After eleven weeks on the CH-46 the helicopter is almost finished! I started off applying the decals. The kit decals worked very well. The tedious part was the 60+ placards/stencils. It took three nights to get all the decals applied. These were then sealed with a clear coat.
I began removing the kapton tape masking on all the windows and the Micromask from the navigation lights. The navigation light lenses were then painted with Tamiya clear for the color of the light. I then did a quick light check before moving on to installing the boarding ladder and the cargo ramp. On the boarding ladder I used 38 gauge wire for the support cables. The angle of the steps should look better once the helicopter is on the display base. It sits about 0.1 inches higher in the back due to the wires out the bottom of the tires. I did another light check and all is good.
I have some minor touch ups to do and then I need to use some compressed air to clear some dust on the inside of the cockpit and I can then start weathering the fuselage. I will be starting the display base next week as well. The plan is to complete this over the next two weeks.
You can see more photos and details of this build from the start in the build log at: https://davidsscalemodels.com/build-log/1-48-ch-46a-d-helicopter/
11 attached images. Click to enlarge.