RCS (reaction control system) thrusters<\/a> throughout the airframe.\u00c2\u00a0 These are the same types of mini-rocket thruster nozzles that the Space Shuttle and indeed any other real-world spacecraft use to maneuver in the vacuum of space.\u00c2\u00a0 The kit comes with decals to depict these, but I want a little more 3-D realism, so I’m drilling them.\u00c2\u00a0 The first photo shows the tape that I’m using to lay out all of the lines that the RCS fall upon so that I can get everything nice and straight.\u00c2\u00a0 I have the first three drilled into the top of the nose, and I had to do them three times before I got them to my liking.<\/p>\nThe next photo is of the lower part of the fuselage.\u00c2\u00a0 As with most models that give you an in-flight or landing gear option, if you close up the gear doors, they don’t fit too well.\u00c2\u00a0 Much filling and scribing has been done to get them to this point.\u00c2\u00a0 If I do another of these models with the gear up, I’ll simply block off the openings with sheet styrene and rescribe all of the joint lines freehand.<\/p>\n
The final photo is the top engine.\u00c2\u00a0 It’s a separate piece, so it gets painted before assembly.\u00c2\u00a0 This is simply the gloss black primer, prepping for the application of some metallic paints and wiring details.<\/p>\n\r\n\t\t
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/devinjpoore.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/IMG_3217-300x225.jpg\" "\\"IMG_3217\\"")
Long time no post.\u00c2\u00a0 A trip out of town, a busy month at work, and the worst cold and subsequent respiratory virus I’ve had in years has kept me away from modeling.\u00c2\u00a0 This is the first weekend in over a month that I’ve actually sat down to do some building.\u00c2\u00a0 So, on with it…<\/p>\n