Modified canopy pieces. The two sections at the top were vacu-formed. The cone tail section has been blunted, and still needs to be polished. All clear parts were dipped in Future.
Wing to nacelle mating was poor. I struggled to have the proper leading edge alignment and sanded the heck out of the mating surfaces (gap between the wing and nacelle is visible)
The invasion stripes were applied next: the areas were first masked and then airbrushed with Acryl 4769 Flat White, Areas to remain white were then masked and Acryl 4768 Flat Black airbrushed on.
Upper Olive Drab camouflage was airbrushed next, using Acryl 4842 ANA 613. Several light coats needed to be applied as the silver underneath kept showing through, I believe due to the coat of Aquanet Hairspray.
I was looking for the DML P-61A kit some time, and when I found it in the vendor room at the 2014 IPMS Nationals, I snatched it. It is very nice by 1990's standards, although the detail is not as crisp as top of the line fare these days. Clear parts are thick and have blemishes, although they fit very well. Decals are on the thick side, but still usable. There are some fit issues with this kit, but I was happy with it overall.
I opted for the Aires interior set as I liked the resin bits (Eduard makes a PE interior set No.73296). I skipped Eduard's No.72476 exterior PE set as it seemed more geared toward the B version, and I felt I could do better scratch-building with styrene. I used engines by Quickboost (these are very nice). Main wheels came from the True Details set, and the front wheel from the otherwise unusable landing gear set No.72025 by Scale Aircraft Conversions. Aftermarket parts also included canopy mask from Eduard and the Microscale decal set.
