Small Wonder Models

Fitting of the rear canopy to the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Poor fit. It is fighting me all the way. I am hoping the tape holds it in place as the canopy is wider than the fuselage but I could find no practical way of squeezing it into place without risking breaking the canopy.

Finally glued on the ill-fitting canopy to the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. This is as good as it gets. Not sure I even have enough mating surfaces to make a good bond. Hopefully it won't fall off as I fill the gaps.

I cut some new masks for the canopy of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS with Tamiya masking tape using the vinyl ones as templates. The vinyl ones were falling off. Then I airbrushed the guns and internal grey sections.

Re-started the airbrushing sessions for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Painted the canopies and guns. Reaffirmed the utter pointlessness of vinyl masks. None stayed in place on any curved surface. Tamiya Gun Metal XF-85 useless too! Guns now look chrome-plated. Ugh.

Finishing off a few bits and pieces before starting the painting of the guns and canopy interiors on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Now mounting a few items onto sticks for this round of painting. It leads up to the gluing-on of the canopies.

Masking the canopies on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. After months of hard work on this dreadful kit this has been one of the easiest and most relaxing jobs. I am no fan of the Montex vinyl but they fit the kit items much better than the Eduard kabuki tape.

Masking the canopies in the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS kit using a combination of the masking sets from Eduard, Montex and KV Models. Montex ones are vinyl but include the interior. Eduard used the superior kabuki tape but only supply external masks.

As with everything on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS kit the clear parts do not fit very well. They will need to be masked and filled around. I am also still trying to perfect that wing root joint. Ugh.

More patience then I would have 🤔

Still doing my time in purgatory as I endlessly fill and sand-down the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. A dreadful kit, ill-fitting and badly designed.

Desperate times= desperate measures. Forcing the tail alignment on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS with heavy lead weights and plastic shims. I determined that the problem was likely caused by a tiny misalignment between left and right fuselage halves at the extreme end of the fuselage.

Wings are on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS but the horizontal tail is twisted off the horizontal. The tail was the only thing to fit really well! It was snug. A perfect fit. No ambiguity. This fault is moulded-in by Xuntong. The whole tail will have to be cut off and re-positioned.

I got an electric sander for my birthday and tried it out today on the fuselage of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. It certainly is a great tool but has to be used carefully. Everything was then hand finished before I glued on the tail.

Started sanding down and filling the fuselage to the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. What a mess. Appalling fit. I finished installing a little ribbing inside the nose. It is a bit rough but it is just to make the area seem a little busier as it is fully glazed underneath.

On the underside of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS I found yet another yawning gap where the fuselage halves refused to meet. I stuffed it with plasticard and glue then taped it up. Frustrating. Whilst I wait for it all to harden I started detailing inside the nose with some ribbing.

I have (very carefully) glued up the nose section of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. I think I will leave that for a good 24 hours now. Note the cocktail stick in the cockpit to force the fuselage sides out to the correct width to match the glazed section.

My attempts to glue together the ill-fitting fuselage halves on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. It is awful. The Eduard photoetch doesn't make it easier but it is mainly Xuntong's fault with warpage, poor fit and idiosyncratic parts breakdown leaving precious few mating surfaces.

Internal assembly is complete inside the fuselage halves for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Tomorrow I should be able to join it up. Due to some warpage I may have to add some plasticard to give a larger/stronger mating surface in the nose.

It's nice to get to the fuselage assembly step after months of faffing around with the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Something is preventing the correct vertical alignment mid-section so some more surgery may be necessary.

Final checks to ensure I have all the necessary sub-components painted and ready for when I close up the fuselage to the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Despite the crisp moulding the kit does not fit together well. I have had to do some fettling on the wing joint to get alignment.

Spent an hour or so rubbing down the wing leading edges with wet'n'dry (1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS) until perfect. Then I popped on the ailerons. Finally I can move on to assemble the beast.

Just a little time today to apply the Mr Surfacer to the leading edge of the wings from the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Tomorrow I will finish it with wet'n'dry. Then the wings can be put aside for a while and we return to assembling the fuselage.

Spent a few hours perfecting the wing seams and finishing the Eduard wing flaps for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. Some photoetch was lost in the process. Not happy about that.

Final wing flaps bay going onto the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS from the Eduard photoetch set.

Starting installation of the Eduard photoetch flaps for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS on the port wing. They need to be in place before I fill and clean-up the wing joints but I won't insert the flap actuators until much later to avoid breakage in handling.

Eduard only printed the assembly instructions for their Flaps set (for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS) for the port wing. I couldn't get my head around the correct part orientation. So I scanned it, flipped it and printed the mirror image version with markup for the correct part numbers.

I am assembling just the starboard wing flaps (from the Eduard photoetch set for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2V)S to see if I can get away with adding the remaining flaps just before painting. I fear breaking these delicate items off in handling.

Today I got down to the microscopic details required by the Eduard flaps set for the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. They are too small to practically be handled for folding and gluing but I will have a go to see how far I can push the limits on this.

Very gingerly shoe-horning the Eduard photoetch flaps into the wings of the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS. They are putting up a fight. I had to dismember the photoetch as Eduard are way too optimistic about the usefulness of their all-in-one design.

The Eduard photoetch set for flaps on the 1/48th scale Xuntong Tupolev Tu-2VS is impossible to build as instructed. It is too fragile and would fall apart when shoe-horned into the wing. Instead it is broken down into smaller components and carefully assembled inside the finished wing.