In progress

First job is to identify the modifications needed to the panels layout 

First cut is done. No coming back possible now. The shorter nose is one of the most visible difference of the early Anton 

Got my best tool out to cut the early vents in thin plastic
 

Scrapping the kit vents to get the surface flush
 

I will form the cut sheet over the kit one to get the embossed profile behind the exhaust line 

forming the curve 

The modded vent ready to be glued back in place, with a slight offset back to have the new panel flush with the other. dont forget to trim the middle fuselage joint a little to have the same total width once the fuselage is assembled.
 

Back in position, like nothing never happened
 

some reinforcement strips
 

overal view, all the external mods ard adressed. cockpit mods are next
 

Last bits added to both consoles. Color is next. 

Mr Color H68 and 69 were used. Then darkened and lightened mixes were sprayed on the points of interest to get an uneven pattern.
As you can notice, the surface is pretty rough, with rivets protruding badly over. That will be adressed after. 

ven with that rough surface texture, the rivets are not very noticable when you distance yourself from the model. 

The torture session can now begin. For this I "soften" the fresh paint with mineral spirits (work small areas or it goes quickly out of control) and strike it with the edge of a scalpel to create weak points in the paint surface.
Then the surface is rubbed with q tips, towel and sanding sponge. If you goes slowly the effect is quite controllable.
the rubbing treatement is already softening the surface and the hard edges of the rivets are leveling themselves with the rest, leaving just a metalic spot were the edge was. 

Then the model is back at the spraybooth and an heavilly thinned paint is layered over the scratches and the rivets to blend them in.
Again if you work small and heavilly diluted, you have total control of the effect. 

And i tryed a macro shot, but the cell phone is not at its best in this area.. 

Again, more distanced view : the surface texture is quite softened and the rivets less noticable 

crosses on, but wrong type on the wings 🙁
 

Used Ref4 instead of 1
 

busy on the front cowling
 

Byebye the crosses, hopefully the paint was still fresh, the damage is limited and repair should be straightforward.
 

The hasegawa gear legs are notoriously too long and shock absorber have been measured on an uncompressed sample. The general stance once assembled looks off. The gear legs have thus been shortened to allow a more natural pose.