear pattern with the camouflage.
chipping.
Hope this explains my thinking Dave