I was hoping to put all the sub-assemblies together and close the fuselage today, but several issues have popped up that are slowing things down. The first issue that came up had to do with glue. The plastic in the kit is very hard. I don't know if the plastic started out that way or if it has gotten harder as it aged, but the big problem is that the glues I am using are having a problem getting the parts to stick together. For bigger models like this, I usually use one of the glues like Testors, or Contacta, or some Preiser that I really like. Normally, I would apply the glue to one part, smack it onto whatever it connects to, give it a few seconds, and it is stuck. So, I glued one part to the other and set it aside to dry. A few minutes later I picked up the glued parts and they simply fell apart. I discovered that I can get the parts to stick together by using the thicker glue first, let it sit for a minute, then use some Tamiya Thin Liquid Glue on it. I have to apply the Tamiya without touching the glued parts or I risk them coming apart in my hands. I have tried several thick glues and several liquid glues with the same results. Superglue works well, but I don't want to build the whole model with superglue. Once the joint dries that has been assembled using the two glues, it seems to hold very well. I have been letting the parts dry for at least an hour after gluing, which really slows down the building. I am also scraping away paint from gluing surfaces to be sure that I get a good plastic-to-plastic connection for gluing. I always do this anyway, but now I am being extra careful.
I also started looking ahead making sure I wasn't forgetting anything. I have a sticky note on my work table reminding me to add weight in the nose before I close the fuselage, but I want to get the internal structure done first. I also started closing the bomb bay which will be an interesting exercise. The bomb bay doors on this kit is designed to be displayed open, which means I will need to remove the molded-on structure used to hold the doors open. Like most bomber kits, the bomb bay doors don't fit very well in the closed position. I glued the kit doors in the closed position and let them dry, then I plan to reinforce the seam from the interior. It is already obvious that the doors won't quite meet in the middle, so I will need to fix that, as well as the gaps around the bomb bay created by the poorly-fitting doors.
I plan to do some thinking about the best way to make all of this magic happen, so hopefully more problem-solving tomorrow. Cheers everyone.
6 attached images. Click to enlarge.
