Fixing some issues

Adding some installation space for the main viewport

My restauration process started officially when I filed excess material off the area where the windshield was to be installed. It did not end up sitting in perfectly, but the situation was greatly improved. The future repainting of the cockpit interior was facilitated somewhat when I accidentally knocked off the two benches.

Put-put-puttying

For a long while in the real world I worked on everything but my model, for whatever reason. Maybe the end of winter / almost beginning of spring just didn't get my muses singing. One random day I went and dug out my tools and related paraphernalia.

I applied Tamiya's white tube-putty pretty damn liberally around the places I wanted to even out. One thing I found out just before starting was the panel in the main wing, which made me a bit cautious about fixing it, thanks to its prominent location. Despite myself I decided to go for it anyway, in hopes of good results.

What had annoyed me the most over these years were the insane gaps in the sides of the air/spaceframe, which I had partially made worse myself over a decade ago, while carving up the openings so that the wings could be articulated as designed. Some things I had apparently tried to clean up back in the day, with apparently abysmal success rate.

The final essential fixable area was where the frame and the rear piece with the engine outlets joined. I had left both gaps and unpainted surfaces there. This time I'd make it glorious.

Then some sanding with a bit of filing

After a good night's sleep and a day's work I sat down with sanding paper and started with my biggest worry, the main wing. I didn't really sand it so heavily that all the paint disappeared, as I was worried about losing the protruding surface shapes (had I got the tools and the experience, I'd turned carved the panel lines out instead of having these bumplines).

Then came the sides of the Shuttle. I grinded away a good amount of the putty lumps but again didn't go as far as removing all the paint in the region. Maybe I was a bit paranoid when I just wanted to clean up my mess without delusions of master modeler grandeur.

Worst of the worst were located in the lower rear part that I also attacked with a file, those things being sturdier and better-shaped. Maybe it'd look like a donkey's butt after getting painted, or more likely it'd be better than my original attempt. What the final photo showed might still get some touching up later on.