One more piece of the "major" cosmetic surgery now complete. I cut out the solid molded plastic rear deck in preperation for the new Imperial Modelbau resin peice. I started with a reinforced cut-off wheel in my dremel, and slowly worked up to the inside edge of the panel line using finer burr bits, files and sanding sticks. I took a lot of time to finesse the opening as I wanted to ensure a consistent panel line around the new piece. Dry-fitting often, showed some problems with the cast part - it was warped and not quite square.

I made sure my opening was square and true, then used CA to tack the resin piece along to front edge of the back deck closest to the turret. Then I slightly "tweaked" the resin part to compensate for the warpage. I got the panel line even all the way around the perimeter and tacked it into place. Then using .060 styrene strip on the underneath side I reinforced the glue joints and filled the gap between the plastic hull and resin grill panel effectively creating the bottom of the panel line around the part's perimeter.

Becasue the resin part needed some tweaking so did the PE grill that fits into it's recessed opening. Scraping and file work on the the resin lip, plus lots of dry fitting and the grill dropped into place. Then just to add support I also made a brace down the center of the opening to help support the PE grill from being bent inward.

Streetsquid