AMEGB - 1/48 Canberra PR.9

Slow progress since my last update ... June was almost a total loss due to family and work commitments, but I've gotten a lot more done in July. Unfortunately my camera came to a sudden and violent end on vacation so a lot of in-progress work didn't get photographed. These are the first pics with the new camera.
I spent some time improving the vents on the engine nacelles. Airfix molded these as shallow depressions and the effect is, to put it mildly, unconvincing. I drilled out both vents on each nacelle, cleaned up the edges, and installed rectangular tubing to give the vents better definition and more depth.

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To add insult to injury, the vent arrangement on the starboard nacelle mirrors that on the port nacelle, which is incorrect. I had to fill the larger of the two vents on the starboard nacelle, then install a new vent on the opposite side:

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Airfix also was a little too enthusiatic with some scribing on the underside of the starboard wing - there are a pair of photoflash doors that shouldn't be there so they were filled in and sanded smooth.

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While all this was going on I worked on the cockpit. Due to the demise of my camera there aren't any in-progress pics here. The entire cockpit tub and all the interior components were shot with a base coat of Revell Anthracite, which is not quite black. I then went back and picked out individual panels,knobs, and dials with black and gunmetal to give some subtle contrast. A silver Prismacolor pencil was used to highlight switches and scuff the rudder pedals. The viewfinder and warning and caution lights on the pilot's instrument panel were picked out with Tamiya's clear green, clear orange, and clear red, and the throttles were painted light gray. Instrument faces were added using Airscale instrument decals - this is the first time I've used Airscale's instruments and they were much easier to use than other individual instruments that I'd used in the past ... good product and highly recommended! Finally, I added a couple of Reheat placards.

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It all turned out nicely, but assembling the cockpit was really tricky. Airfix's instructions are extremely vague and there is very little in the way of positive alignment when attaching the instrument panel, the starboard side panel, and the instrument coaming. Take your time, dry fit, and check the alignment of each part carefully.

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Once the cockpit was together, I cemented the nosewheel well to the starboard fuselage half, then dry-fitted the cockpit into the fuselage and securely glued the upper fuselage panel that fits around the pilot's cockpit to the cockpit assembly itself. After allowing it to dry overnight, I assembled the fuselage halves around the cockpit and then attached the upper fuselage panel to the fuselage halves using a combination of liquid cement (where it fit well) and superglue and brute force (where it didn't). Getting a flush fit and a seamless transition between the upper fuselage panel and the fuselage halves is challenging to say the least. I ended up using both superglue and putty to fill gaps and level the surface.

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Now it's time to clean up the fuselage seams and add a few more external details while this beast is still relatively easy to handle. Once that's done I'll bring the major airframe components together, and it should be all downhill from there ...