Rich,

Looking good...keep it coming.

As for painting the interior, it sure does look good but I think that it's not worth the weight penalty. It's also a hassle.

I'm surprised that you don't want to fly with the drop tanks. They do an excellent job of protecting the wingtips; the fuselage mounted gear is great for ease of transport but the narrow stance makes the plane more likely to wingwalk. Some adhesive-backed charcoal-colored anti-skid pads from Home Depot can be prepainted to match and applied to the underside of the tanks. The stuff really holds up and can be pealed off and replaced if need be. In the event of a gear failure, it's alot easier to fix/paint a tank than the underside of the fuselage. Just a thought.