Simple yet enough detail in the cockpit to get the idea the basic premise of the Storch. Tamiya gives you just the right amount of parts to complete a well detailed model. I usually don't get into the basic recon type aircraft such as this and the similar Bird Dog. But this may change my mind. Will watch this

Once more unto the breech, my friend...Godspeed to your progress!

Thanks for the comments and encouragement, gentlemen. Louis yes, I have in past builds been heavy handed and snapped the odd thin part. In this case I am being hyper-cautious when snipping and sanding!

Some supplies arrived from BNA Modelworld near Melbourne today (approx 1800km away - The Gold Coast doesn't have a corner hobbyist store)! Some etch from Eduard (only planning to use seatbelts, IP and some of the signage plaques); some 'Mr Paint' lacquer RLM colours; and some Hataka thinners - I have had no luck with thinning their paints, so I have gone for bespoke thinners.

I had already bought some Eduard paint masks for the canopy - and in this particular 'tale of the tape' they won out over the Tamiya masks supplied in the box. This may be personal preference, but being pre-cut and slightly more flexible they they feel more user-friendly.

Interestingly neither Tamiya nor Eduard provide internal masks. I might recycle the Tamiya masks to use them internally, however it seems that the kit is designed to show the external paint through the clear plastic - which may mean painting internal colouring under the camo scheme so that the correct colour is seen internally. I will decide how to approach this once the external masking is done.

In keeping with the general 'unique' feel of the model, some of the windows (I don't think this is a canopy per se) are pre-attached to the fuselage halves. Again this feels delicate and has been handled lightly to avoid my customary clumsiness resulting in damage!

The Eduard masks are going on now, and advice or comments will be gratefully accepted! As you can see I have left on the plastic sprue segment that supports part of the window/door frame - it will be removed when it is time to paint.

Yow. That is some fine, fine work, Paul.

This is really good ! The Kermit Cam is showing the close up details of the same plane that I posted pictures of for you a little while ago. I didn't get any closer photos so I'm glad you were able to find these. The other Storch is literally hanging on a wall so it's not very accessible or I would get you some more close up photos.

Your plane is really looking very good. I didn't realize all of the little details that Tamiya had packed into the kit. Mine is still sealed in the shrink wrap.

I would consider painting the color that you want to be visible on the inside of the clear plastic (I'm guessing here , RLM 66 dark gray), and then simply spray it again with the top colors. This will give you the illusion that the inside of the window frame was painted on separately.

Looking good my friend !

The attention to detail is amazing.

As to doped aircraft, only the outside of the fabric is doped- the famous "clear doped linen" If you doped both sides, it would dry it, and it would rip. So the interior would look whitish, with perhaps some pale bits of the outside color showing through. That's my theory. Others may know more.

Bernard - yes I agree, the fabric parts of the plane would almost certainly take on that faded interior look - thanks so much for posting.

While looking for more info I found the restoration group in Kassel (central Germany - very close to where Fi 156s were manufactured). Here is the link for their photo gallery.

https://www.fieseler-storch-kassel.de/en/photogalery/

The interior of the door is very clearly shown and the glass seems to to be fixed with welded steel (?) tubes.

Their restoration project looks great - here is a war era (Italian) version to compare,

Thanks for posting the "how to" on the lowered flaps. That's exactly how I will build mine up when the time comes. I will definitely be using this as a go to article during construction... Thanks my friend ! and I'm glad to see you managed to get in some building time.

Your plane is shaping up nicely ! 🙂 The details on this kit are simply amazing...

I'll be looking forward to the next installment.