Hey Louis, thank you so much - that’s a great site and invaluable information!

Yes, that footage was incredible. Amazing that history records these events for some of the machines that might have been important had the war continued another year. The Me 163. The Me 262 for that matter - never quite perfected despite flying in the latter parts. The J7W1 was also due to develop as a jet. There is plenty of info around the blueprints for weird and wonderful planes that never made it off the drawing board. Although I don’t think I’ll build anything that never actually took flight.

I think I’ll build the interior fairly clean and the exterior a little weathered - especially around removable panels. The engine probably received a fair bit of TLC whereas the panels were probably on and off a lot.

As for the kit, I have been underwhelmed. This was ZM’s first 1/48 plane and it seems that they hadn’t done a brilliant job on design of sprues or engineering to be honest. Looked at closely some details are a little soft and there are some attachment points to the sprues that seem to be excessive and poorly placed.

I decided to start with the canopy - which came off and sanded well. However there are no aftermarket masks that I can find, so that’s a gradual daily chore.

Then the engine. I usually really enjoy building engines. In Themis case I’m sure I’ll be happy in the end but some regions actually showed big gaps and need significant filler. The location devices fitted poorly in some areas. There were also numbers of floating sprues segments on the more detailed small parts - probably as vents when air was pushed out of the mold. Still a pain, but I guess that allows the detail to be achieved. One last point is make is that the plastic feels brittle in some areas and soft in others.

I don’t envisage a huge fight with the kit - just ongoing irritation at small things!

Anyway here are some snaps.

Somehow this update has slipped under my radar... Sorry Paul. @yellow10
I have really enjoyed the photos you posted, but I am sorry to hear the kit is not exactly what you expected. Even so, the engine parts look really nice, and I'll bet the real thing would have scooted along pretty fast with a twin turbo setup !

Does this kit have the option for the engine on display with the panels opened up ? It seems that with such and incredibly detailed power plant, it should. What a waste to keep all these details hidden.

Remember on your first test flight around the living room not to raise the nose too quick on takeoff, unless you have installed the tiny wheels on the bottom of the fins... You don't want to bend the prop like they did on the real one.. Can you imagine the noise it must have made ? Wow ...

I'll be looking forward to your next installment.

Thanks gents! I will stop whinging now!

Waiting for some paints. I need to fit an extractor into the window of my new workshop and won’t be using Alclad again until I do. I sprayed the black primer (with a mask on and windows open etc. The natural airflow in that room is not as effective as the old place so I will have to act! It was like smog!

Louis, I think most people make the interiors and take lots of photos. I have seen the cockpit engine and gun bays sat in the ‘chassis’ and photographed as such. It’s an odd thing indeed with these kits that they do not have that option - the power plant is not easily posed open - I guess you learn about the engine and lock it up. In another world I might consider a dio with the engine in workshop conditions - hanging or on a trolley.

Anyway - there are plenty of other kits on the bench and the paints are in transit!

More in the next couple of days!

Ok next update. Very small steps.

With the new paints taking time to the arrive due to CV I have moved forward to what I would usually call the cockpit. It contains airframe too. Looks nice and complex.

Again some flash, and lots of connection points to the sprues.

I also opened up the photoetch package and was happy to find it was reassuringly Czech. Eduard and ZM clearly struck a deal!

So just a look here at the parts I have removed from the sprues. Some of the clean up I will have to come
back to this evening - I am off to work
In about 45 mins.

And some snaps of the etch!

Looking forward to this and hoping things go a bit smoother. Perhaps the mold maker get paid per ejector point

Indeed George - I believe he must have had friends over at the sanding stick store...

Given that Trumpeter may be one of our knights in shining armour when it comes to WNW I won’t hear a word said against them, LOL.

I had a trial session with AKs new ‘third gen’ paints. They need thinning a little - I used AK’s own new acrylic thinner. Obviously way less smelly/toxic than Alclad. Didn’t spray quite as nicely as Vallejo Model Air (yet) - but still experimenting. Burnt Tin produces a nice shading effect over aluminium.

Here is the first part of the engine build. Goes together well enough without to much battle. A little wash applied. I have gone for grimy. The ZM site has a really pristine looking power plant. I’m going for slightly more realism, I hope! Some highlighting, maybe some pastels on the turbo and a little bit of etch on the last parts I need to add and I’ll call it done.