Brian79

Well, I hate to say it, but after tonight I'm done with modeling for a really, really long time, maybe even forever. I was making good progress on the helldiver and I was done test fitting the tail planes and I dropped it on the floor and the wing exploded. I'm not even mad, I've just reached the limits of my patience, I'd have to get a new kit at this point and I'm definitely not, so I'm calling this one done and I'm hanging up my hat. I think I have too much going on elsewhere in my life and maybe this was just a signal to retire. Anyways mods, please lock up or delete this thread because it wont be updating it any further. [ /URL]

Thanks, I'll try to get one out of the hasegawa kit I'm thinking of using that style hub instead of the kit one I pooched!

Does anyone know if the Helldiver shares props with another aircraft, p-47 or 51 maybe?

We'll see what happens, Ernie says they are really nice. If not I've got the CAD started for one, I'll just have it printed (not shape ways either). I'm going to just build everything I can before I contact them.

Finally I cut the seat down to 1/32 to accomodate the pilot I'll be using

I also installed the navigation lights. The kit supplied lights are too small so I used spare clear sprue to make them...

Ok, I made a little more progress tonight. After dry fitting the wings numerous times I decided that to get a strong bond and a tight fit I would tightly tape the fuselage together and mount one wing at a time and then take it back apart to detail the interior. I know this sounds odd, but I have done it before and with a lot of checking it works fine. My initial mock-ups with just the spars showed that I would have to apply extreme pressure to get both wings snug at the same time. With the interior absent I can stick my fingers in the bomb bay and push really hard to get a ultra snug joint. The spars have ample slop in them to allow for an accurately aligned bomb bay later. You may notice that I also glued the wing together with out the PE parts inside, I also mocked this up and everything will fit fine after the wings are assembled. Again I did this because you really risk damaging the fine details adjusting the wing. One important note to that effect: Notice the crack on the inboard side of the wheel well, I did that on purpose to eliminate the natural gap that is there. Check out the HPH build pics and you will notice a decent sized void they have filled there, if you cut this area it will snap right in, a little epoxy and it will smooth right out, hope that makes sense...

It It is an extremely nice kit, but there are definately some areas where they just didn't go the extra mile, I would still recommend it the shapes and outlines are solid, the details just aren't as nice in some spots, engine and cockpit are sparse, wheel wells and bombbay are excellent. I would still buy it again

Thanks, I will, I'm not setting my hopes high though, I have a horrible track record for customer service recently !

Well tonight I worked on the prop hub and the engine face. The engine had a blob of resin in the hole where the brass rod attaches and i didn't drill the hole straight so I made a big mess of it, same with the prop hub. I wish they would have just drilled the hole in the spinner, it's hard to drill a perfect hole on the vertical axis. Does anyone know if Eduard has a 2600 in the works? This kit is beautiful, but the more I look at it the engine is really, really weak. I have a feeling I'll be CADing one up if not...

Ive been working pretty steadily on this kit and so far its pretty good. I started with the cowl and added some interior detail because the PE is really too one dimensional, still not done yet. The pros are that all of the major parts fit together great, even better than some injection kits. The clear parts are absolutely fantastic, I mean absolutely best Ive ever seen. The Cowling PE couldnt fit any better.... it is perfect. Surface detail is great too and there are very few mold issues with the main components. The cockpit is really nice too, except there are some overscale issues Ive yet to take a closer look at, I think chopping the seats and headrest will be good enough, no sweat. The down side is my upper engine cylinders are all pretty much trashed by rubber molds that were worn out, they have little pieces of blue rubber on them from where the mold was starting to disentigrate. The landing gear legs are pretty ugly too in terms of mold quality, but I can make them work with I think and finally the pieces that go in the gear bay that attach to the struts are broken with no missing pieces in the bag. I'll ask for replacements, if they wont, I'll CAD up a new motor and other parts I need. If they address the issues for me, Id give this kit a 10/10 which it really does deserve!

Part 26 is an alternative to mounting the cowling to the fuselage. Also the entire cockpit area is over scale maybe 1/28 ish not just the seats. If you have a tamiya corsair compare the similar parts and it's very apparent.

Just curious are you supposed to remove the wing attachment area of the fuselage? It looks like there where holes there prior to removal to locate tubing for wing Spars to go through the fuselage.

I paid on the 27th and haven't heard a word....

I thought about canceling my direct order and getting it from them but the price difference was to significant

Anyone that just paid in the last few days get their shipping notice yet?

4 pages and no progress pics? Isn't there a rule against this! LoL

Yeah I'm done for the year with this and the ZM 335! Time to get building!!

I just received my request as well. Edit: I figured it out, total was slightly more than my invoice, must be pp fees.

I should have been more specific, I received the auto reply, but not a request for payment.

Based on your experience, I definitely have a problem with my order, I haven't heard a word since I placed my order on Wednsday, no payment request, etc. I'll give then a few more days before I inquire.

Exactly

If the euro goes nuts against the dollar over the brexit It could be a deal breaker for me. I don't like the fact that I haven't payed yet, hopefully the invoice price I received is what they actually bill.

That is my exact same experience, thanks!

Do they make the kits once 20 have been sold?