Cockpit parts painted, decaled and weathered. Rear wheel well area also painted and the rest of the fuselage interior painted black because of all the open vents
Main wheel wells painted and, because this is a civil plane, the gun cartridge ejector slots will be filled - I've glued some sheet styrene on the insides of the wings to make it easier
I noticed the cockpit tub had slipped on one side so ended up having to cut open the fuselage, with a razor saw and mainly along panel lines. Very annoying!
Alclad primer applied - I'm trying white one the nose and black for the rest to see if I can getter a brighter finish with Alclad Polished Aluminium on the nose, which I've seen in some photos of the real thing
Alclad Polished Aluminium applied - there is a very subtle difference between the cowling and the rest of the plane, but only when the light hits it right.
A bit of a stretch for a Tintin plane - it is seen very small on a black & white TV in the villain's lair on the Black Island, being flown by pilot Johnny James (in the English version of the book). The plane definitely looks like a bubbletop P-47, with a couple of diagonal stripes on the rear fuselage. Plenty of scope to make it my own! The kit used in the Tamiya 1/72 P-47 Thunderbolt Bubbletop, built pretty well out of the box other than de-militarizing it for a civilian version.
