spejic

That really does look great, and the added details are not only well done, but fitting to the classic design.

Tamiya actually did a clear-decked ship. Their 1/700 kit of the Japanese SDF amphibious transport ship Shimokita allowed you to see into the interior hold and well deck, and gave you a bunch of tanks and trucks and a couple non-operating LCAC to fill it. I don't know how easy it would be find now.

In this case the inner front position would be empty. In fact, you might see a MER with three bombs (outer front, center front, inner rear).

Zoukei-Mura also did a 1/48 version of the Horton 229, and will soon release a 1/72 kit, all with clear outer skins. A 1/144 version will be included with the 1/72 kit, but I guess a clear skin is asking too much of that scale.

It is a lighter gray than the actual aircraft, but it's not uncommon to see modellers use a lighter grey in cockpits because it doesn't get much light in there and a lighter paint increases contrast and makes it fit closer to viewer's expectations. I would leave the paint as is, and do a light wash to sharpen up the edges.

Thanks for the comments. One of the few benefits of being extremely nearsighted.

For small parts, I put a drop of glue on a card and then use a pin to take a tiny bit to where it needs to go. For long strips like ship rails, I glue then in a few spots and when that is set I glue along the length. The drop will last a surprisingly long time on the card so you can work with many parts - prepare them first so you can get the most out of your glue. For photoetched parts that are glued down flat (like instrument panels) I use epoxy or PVA glue so I have extra working time. Soldering requires the correct technique - heating the parts with the iron and then adding the solder. That means you need some kind of rig holding the parts while you hold the iron and solder in your hands. Use a very thin solder wire. It should flow into the gap. I have lots of tools to remove plastic - various blades, multiple small saws, nippers, and scissor action nippers. Every different task has it's own way or doing it. The only thing in common is to cut a bit out and then sand it down to the correct shape/length.

This is the first ship I've ever finished, and these things take way, way too much time. I am used to working in small scales (1/144 aircraft, 1/72 vehicles), but the amount of "human scale" detail you need to add to a ship is almost endless. But I'm finally done with something and it looks pretty good. The masts are scratchbuilt from stretched sprue. The rails are from Gold Metal Models. The decals are from the Hobby Boss USS Wasp kit except the name on the back, which was custom printed. And since coins don't mean much in other countries, I decided to use the new universal scale metric - a Lego figure.

Flats tend to do that, so you should always use light coats just until you get the desired level of flatness. I would actually do another gloss coat, which tends to darken things and hides most of the mistiness from the flat coats, and then do the flat again (just less so). But try this out on some scrap before to see if you get the desired outcome.

I haven't updated the thread, but I've been doing steady work. I should be done in a few days, but I can't guarantee I'll finish by the due date of the group build. The landing gear is fully attached, which required a little rework of the original parts. I've also installed the decals. The gloss coat is Tamiya Clear. This is the first time I used it, and I didn't to a good job - the surface is a little pebbly. I'm worried that the decals will silver once I put on the dull coat. What remains is the wash, the gunsight, attaching the landing gear doors, adding seatbelts to the seat, and painting the canopy.

This was way trickier than it should have been. But it's finally done and I can get to gloss coating. The curvy bits are boat davits from a 1/700 scale ship model.

I really enjoyed the story you told with the model. It reminds me of what they used to do in Japanese modelling magazines.

It's a straight copy of the frigate from the original series. Here's the 1970's version of the model kit:

Here we are. New retraction arms and gear doors. As an added benefit the retraction arms are far more realistic than the ones Revell originally included. There's a few more pieces to add to the arms, but those need to be fit in place because I'm not sure where the arms attach to the gears yet.

Don't press hard. You just want to knock off the waves in the putty in the first passes. And wait a day for the putty to set. It shrinks as it dries. If you sand after a few hours when it looks set it won't look right the next day.