Time for an update on my Beaufighter project. Work has focused on a couple of areas. I cleaned-up the ports for the 20 mm cannons and did some etching (which may be hard to see in the picture below) of lines to show the panels providing access to the canons from the belly. I also carved out the shell ejector ports which aren't present on the model.
I've spent a lot of time thinking about how to detail the main landing gear. In an earlier post, I included a picture of a Beaufighter undergoing restoration showing the main gear and its attachment to the forward wing spar. I attempted to duplicate this using various thicknesses of plastic sheeting. It doesn't look too bad.
The struts are a little thicker than scale, but this is a test run and the finished product may use thinner struts. Surprisingly, the struts felt as if they could support the weight of the model. We will have to see.
After trying a couple of different approaches, I decided the best way to proceed with the main gear attachment to the "airframe" was to scratch-build a main spar in either wing. The "spar" will serve as the attachment point for the landing gear pieces. I'll add some more support inside to wing to ensure the spar doesn't twist, perhaps even doubling-up on the most visible part of it.
I'm having a lot of fun doing this because it's like putting a three dimensional puzzle together. I'm going to focus no fleshing out the wheel bays and firewalls before I move on to etching the wings prior to assembly.
