F-2A - Crawlling onwards towards the cabinet

She's finally on her wheels, but boy was that a job. Yet again the aftermarket wheel well was the issue.

Because I didn't have it installed exactly right I couldn't use the locating holes in it to attach the main gear legs.

I ended up putting a brass pin through the top of thinner leg as close to the bottom of the fuselage as possible. This allowed me to pivot the leg until I got the legs sitting correctly. Once it got it right I flooded the gap with CA glue to to secure it

Next issue is the main gear doors. Because the Aires set is to short (or I have it in the wrong spot) the main landing gear doors don't fit with the actuators attached in the correct positions. I've had to shave of the front actuator assembly and instead of it sitting flush with the front of the door it'll be back a bit. I haven't finished this as yet so photos to come in the next update.

But if you are going to use the Aires set then perhaps it should be installed flush with the front of the fuselage hole, not flush with the rear like I did. The photos below show the gap between the front of the bay and fuselage hole.

 The nose gear wasn't to much trouble but some trimming of the leg was required to get it to fit.

I wasn't happy with the silvering on serial numbers on the tail.

So I decided to try and reset them. I really only noticed it after I applied really light clear coat. Now I knew I'd have to be be really lucky to get away with it. And guess what I wasn't.

I can use the other serials on the sheet to make this number so all is not lost.

The tyre decals are nice touch