Well, I meant well. My last post was about 45 days ago, and was about a completely different project that I ended up abandoning in favor of the great 1/48 scale Apache Longbow made by Hasegawa. It’s also my first real foray into the world of photoetch (by Eduard), and after a month messing around with it, I find it’s a case of diminishing returns. In the cockpit, there’s very little provided in the set, as it relies heavily on the kit’s apparently good instrument panels. With a few small extras and embellishments, it builds up well, but doesn’t seem to add a whole lot to the overall look. I might have been better served to buy the resin cockpit from Aires. Oh well. Next time. At least the seat belts came out nice.

On the outside, it looks like the photoetch might prove more valuable, as it adds or improves some features that the kit fumbles on, mainly because it’s just plastic and these details are too fine. I haven’t gotten very far with those, however, so check back to see the end result of my frustration with this stuff.

Overall, a very good kit with great details. Only major grievance has come from the pilot’s instrument cowl, which didn’t even come close to fitting together due to a 1/16″ gap between the two halves. I wound up cutting both sides free of the fuselage halves, then filled the massive gap with some sheet plastic. This is why you dry-fit first, kids.

I didn’t like the way the seats looked. They have a fine texture, according to photos I found, but it was much too small to be molded on. I noticed when I ate some Stride gum one day that the texture of the wrapper looked similar, if very exaggerated, so I gave it a shot. While it’s not in-scale, I feel it adds appreciably to the look of the seats, so they’re not just flat, perfectly smooth expanses of plastic, but neither are they as random as roughed-up putty might be.