The Little World

When you are confronted with a complex model design – multiple wings or complex landing gear – it pays to stop and think.

You need to get your sequence of painting and assembly right to avoid making hard work even harder. Or worse – to avoid the risk of spoiling vital parts. No-one likes to scratch-build more than necessary.

Thus I paused with the U-2 to see when and where I should cement, and when I should paint. The practice of painting the upper wing of a biplane separately from the lower is long-established. You risk less disruption to the paint if you scrape and drill for strut attachment before the paint, but you can do it equally well afterwards.

In the case of the Polikarpov the Soviet camouflage scheme was easy enough to tape and spray and obscure enough to withstand the attacks of both the Luftwaffe and the anoraks. Those strut positions are straight off the plans and kept to the correct geometry by foam plastic blocks until they set.

Oddly enough, the fancy-pants seats could be cemented in after the painting was done.