I'm really liking this project. I've noticed over the years that while my hands are busy I'll be thinking about the subject I'm working on, whether it's some weapon or person or instrument, etc. This little scout has me thinking about building balsa wood stuff when I was a kid, the music of Yes, dragons, flying machines and even Stuka dive bombers (it kinda looks like one).
It has a lot of different components, which is something that is typical of a lot of my pieces and also something that I like. While I've been concentrating on the welding of the fuselage and wings, I've been fiddling away at the landing gear (quite tricky) and thinking ahead about the cockpit. I've also built a simple pedestal to mount this machine on for display as any sort of hanging system would be distracting.
A small dilemma: I use an oxygen/acetylene torch with nickel brazing rods which generates a lot of heat so with most pieces I've got to get the welding done before I get too carried away with the delicate little bits that are joined with epoxy resin. But this one is particularly complex in that I've had to do some epoxy stuff on the fuselage which may require me to keep bits of it cool somehow whilst trying to do the last few welds.
I'm thinking the name I gave it is going to make sense (if you believe in dragons). Check it out: this vehicle is an un-armed scout which can keep up with any dragon and even out run some of the older ones. It's strength, and what keeps it's pilot safe, is it's unbelievable maneuverability. It's weakness, and henceforth it's rating as an Icarus class of scout, is it's limited altitude and it's vulnerability when following a dragon too close to water.