Today was glass day. I had previously fitted the pilot's canopy, so I hoped to get the rest of the glass glued on and the masks applied. After finding the pilot's glass was a perfect fit, I had high hopes for the rest of the glass. Unfortunately, all the rest required some degree of cutting, sanding, fitting, or bending.
The first task was to add the upper glass on the bombardier's section. This replacement piece fit much better than the original one, but was still too wide and required some bending to fit. I started by gluing one side in place and letting it dry solid. I then used tape and a homemade jig to hold the other side in place while the glue dried. It worked great.
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1. Homemade jig, thanks to a Q-Tip.
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1. Replacement glass in place, Yeah.
The belly window was significantly too wide for its location in the fuselage, so after removing a lot of clear plastic and reshaping the curves it fit fine.
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1. Way too wide to fit here
The rest of the windows were a little more of a challenge. Although they were designed to be added after the fuselage was closed up, there were no tabs inside the fuselage to prevent the glass from going all the way through. I added a homemade masking tape handle to each so I could control the glass a little better as I was gluing them in place. All of the glass pieces required a certain amount of cut and paste, but eventually ended up fitting well.
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1. Window glued in place, homemade handle worked well.
There were two small oblong windows in the rear of the fuselage. The glass pieces were much too large for their intended location, and I found the glass too small to effectively shape while holding in my fat fingers. I took a vote and decided to simulate the glass after painting the plane using Microscale liquid glass, or something similar.
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1. Small window to be filled with Microscale liquid glass.
It was now time to add the rounded nose glass to the bombardier's section. I was afraid after all of the drama with the upper bombardier's glass that the nose wouldn't fit well, but it was a perfect fit.
Last glass to add was the leading edge landing lights on each wing. The recess in the wing was a separate piece that was painted cockpit green. A round clear piece, simulating the lamp was added next. This was followed by the glass piece that fit into the leading edge. Once the light is assembled it really looks the part.
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1. Simulated landing light in place.
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1. Looks effective with light cover in place.
After letting all of this dry for a while, I added the Montex masks to the glass. These masks are made of a relatively flexible black latex material. They work well enough, but I really think Eduard's masking tape masks work better. Several of the masks were too small for the section they were to cover, so I had to add some Tamiya tape to fill in.
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1. Tamiya tape fills in where masks were a little too small.
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1. Everything masked. Yeah.
The last thing I did was check for cracks between the fuselage and glass, or between two glass pieces that might need filling. I always fill anything around the cockpit or other glass pieces with white glue, which dries clear. If you use white or gray filler there is a chance it will show on the inside of the cockpit (ask me how I know).
As you might guess, after the fuselage is closed up, you can't see any of the detailed rear fuselage interior. Oh well, I know its there. Tomorrow I will add a few last bits, and then start on the painting. First will be painting the interior color on the glass so the correct color will appear on the inside of the glass frames. Then on to the exterior color, which will be a game-time decision. Stay safe.
