Part 2: The Build

The Bristol's cockpit, aside from the busy appearance, was actually a relatively quick build. I have not built many WWI subjects so I was a bit new to the whole wood finish process - here is how I tackled it: After coating the sides of the fuselage with Tamiya Deck Tan, I then sprayed all of the areas to receive a wood finish with Tamiya Desert Yellow as well as hand painting the framing along the fuselage sides. I applied some Citadel Miniatures Chestnut ink along the in a striped and somewhat random pattern. After I let it dry I applied Tamiya clear orange to replicate a varnish finish. Of course, the Tamiya paint caused the ink to streak, making the effect all the better. A coat of Polly Scale flat helped even the finish out. Eduard included a optional wicker seat that is nicely done in photo etch - just like a good resin ejection seat can really make a modern cockpit pop, a well done wicker seat can have the same effect. Here I used a browner base followed by Tamiya clear yellow to mix up the wood color effects. I found that part #PE21, which supports the colored harness, was just too flimsy so I replaced it with some beading wire. The instrument panel can either be finished with colored photo etch or decals. I chose to use the photo etched pieces as they were sharper; the instrument discs fit perfectly and looked great after a drop of future on top. Unfortunately, you won't see a heck of a lot once the fuselage is together. There were also a couple of brass parts to paint - I did a coat of flat silver followed by a coat of clear yellow. This technique leaves you with a nice even finish.

Once all the parts are assembled then the fun begins; trapping all the seat supports, flooring and such. Once I got everything aligned to my satisfaction, I used medium viscosity super glue to tack the fuselage together. Be careful underneath the fuselage as the plastic bows in toward the middle. I used some gap filling glue and some block sanding to eliminate the seam. The final step was to pop in the gun ring base. Since there is a line of stitching I had to do a bit of test fitting and sanding (and some shimming) to get the piece to fit with a minimum amount of sanding. Next up - radiators, tails and wings…..

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