PCM TA 152

[Kagemusha]

Really nice work Matt, did the Hasegawa pit require any trimming to fit, or did it slot straight in?

 

When I finally get around to building mine, I'm going to use these: http://www.blackdog.cz/products/a32/a32001/1.jpg which might be of interest.

[JamesHatch]

Really nice work Matt, did the Hasegawa pit require any trimming to fit, or did it slot straight in?

 

When I finally get around to building mine, I'm going to use these: http://www.blackdog.cz/products/a32/a32001/1.jpg which might be of interest.

 

I have a set of these for use on my 190D-9 and I highly recommend them. The casting is very crisp. If it suits, try the tailwheel set too. That set is amazing.

 

Jim

[big matt]

did the Hasegawa pit require any trimming to fit, or did it slot straight in?

 

Hey Kagemusha, the Hase pit fit right in. The PCM parts are really close in every detail to the Hasegawa parts. I used a clunky approach to installing it though.

 

 

 

 

As for the control surfaces, those resin ones look great. Unfortunately this is a budget build so I am trying to get things done the hard way. I think this is a pretty nice kit after having spent some time on it.

 

I thinned down the rudder and tail a bit.

 

 

 

 

Not quite as nice as the Hasegawa tail but better than the chunky way it was, I think.

 

I also tried to get a shot of the cockpit sidewalls but my skills with the camera are a little weak...

 

 

 

Hopefully I will get some more work done soon.

[big matt]

My fingers are sore. The tail surfaces required some serious sanding to thin down. Thankfully the plastic is really thick.

 

Left is original, right is sanded down.

 

 

I also tried to get the shape of the inlet a little closer to the real thing. Oh well, it is a little bit better...

 

 

Added some brass wire for the hinges instead of the chunky plastic bumps that the kit comes with.

 

 

 

Now for some rescribing fun. Oh, boy.

[big matt]

Help!!!

I have some questions regarding conflicting references. Does the H-1 have a fairing in front of the forward exhaust outlet on each side?

 

 

Second, this panel line. I thought that was the aft point of the plug added to the Dora. Would the TA have that plug too? I did not think so. I have the Tom Seay drawings and it is not there. Hard to tell from pictures and other references show it and some do not.

 

 

Thanks. Also pardon my bad rescribe job. It is not a strong suit of mine...

[big matt]

I have a few pictures to post. For my money this is starting to look like a TA152. The fit is decent and I have added no filler at this point. Some rescribing and panel corrections still have to be made but getting the wings on was surprisingly easy.

 

 

It doesn't have to fly so this is close enough

 

 

I have had a harder time with Hasegawa 190 wing roots.

 

 

The wheel wells got tweaked a bit.

 

 

All I really did was make the bases for the cannon and change the gear locks a bit.

 

 

The incorrect engine plug is not going to bug me as you can barely see it anyway.

 

 

The shell ejection chute for the nose cannon was opened and I made a chute in the well. It is too short and I did not make the ammo boxes. Maybe next time.

 

 

Not a bad fit at all.

 

 

Now for fun time with the scribing tools.

[mattlow]

Great work Matt.

 

You are making this kit in a most pragmatic way - attention to some of the issues but not going overboard. How I wish I could be so laid back when I get to mine!!

 

Looking forward to more.

 

Matt

[stevegallacci]

Regarding the fuselage plug joint- there wouldn't be an all around joint on the wooden tail set, as the plug is integral to the unit, though the step is still there. As for the fin leading edge, there may or may not be a set of lines there, as it may be presumed that there was a leading edge metal cap strip (??) but maybe not (?). I'm scribing in the strip on mine, until references show otherwise. The fin top might well have had a joint, but likely that was sealed over, I'm keeping mine visible on this first build, but like the Seay drawings, will smooth everything over on later builds. The little panel at the fore end of the tail plane root should remain visible, as that is part of the tail plane access. The tail plane root fairing ought to be more promenate, as it was an overlapping panel attached to the tail plane (and on sub-assembly painted machines, would be painted with the tail plane and not the fin assembly). A detail lacking on the kit is the pass through hole for the elevator connection.

[stevegallacci]

The '152 did not appear to have a round fairing in front of the exhaust pipes (the exhaust port and the pipes are also incorrect) but there was, to greater or lesser extent, a strip of metal (the inner scribed set of lines in front of the exhaust port) that sometimes appeared to serve as a little bit of a fairing, but is would be squared off at the end.

[big matt]

You are making this kit in a most pragmatic way - attention to some of the issues but not going overboard.

 

 

 

Matt

 

Hey Matt, yes, a pragmatist! Or just lazy. I would drive myself crazy trying to fix everything on this kit. Although it is starting to look like a TA152 despite my best efforts .

 

Thanks for the info Steve. I am watching your build as to what I will need the next time I tackle this kit. For now,close will have to do.

 

Middling progress report.

 

Got the windscreen on with just a little sanding. Added a couple hinges at the bottom for the cowling.

 

 

Forgot to drill out the ejection chutes for the wing guns so that got done.

 

 

Also forgot the starboard exhaust deflector so I added that too.

 

 

Had to do "Green 9" for the spinner alone. I know there are issues with the shape of the blades...

 

 

Sanding and filling and scribing and filling and sanding...

[jmustarde]

Looking good Matt. Nice work. We're about neck and neck on these builds! I was just about to add that exhaust deflector myself. I'm been wasting a lot of time trying to get my cowl flaps half decent. I may get some images up later today.

[mattlow]

Matt

 

Below is a photo (I cannot recall where I got it from and who the photographer was - so if you read this apologies for not accrediting it properly/at all) which may answer some of your questions.

 

 

1. Not that the tail end of the plug is, as Steve says, not really visible, whilst forward join is very evident. In fact whole wooden tail is (as you may expect) pretty much devoid of any panel joins etc.

2. Doesn't appear to be a leading edge metal sheet on the verticle tail - or it is very well puttied.

3. Pretty rough metal sheet around horizontal tail/fuselage join & large opening for tail & round(ish) hole for elevator pass through.

4. Note on the upper surface of the vertical tail that, after the small bump for the antenna wire anchor point, the top of the tail appears very flat.

 

Matt

[stevegallacci]

Nice snap. The antenna mount is a little strip of metal that runs along the top of the fin for a short bit.

Good tip about the leading edge.

[big matt]

That is a nice pic Matt. I guess I have some filling to do. That looks like the Seay drawing to me, without a very pronounced seam close to the horizontal stab. It almost looks as though the leading edge of the tail had strips running perpendicular to the fuselage. Strange. Pretty rough is right. I found a bunch of Drawings from a Russian website with details of several sections of the TA in comparison to the Dora. Pretty interesting. Just don't know how accurate, and I don't read Cyrillic.

Thanks to you and Steve I have been learning a great deal about this aircraft.

 

Guess I will have to build another one...

[stevegallacci]

The series of dark stripes in the fin's leading edge are the glue lines between the segments of the built-up wooden fin. The lighter perpendicular stripes underneath might (a total WAG) be under laminate(?).

The area of very pale color around the tail plane mount hole might be a base color otherwise protected from overpainting by the cover plate that has now been removed. While the wooden parts may have been given a cover coat of a red-brown lacquer, they also likely got at least a base color coat or even a full finish and camo at the point of manufacture.

The 4+ book mentions an atypical yellow-green color, perhaps a primer, on some of the parts to this machine, and I wonder if the flair port area and that sanded down spot next to it show the color in question?