Friday the 13th strikes!

Yikes! It appears that Friday the Thirteenth worked its magic today. In another of those mishaps that seem to bedevil the production line here in 72 Land, I dropped the Wellesley after it was essentially complete. Damage was mostly confined to the landing gear, but that is about the most difficult area to repair or replace. A long session of re-gluing, drying, attaching small gear struts (which, since the originals were not salvageable, were made from styrene rods) and getting the gear at a suitable angle ensued. Then an overnight glue curing session. The Wellesley is able to stand up on its wheels now, but there is still some detail painting that remains. We live next door to a pastor, and I’m surprised he wasn’t standing outside the door holding up a Bible at the clearly demonic language that was echoing through this place. 

After that, the rest of the construction session was less dramatic. Having no canopy or cockpit, the Skunk MQ-9 Reaper was quick work. One area that required some thought was the lower fuselage piece. The area near the gear doors was short-shot, so I had to patch it with a sliver of sheet styrene. What is it with landing gear this week?

The Me-262 3-seater is nearing the final turn as well. I got the gear installed, though since it was one of the early Special Hobby kits, there were no location holes, so it ended up being a simple butt joint. The lower end of the gear didn’t even have little extensions for the wheels themselves to slip onto, so I had to manufacture those as well. For a proud “assembler of plastic kits” this is getting dangerously close to “modelling”.