Introduction

It's rare for older kits to be so good and interesting that they've hung around for over 50 years! Thankfully, they do exist and graciously PLUS MODEL have gone a step further to bring the 1/72 P2V Neptune into a new millennium.

The Flaps are the first item in what I hope to be a six part series on the great aftermarket products PLUS MODEL make available to you.

Naturally you'll need a good Cyanoacrylate glue, a good set of files for photo-etch and a high quality razor saw. I Also found a bit of blue-tac very helpful to hold the wings in one place while gluing the photo-etch.

As you can see most of the major parts have not been permanently assembled because they have to be attached at the end of the build. I took the time to tape and and tack parts to help you with your assembly. My "Cracking the Box" review may be of some help too, here's the link;
https://aeroscale.kitmaker.net/review/15011

Step I

To begin you must remove some material from the wing root and aileron edge. PLUS MODEL give good direction with what to take off but you'll need to fine tune this later. I would offer sanding a bit more of the surface at the trailing edge so that the flat brass parts M1, M2, M3 and M4 sit completely flush. There is a bit of a hump in the plastic that will cause a gap at the tip. Sure, you can fill this if you want yet when the plastic and brass are added it matches better the raised lip on the resin part. To get a better idea dry fit the resin part as if the flap was fully retracted, then you'll see what I mean.The back walls are very delicate so be mindful of this. The inside corner of the inside wall parts will be raised causing a gap at the bottom. To correct this simple shave down this area on the plastic to "make it flush". You will have a bit of play to slide the outer wall left or right to make it look correct. Step II Repeats Step I for the other wing.

Step III

Is where you may choose to use a bit of "blu-tac" to hold the wing secure to your bench. PLUS MODEL have put notches where each support goes but it's still a delicate operation. No, it is NOT difficult it's just one at a time and before you know it "ta da!" all done. Make sure that they all line up because you're about to run a wire. Naturally you repeat this technique for the other side.

Step IV

The holes in the supports for the wire to go in are really tight. I didn't have one support spot on and thus had to remove and refit. Then you place the long beam running the length of the inner flap area. Again, make certain those M8 support parts are perfectly aligned or the beam will be crooked. I know because mine were not and had to be fixed. That said, I'm happy these mistakes happened so I wouldn't make them on the other side and could go back and correct my errors.

Step V

The only thing you might do in this step that is not in the instructions is a little more sanding to resin part 6. To fit in the wire you just installed either clip the wire or sand the plug. Then adjust the part to fit with the back plastic wall of aileron area. When that's done it looks great! Parts M11 and M10 look very similar, thus removing one part number and installing should be considered.

Step VI

Parts M7 have to be formed or curved differently for the supports they rest on. These can be fiddly so I'd recommend a slower working CA to give you time to place them and then go back and reinforce them with more CA glue where they rest and where no one will see the extra glue. Thankfully PLUS MODEL have put in an etched channel to help with placement.

Step VII

This step looks complicated but isn't. The instructions show what needs to be done but it's up to you to sand the tips of the resin to make the parts line up. And don't forget to follow the circled guide for the correct angle of parts M35. The insert notches on the resin need to be cleaned out so the PE will fit perfectly.

Step VIII

In this step you'll be removing the bulbous section of the upper wing. I ran into a road block here as you can see by the pictures. It took less than a few hours for PLUS MODEL to return my email with corrections as to what exactly needed to be done. They will be happy to email the correction sheets but I've included them as well. I would suggest undercutting this by a few millimeters and then test fitting.

Step IX

You'll need to do some test fitting in the final step. Make your wire or rod over 14 mm and adjust as you see fit to get the droop. Another way of doing this is to drill the holes in the back wall where the wire plugs in. This way you can slide it to the distance needed. I think this will make it more secure too. Or you can secure the outer section of the flap and slide the inner to match up. Either way the results look terrific. Now before I get a ton of email, the final position of the inner and outer flaps is not correct in the bottom photos. In the build they will look offset as they should.

Step X

Place your decals as per the instructions and now you have completed the flap project and added a whole new level of detail to a kit that welcomes every little bit.

Very Special Thanks go out to PLUS MODEL for sending these flaps for review and adding to the build series. During the Nuremberg toy fair they are at B84 stand 7 Part 2 will be bouncing our way soon!

When contacting a retailer about this or any PLUS MODEL product please mention you read an article on KitMaker Network AeroScale. Thank you.