Starting to get close to paint time!  One of the last major components to go on was the canopy (the guns are all that are left to go on, but they will be the last thing done, after final painting and weathering are finished).  The canopy had some fit issues.  The instrument panel sat a bit proud of the cockpit sill in the front, keeping the canopy from sitting level.  After several sessions with a super fine file and attention to the top of the panel, I was able to get the canopy flush.  Just to make sure it was all snugged up, while the glue set up, I clamped it from the top, but very carefully.  Clear styrene is much more brittle than the other varieties, and the last thing I wanted to do was crack this transparency.

The black vinyl masks are from Aztek Dummy and specifically for this kit; the set also includes masks for painting the red stripes and markings, which I’ll do instead of using the kit decals.  They pulled from the backing fine and laid down pretty well.  I had to do some burnishing around the inner canopy frames to get them to completely adhere.

The final photo is of the Viper in overall primer gray.  There are a few spots that need touched-up and polished out, and once that’s done it’s time for a little pre-shading and then the overall white coat.