@holzhamer, @fiveten, @johnb, @gblair and @lgardner, thank you all for kind words and comments. I think it is only fair for a floatplane to have the “tires” weighted, after all they were likely to be in the wet between flights when in use? Some progress has been made on this one lately, but it has been small steps that were too small for updates, so here we go
Primer!
Japanese red oxide primer that is, but first lets assemble and mask the Rufe
There were some considerable gaps at the roots, so out came the evergreen strips
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1. Evergreen to the rescue
they were left to set before they were sanded flush, and the fuselage installed.
Then the canopy got installed and masked
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1. Masks are for the later Tamiya A6M series so does not fit well.
the instructions caution you not to install the antenna before you are ready for the canopy. Guess what – I broke the antenna even before installing it, then butt-glued it. It was first later that I discovered it is now the wrong way around! Oh well, maybe it will snap before I am finished, and I can fix it the right way?
Now, the Rufe in particular was famous for its primer.
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1. top should bend backwards!
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1. Looks like the work on the fuselage with paint-filler has paid off!
and the plan is to add a bit of salt to do some weathering, perhaps even just add a thin layer of the top-coat to depict one of the famous Aleutian “purple” planes. I do like the way the paint-filler has deleted the raised panel-lines - but sadly there is no trace of the wet-transfer rivets so far.
not sure if I am up to this kind of weathering, but as it has turned into a learning build, why not? I might even build another with some more details thrown in (PE etc). As always, time will tell, so do tune in again later.