Late afternoon update

Nearly ready for takeoff.

Work is progressing well.  There are a handful of details left on the Guard, plus gold on the wings, and of course the banner.  Other than that, things are done and ready for varnishing.  This is where I have a problem.  It's been raining since a few minutes after I primed the wings earlier today, and there are no signs of the rain stopping.  What's more, I think the forecast for tonight involves the words "wintry" and "mix," which is not a recipe for good spraying conditions.  This isn't so bad for the Guard, but presents a problem for the assault squad. 

When I put the jump packs on paperclips, I did so by drilling into the recess where the pack attaches to the torso.  I did this because it was an area that wouldn't show on the finished model, and by drilling in a crevice the bit wouldn't skip around on me.  Turns out this was a mistake.  When I took the clip off the test pack, I had to give it a decent bit of elbow grease.  The point where the clip meets the pack is possibly the worst possible place for so an operation as it is nigh-impossible to cut the clip flush enough for the pack to sit tight against the torso.  I rubbed off a decent amount of paint, despite being careful to minimize this as much as possible, while prepping the pack to fit the marine.  I ended up cutting off the nub on the torso and using the plane above said nub to glue to the opposite plane on the pack.  In retrospect I should have drilled into that plane and not the hollow below, but at least I'll know that for next time.  The point of this is that I want to get a coat of varnish on the packs before I take the clips out so I don't rub any paint off.  I forgot about tonight's humid forecast and now am in a bit of a pickle.  Hopefully the weather clears up tomorrow so I can varnish then, otherwise it'll be a tough choice on how to proceed.  If not for this hiccup I think I could finish tonight, but we'll see how it goes anyway.