Issue 38

OK, an action-packed issue this time. After all that monotonous schlepping about with the skeleton, it's cool to get up and roaring.

Fist off, we add the hatch lights. First, thread them through from the top of the skeleton like so:

They should come all the way out through the bottom.

Next, the adhesive backing tape is removed...

...and they get stuck into place. Easy as that.

Next up is the landing ramp. I went ahead & painted this before assembly, so first off I dosed it with the same paint I've been using for my floors.

Next up, I found my masking blue tape just exactly fit that part of the ramp, so on it went and I gave it a dose of Tamiya:

(you can also see here I took a sanding block and scuffed up the ramp to show wear & tear loading stuff aboard.)

Anyhow, next I test fit it against the body panel it comes with (ignore the paint difference, will paint the body panel to match later):

Then I assembled the hinge. They say you may need loc-tite on the single-screw parts, but I did not find this to be the case. What I did find, though, was that screwing this bit together was a pain in the neck. I wish the screwdriver that came with this kit was somewhat stronger in the magnet department.

 Anyway, once it's together, it goes in like so.

Next issue, we get to put in the motor and the piston-thingies. Cool.

Issue 37

OK, a couple different things this time as we start to ramp up towards...well, the ramp, actually.

First off, let's finish off the bottom skeleton:

Man, it's nice to have that done.

Now, we have some parts to prep for body work:

First thing to go on are these side rails. Note how one end is tapered so you can see which way round everything goes.

Next are the two round bits on the end. I wish they'd keyed these a little better, as they tend to not sit perfectly. Still, if you act quick, you can get them in shape.

Then this little handle thingie here goes on.

There's also another piece I didn't take a picture of, but it should be fairly obvious where that goes.

Issue 36

Nothing much this time around, just assembling more of the bottom skeleton, thus:

Issue 35

So we're almost done with the lower skeleton. This & last issue have the following parts ready to go (actually, there's also another 2x2 flat piece, but I had it set aside when I took this picture. Also, another baggie of black screws):

Anyway, putting that together renders this:

Which, as you may guess, will go to the rest of the skeleton like so:

BUT! Don't attempt to attach it just yet. We'll do that later, once we've finished the main occupation of the next several issues, viz: the gangplank system (it's motorized! cool!). See you then.

Issue 34

Another set of the tail area with 4 more of the add-on bits, but also a baggie of the fins that go on. We can test fit one set (they come in two halves) on this part, slotting it into position as seen in the second photo.

There we are. Now, let's see about finishing up that lower skeleton...

Issue 33

We've got enough pieces of the skeleton to assemble another "slice", so let's go ahead and do that now. You know the process by this point, so here's the result:

Also, more of the rear parts. Only thing to note here is the middle one is a tad shorter than the others, so be sure and keep that in mind.

Issue 32

Well, now we're starting on some of the rear bodywork. There will still be bits of skeleton as we get closor to completing the bottom half, but in the meantime, we've got quite a few of these bits to do (I'm sorry, I don't remember what they're called):

Now, we'll be painting them later, so no glue today; this is just a test fit. They should fit in the little holes, just like this:

Next, more of the same.

Issue 31

Yup, you guessed it: more skeleton. But first...

Yup. We've got the complete support structure, now. If you haven't got it together yet, the above shot should spell it out for you.

Anyway, have another wedge o' skeleton:

Things are about to get more interesting, I swear.

Issue 30

This issue is just another slice of bottom skeleton. Have some pix: