I made a little headway today. I always start by reviewing the instructions to see if there are any pitfalls that I can avoid. The first thing you notice is that the instructions would have you assemble the plane in an unusual sequence. Like most kits, they have you begin assembling the cockpit. After two construction steps, they would have you build the main landing gear, and then return to the cockpit assembly. I took a vote and decided to assemble the cockpit and then build the gear after. The cockpit is complex. Of the 20 plus construction steps, over half of them deal with the cockpit. I found some photos of the actual cockpit, and I have to say I freaked out a little. The interior is very crowded and claustrophobic in a way that only 1950s planes can be. Then I came to grip with things and remembered that most of this will be invisible under the narrow tandem canopy.

I started assembly with preparing the photoetch instrument panels. There are three panels that each consist of three parts: a plastic base that you paint white, the film instruments, and then the photoetch panel. The film instruments didn't seem to have much detail, and once you assemble the sandwich you really can't see much detail within the instrument bezels.

The seats aren't bad, but I thinned the seats and their supports to make them a little more scale-like. The seats look pretty good once assembled, and will look better once the seats are painted and the photoetch seatbelts are added.

When I came to the part of the instructions dealing with assembly of the various levels of the cockpit, I realized that there were no positive means to locate the parts or to insure the correct angles required. The instructions would have you assemble the entire cockpit structure, and then add it to the fuselage. This didn't seem smart without having some positive means to insure the various parts are assembled correctly in relation to each other, so I decided on a compromise path. I assembled the major parts of the cockpit structure in-place on the fuselage, and then I will paint and detail the structure once I am sure everything fits. There are only two very small locators in the fuselage for the entire cockpit structure, so hopefully gluing the structure into the fuselage will insure everything is square and fits where it should.

The last thing I did today was build the nose gear assembly, which consists of the nose wheel well and the gear strut. The locating pin for the gear is almost non-existent, so I drilled a hole in both the well and the gear strut, and super-glued a metal rod connecting the two. The structure is now super-strong. The instructions show that this nose gear assembly is added to the fuselage in Step 2, and then again in Step 11. It makes more sense to do it later, especially since it fits tightly against the cockpit structure which isn't added till later.

Tomorrow it will be time to paint and assemble all of the fiddly bits in and around the cockpit. The control yokes have been identified in previous builds as being over-size, and on examination they do look a little large. I suspect I will install them without modification. There are some really good online walk-arounds for the B-45, so you can get some good color info for the cockpit. Most of it is painted in dark green, or in black. The seats are black with dark green headrests and armrests. I am thinking about the best way to match the interior paint scheme, but without creating a black hole where nothing is visible. More stuff to think about. Everyone stay safe. Cheers.

This is amazing job so far, George! This is a super cockpit (especially for 1/72)! Let's hope a lot will be seen under the transparencies.
I lkie your metal rod NLG reinforcement as well.
Waitng for your progress!

George that is very well done that cockpit does look busy. This kit may be difficult but as you stated you knew that going in and with the right mind set will finish it and have an idea that this will not be a picnic. After the Maryland which you overcame, your already in that mood to take it on. And so far you have a plan. Exactly what Eric said it is true. At least you won't quit on it. By the way that is how I looked after painting the He-219. Marty Feldman, he was funny. Loved him in Young Frankenstein.

I spent the day working on the cockpit. It is a multi-level affair that has an open walkway down the left side of the tandem cockpit that allows access to the crew member in the nose of the plane, presumably the radar officer. The instructions want you to build the entire cockpit outside of the fuselage and then add the whole thing at once. Since there are no locating tabs to insure that all of these pieces go together correctly, I decided to deviate from the instructions and build everything inside the fuselage. Although this made construction a little more difficult, but I think worth it in the end.

There is a horizontal piece in the nose that I think represents part of the radar. Since there is no way this area is visible after the fuselage is closed, I decided to cut the horizontal piece off, leaving the bulkhead on the front of the compartment. This open area, which will be accessible after I close the fuselage, will be a great space for nose weights.

There is a rear gunner's compartment which consists of only three pieces. I painted this section and added a couple of simulated placards using paint and a fine artist's pen.

The back of the copilot's instrument panel will be visible under the canopy, so I decided to add a little depth to the panel and also add some simulated wiring coming out of the back of the panel. I cut a couple of pieces of plastic to fit, then drilled nine holes in the back of the instruments. I superglued some thin wire into the holes, and then glued everything together. I twisted the wiring into simulated wire bundles which I will route down the interior fuselage wall. It still needs to be painted.

Looking ahead, I glued some plastic tabs to the interior of the fuselage to aid in cementing the two sides together. I also added some pieces to the main landing gear and painted them aluminum. The end of the strut that is cemented into the gear well is smaller than the one on the nose gear, so I will need to figure out some way to strengthen this joint.

Tomorrow it will be time to assemble the fuselage and the wings, so I have my fingers crossed that things will continue to go well. I still need to add the instrument panels to the cockpit, but the instructions are vague about where they go. I will add the panels as I close things up so I can figure out exactly where they are supposed to go. I also need to add the nose wheel well and the tail skid before I close the fuselage. I have completed over half of the construction steps in the instructions and just now ready to move on to the fuselage. I think things will go faster now. :o)

George, you are on a roll here - fasttracking a difficult build AND adding extras. Great stuff!

Looking great, George @gblair!
Cannot wait to see your progress!

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten), Erik (@airbum), and Louis (@lgardner).

Louis (@lgardner), when were you stationed at Ft Bliss? I was born in El Paso in the early 1950s, but my dad was in the Army, so I spent some time in Germany and a couple of other places. I attended high school in El Paso, and got my undergrad degree from UT El Paso (it was called Texas Western when I started there).

Robert (@roofrat), "Walk this way."

1 attached image. Click to enlarge.