Well, the engine is basically finished. With the exception of a few little details it's ready for paint (Note the two broken off pipes). Making the missing arm for the lubricator just about put me over the edge. I had drilled a piece of 0.5mm plastic rod for the rocker arm connection and inserted a piece of brass wire. When cutting the wire to length, I cupped it in my hand and snip, somehow it found an opening and went supersonic. A simple piece of bent brass wire replaced it but it proved even more of a challenge. An hour of frustration for one little piece that only a handful of people would ever notice if it were missing. Such is the game we play.
And while I'm grumbling, why is it that whenever you search everywhere for a photo of something you need to scratch build, you can't find anything other than partial, obstructed views? Then, when you build it to your best guess, you immediately find a perfectly clear image and find you did it wrong? Such was the flywheel/vibration dampener. Another Trumpeter omission. Found afterwards it should have 12 stiffening gussets like a clock, not six. Hells bells!
I think rather than the usual green, I'm going to go with a light gray with a greenish tone. I looked at several paint charts before going to the hobby shop and I settled on Tamiya IJN gray. However, upon getting it home and under different light, it's too much of a neutral gray. I could mix it with some green I suppose but I may go back and get one of the other colors I looked at and thought was too green.
Now onto mounting the oil coolers (need to cast a copy) and making the deckplate supports. I'm never going to finish this thing...
