RB came up with these box structures below the dashboard which make everything look much more realistic and functional. At first they consisted of boxes which had to be assembled and attached separately from the other parts. We were thinking of merging everything into one piece to make assembly easier and to cut down the parts count. The result can be seen here.
After the part is cut out several cuts are made. The boxes are folded and glued together.
The boxes are temporarily folded upwards to allow the dashboard to be attached to the front cover.
The piece is turned around ...
... and closed.
The boxes are folded back and glued to the bottom part.
P.S.: I know I should paint the edges of the parts but I do want to finish this project and release the parts as soon as possible for you to enjoy!
I have begun work on the removable landing gear which immediately began with a "glitch": In theory the inner landing gear mount and the compartment doors had to be enlarged. The "foot" is glued to an insert which looks like the inner mount but which is a tad smaller. Well, you might have guessed it by now. Instead of enlarging the inner mount I made it smaller and instead of making the insert smaller I made it larger.
The LG is anchored to the insert piece from the back side (a trick I "borrowed" from Julius Perdana's models ). The flaps are put through the hole and glued to the back. This creates a very strong connection.
I noticed that the previous design had to be handled with special care to avoid the LG from being ripped off by accident. This revised version will hopefully be better because the LG can be detached and stored separately from the plane which makes transportation and storage much easier. The LG itself stayed very much the same with two exceptions; lg3 and lg4 have been prolongued by 3.3 mm to compensate for the recess and thickness of the insert piece and the aft end has got some small flaps.
While the glue on the LG was curing I unfolded, textured and tested the parts for the Krait's AWACS dish.
Looking at the first print I noticed that I could make the dish smoother by using paper strips as flaps.
Two small formers with a slit in the middle to join them.
They are added to the center before ...
... the dish is closed.
I like the shape very much but I still need to check out if the angle of the mount matches the angle of the back piece of the quad cockpit. Of course you will be able to use this new part on every other quad TF version!
Just a quick update on the cockpit interior 2.0: The parts sheets are set and I have almost finished the instructions. This will be the biggest instruction file RB and I have made thus far. It features 24 pages (!), many pictures and LOTS OF different options and tips to make working canopies.
OOOh so Martin will have it on his site, but ours isn't ...good enough.. I see. Well, as the "Church Lady " says...Isn't that special...., after all we've done for you!! Hhmmm, who could it be causing all these problems..................could it be..............SATAN!!
@zathros : Well, I'd like to keep all Thunderfighter kits in one place so they are easier to find for fellow modelers. In addition, Martin would like to stay in control of his creations. All add-on packs include altered pieces of his original plans. Furthermore, the packs are worthless without the original kit which is exclusively available at www.paperaviation.de . Without it and Martin's generosity this whole project wouldn't have been possible. So the honour is his to host the kits.