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.

You have taken your subject very seriously ! Keep on please .

I love it. This is a great way to enjoy modeling, improving older kits. So much to learn when you do this and it gives you great practice for future builds. Looking great so far Greg (@gwfabian)!

Work continues on the Beau. It's a slow slog, but I'm spending an hour or two at most during each session. I could easily bury myself in this project, but I'm finding that I really enjoy the fabrication process, so I'm not in a hurry to finish.

I've spent time on converting the raised panel lines to recessed panel lines and etching some additional exterior surface detail. I recently purchased some new Evergreen square tubing that I'm for the undercarriage support pieces. The picture below shows the two primary structural assemblies that tie the landing gear to the wing spars. I used a combination of styrene sheet, square tube and dowel to build these from scratch.

Wanting to see how things were shaping up, I decided to glue one assembly to a main spar and try it on for size in an engine nacelle. It doesn't look too bad here.

While the assembly itself may be a little larger than scale, I'm hoping that by the time I add the various and (seemingly excessive) cross-braces and the observer will be so overwhelmed with detail that they won't notice.

Next steps are to install the aforementioned cross braces and then fabricate and install the firewalls.

After that, it's time to detail out the landing gear bays in the engine nacelles.

The amount of scratchbuilding in this build has been amazing, Greg (@gwfabian), but I think it will really create a one-of-a-kind model in the end.

Those landing gear structures do look very nice, Greg @gwfabian
Excellent scratch building.

Thanks, Sprios (@fiveten) my goal is for the rest of the model to look so good that they won't notice the additional stuff that I'm adding.

Thanks, Mike (@faraomike). I'll be satisfied if my scratch building reaches the "good enough" level!