It was the inter-plane struts that I was mostly dissatisfied with on the last version, and on this one I've gone with a different construction method. I think it's turned out a lot better than the first.
This time, instead of creating complete loops of wire for each pair of struts and gluing them to the wing surface, I've done each pair as a U, bent at the appropriate angle to achieve the rake I want. I've pierced the lower wing and pushed the struts through it from the bottom, and glued them in place from underneath. It's created a much neater visual appearance from above (which is where it will be viewed from on the wargames table).
This does mean that the glue surface against the upper wing is much smaller; each pair of struts is only glued at the points. However, the construction is reinforced by the centre struts, and I think that it will be plenty strong enough for the sort of handling it will be likely to receive. In any case, I'm thinking that I might paint PVA over the lower surface of the top wing, and down the struts to encapsulate them, which will make the whole thing sturdier.
I tried colouring the epoxy I used to cast the fuselage with pigment ground from a pastel. I don't know if it's related or not, but this one has a lot more bubbles to be filled than the first one did.
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