I like cutaway displays more than clear parts because no matter how nice the clear parts are you will always be looking thru clear plastic and that distorts what you are trying to show. Cutaways just look better imo.

I like cutaway displays more than clear parts because no matter how nice the clear parts are you will always be looking thru clear plastic and that distorts what you are trying to show. Cutaways just look better imo.

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I like cutaway displays more than clear parts because no matter how nice the clear parts are you will always be looking thru clear plastic and that distorts what you are trying to show. Cutaways just look better imo.

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I tend to agree but then, a cutaway looks like a plastic model of a real thing instead of being real itself and that is a real bummer to me.

In my enormous back pack of grazy ideas I have one particualrly bizarre of depicting an aircraft that had been hit by a bomb while being on the tarmac.

That seems like a perfect scene to combine super detailing, cut away, burn dammage, seperated engines ... and still look like the real deal.

I recommend looking at some of the work done by Dan Jayne in Finescale Modeler a few years back, or recently by Joe McCaslin here in tribute to Dan. I have mixed feelings about cutaways, some can look really good, others look incomplete to me because the modeler skimped on interior detail, or ends up with "gizmology" because they don't do enough research or take shortcuts. Dan and Joe are exceptions. But I've also wanted to see a clear model done, with a fine feathered paint edge fading into the surface detail to show the interior. I don't think many models are built that way because it's difficult to paint detail on the inside and outside of the clear plastic-- but it would be striking to see it done. A compromise might be to build the bulkheads and stringers to scale, then vac-form sections of the model in clear plastic to thin the skin to more scale thickness, and blend it into the rest of the model structure. I don't think anyone has done that before, It's much harder to do, but would look more realistic than taking huge chunks out of the model (but then again, either way, realism is going to be sacrificed because a cutaway or a clear panel is a departure from realism to some degree). In the end, it's really your choice. I know you mention you have the crew and kit already in 1/48 scale, but this kind of project begs for 1/32 scale. Trying to replicate all the detail in smaller scales from scratch would be a challenge.
VR, Russ

Don't mind our suggestions, you have a good idea what you want so just go for it. I would do a real cutaway and no transparent parts