First Viper in-progress post in a while.  Two weeks in Hawaii and the subsequent jet lag cut way down on building time.  Also, I’m nearing the end of the project, and that’s another time when things seem to slow down.  Last minute tweaks, touch-ups, details, etc, all add very little to the overall bulk of the model, but they take a lot of time and do add those little touches that make a model into a replica.

Only two real photos this update.  The first shows the added piping that I’ve done to the engine bays.  The top is brass rod, the lower two are braided steel cable.  The cables come in a roll and are plastic sheathed, which kind of kills the whole braided look.  So I held them over a flame, burned off the sheathing, tacked the ends with superglue so they won’t unravel, and glued them in place.  I was going to leave them in natural metal, but the more I look at it the more I think I’ll be painting these details.

The guns were a lot of work for one-piece fixtures.  There were seams around the entire assembly, and anytime you have to sand anything rounded and with a lot of detail, it takes a lot of effort.  I believe I spent three evenings of work just to get these things looking right.

Up next: Decals.  This weekend.