Hadn't realised it had been so long since I posted - I've been a bit distracted by helping an old schoolmate with some genealogy. Some progress on the Eurocopter, although not all as I'd like.
You won't be surprised to hear that the windscreen didn't fit! It needed squeezing in at the lower rear corners, and pressing down at the top. All curved surfaces so nothing for clamps to grip. Tried to reshape it a little after soaking in hot water, which helped a little. After a lot of attempts I managed to get it somewhere close with tape and rubber bands:
After taking the tape off I found that the windscreen was sitting a bit proud of the fuselage, so after fitting all the doors first to keep the sanding dust out I sanded it down to be nearer to a flush fit, then micromeshed and polished it back to a reasonable semblance of clarity. I'm still not satisfied with the fit, but to be honest I'm getting demotivated by this kit - it has some lovely detail, but the fit of some of the major parts is terrible. I'm not going to take that windscreen out again, so it'll have to do.
Maybe it'll look better with a coat of paint, and I think it's at the stage where if I add any more of the small parts, they'll get broken off anyway, so it's time for a coat of gloss white!
On with the masking:
Underneath:
The intakes have been plugged with foam:
And the exhausts (well, the holes where they fit) protected with some ear plugs:
I've brushed some white primer around the windscreen masking, so the next task is a coat or three of
Tamiya gloss white. Wish me luck!
Pete