At last, I've started putting all the bits of the fuselage interior together. But before doing that, I had to decide about the finish of the bits I had painted. As I said, the semi-gloss finish that I had achieved was nice, but perhaps a bit too hard at this scale; a bit too specular, I think you could say: you got pronounced highlights where it caught the light.
I decided to try a coat of flat clear on some scrap I had already painted, and the results were very encouraging: pretty much matt, but with a subtle sheen. So I went ahead and gave all the black-painted parts the same treatment. I hesitated for a day over doing the framework itself, because it would be such a lot of work to replace if anything went wrong. But in the end there was no problem. SMS lacquers are prethinned for airbrush use (like so many paints these days), and are child's play to use. The flat lacquer in particular is pretty miraculous: you get a matt finish almost instantly (but with a subtle sheen, as noted).
While everything was drying, I went to get some more bits and pieces (from Jadlam Models in Glastonbury. They have very extensive stocks of paints and various supplies, and they are very helpful. It certainly beats ordering online, even though I had to navigate two road closures to get there and back).
Then, when I got home, I started putting the pieces together. I hadn't been looking forward to getting the ammo boxes into place, because I knew it would be a bit intricate and fiddly, a bit like one of those metal puzzles. But in the end, it wasn't too bad. And while I was at it, I added the heel troughs. Here is the result so far. You will see I've done a bit of highlighting in Ammo Light Metal where the paint might be worn off; and some rather heavy-handed mud where the pilot might put his feet, in a mix of Humbrol enamels, just because that's what I had.
More soon.
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