REPOSTED FROM DAMNED IF YOU DOOGS. ORIGINAL POST DATES FROM SEPTEMBER 6, 2010.

One of the lessons I learned building the Dauntless was the futility of super-detailing cockpits. Even on a plane with as large a greenhouse as the Dauntless, everything but the seats, control stick and instrument panel is obscured by the fuselage and more-or-less impossible to see.

With the Wildcats, I decided to take a much more lax approach. No photo etch accessories. No super-detail painting. Instead, I airbrushed everything bronze green, painted the necessary bits black, drybrushed with silver to bring out some details, laid down a dark wash to add shadow detail, then added a few touches of red for various controls. I also added seatbelts made out of painted strips of masking tape and buckles snagged from some spare PE belts. That’s it. All in all, I spent probably a fifth the time on both cockpits combined that I spent agonizing over the Dauntless’ office.

Overall, I think they look pretty damn good.

But now that they’re closed up in the fuselages…you can’t see much more than the headrest and seats…