SPA Modeler

New part to fabricate. . .

Are you planning to scribe that panel, or create it as something to lay over the base part?

Thank you for asking, Carlos! I already cut two entirely new side pieces that act as covers; replacing the ones that don’t quite fit. This was a peekaboo feature Revell added that wasn’t really needed at least by me. Also the ejector chutes for the ammo needed to be lowered. On the Revell kit the stock pieces are raised almost to the same height as the air intakes.

Once you go down that road it’s hard to stop. . . . First, I cut a "blank" from Evergreen plastic card which fits either side, then I refined one port and one starboard version. Now here I've added the little raised area around the ammo ejector chute which is not part of the Revell kit but is visible on the prototype. I tried adding a series of eight fasteners but the rod diameter was too large. I'll have to scrounge up something smaller. Part of me is trying to not add these but I’ll look through the junk bin for possibilities.



Note: the small piece of tape at the top popped up and I didn't see that when I took the photo. Apologies. I repositioned the tape to take this photo below to show everyone the proper curvature. I did curl the styrene around an X-Acto handle to give it that shape, but the memory of the card is strong; it wants to stay nice and flat and forget about this curvature, therefore glue will be the ultimate shaper!



. . . and that's it for now. Thanks for tuning into this latest hour of work straight to you from the humble kitchen table of yours truly. Everyone have a good night. . . .

Thanks to some fine detective work by Carlos and Marius I now know the type of fasteners used for the removable side panels.



It is time to prime. It's definitely time to prime. I finished cover two yesterday night. I prepped the sides and turtledeck tonight minus the two sides since I'm still deciding how to approach the fasteners. Hopefully tomorrow will bring good results of the initial sculpting work to port and starboard sides of the fuselage.

This is fantastic progress Bruce! I'm excited to see this in primer! Keep it going my friend!

Great work scratch building!

The panel looks good Bruce! You’ve got this!

I managed to play catch up on your progress. You’re on your way to laying a coat of primer. I enjoyed watching your scratch building progress. Bravo!

speedgraflex wrote: ↑Tue Apr 14, 2026 6:02 pm Thanks so much, Mark and Mike! Unfortunately my neighbors upstairs are keeping hours at home that conflict with mine. I don’t want any complaints about the smell causing headaches as was reported previously. I am going to go ahead with detailing fasteners for the two side panels as I wait for an opportunity to spray outside. I’m also considering some form of interior spray booth arrangement if I can figure one out.

Now that does sum suckin' right there Bruce. For a long time, I used acrylics (and still do on occasion) to thwart those complaints but my current arrangment is working out nowadays.