This step is to prepare the fuselage halves before installing the interior, flight deck assy. Already pre-painted Mitsubishi interior green.

Next up will be to assemble the rear gunners compartment complete the final interior bits and install the interior. More to follow.

Lot's of glass to cover on this one for sure Louis. Once I get to that point.

Now it is time to attach the wings. Which I had assembled as part of the sub assy build up earlier at the start of the project.

Tamiya has several unique engineering well though out for this kit. One of them is this little alignment pin that inserts into a square hole in the wing which allows perfect dihedral and a positive attachment to the fuselage. Along with the wing spars that also allows a very good point the will slide into.

Then a bead of liquid cement along the edge to seal the deal.

Follow the same procedure to attach the assembled LH side wing. And next up will be the stabs and rudder.

more to follow.

I've have been quietly reading and watching this build Chuck. Came across this article and photos of some recently discovered air frames of two Betty's. There is a photo of the instrument cluster or the cut outs they look similar to whats in the box. There are plans to recover these wrecks .

WWII Japanese Aircraft Wrecks Salvaged at Balalae

Thanks Steve for that link, quite interesting and really chilling to say the least. Imagine walking among history as I would put it.

Now a once over the fuselage before I start to install all of the clear parts that are quite abundant on the Betty.

Going over the long seams above and below the airframe. No hiding these if not properly cleaned up.

Next to make sure I didn't forget to install the bomb sight before attaching the nose clear glazing. The one detail to note is the fact there is a lot of empty space within the interior of this kit. Seems like their should be more to this. Like the Monogram/Revell bombers, loaded with boxes, shelves, components. Tamiya provides enough, but still seems lacking. Same goes with their Beaufighter and Dinah kits, as some have noted that when building them as well. A lot of glass and quite clear on the Betty where you can see in the forward section of the nose with all that glass.

Once the fuselage is cleaned up. Time to start installing some windows. Starting with bombardier lower bomb sight window under the nose.

Next to assemble the rear gunner seat, brace and rear defensive gun.

The rear gunners tail glazing is in 2 halves, (LH/RH),

Carefully install the rear gunners seat/gun assy into the glazing. Tamiya's approach very simple and slips with a nice fit. Which really limits the issue of cement smearing and ruining any of the clear glass.

Next attach the the glazing to the tail, good fit all the way around.

Next the side blisters, the the machine guns are already in place. So just simply attach each blister into the beveled edge and that simply completes this process. Again they fit very well into position.

Next the top upper gun blister just behind the flight deck. First to attach the machine in the stowed position. Then again carefully attach the blister over the gun. perfect fit.

Next the nose glazing with the machine gun inserted into the hole provided and the assembly attached to the nose section.

Finally attaching the canopy, first the wheel that I believe opens the pilots door, is attached carefully on the inside.

Then the canopy is attached to the airframe. And thats it for now. I have to say, that the process went smoothly, all the glass went on with no fuss. And what is really nice as how clear the glass is from Tamiya.

Thats it for now. Masking time, yuck. More to follow.

Looking very smart

Chuck, I have the same model. I also invested in the Eduard PE interior sets (there are 2, though the do overlap a little) but the most important one is the masking set. I HIGHLY recommend getting one since the Betty has "Tons 'O Masking" to do! It seems like a great $10 investment. This'll be my 1st time using them, so my recommendation is based purely on what others have told me.

Masks or not, your Betty is looking great. (On a side note, during the war, my Dad got 1/2 credit for shooting down a Betty bomber.)

Hi Jeff and D-L, refer back to the original preview of the model. I have the EZ mask set for the kit and will be using them. I wasn't in any way going to attempt the Tamiya tape and trim on this baby.