The Little World

I feel like I’m going to split.

The central bomb bay section of the Pe-8 dictates the spread of the fuselage. Had I not included the interior, and just decided to join the fuselage halves without cutting the bomb bay, all this post would not have happened.

As it is, it did. as much as I could sand down the bomb bay tray, it still left two gaps – one in front and one behind. The only resort was Plasticard strip and thin cement. This sealed and steadied the assembly enough to constitute a solid structure.

More Plasticard strips were needed when the wings went on – they gained their strength though a good lower seam and an internal plastic spar. But the top seam was wide open.

I accept these things from eastern Europe. I would angrily refuse them from Japan. I am a big boy now and can scrape and sand.

Note the spacer plug in the nose; the contours did not match without it. The distortion to the design is irksome, but the aesthetics of the nose are much better. This is the point of a build when you just do what is needed to be done and make no noise.