F100Hun Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 This will be my first post to LSP 'Works in Progress' so please bear with me. I'm building the Hasegawa 1/32 P-47D which is a P-47D-25-RA flown by Lt Frank Oiler with the 78th FG/84 FS in 1944. The paint scheme for my model will end up RAF Dark Green on top and RAF Sky on the underside. The kit itself has been really enjoyable so far and the pieces really seem to fit well. I decided to invest in the Eduard color photo etch and I think it was worth while. I say that, at the same time I'm swearing about it under my breath. All in all I'm relatively happy with the way the pit turned out. This was my first time messing with PE and not just building OOB. Thanks for looking. Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100Hun Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 Now that the pit was done I wanted to get it mounted in the fuselage as soon as I could. The fit was tight but went together well. Hasegawa has done a really nice job with this kit. The seam work will be minimal, and the stabs have virtually no gap when put in place correctly.... though getting them together takes a little effort. Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroenpeters Posted September 15, 2009 Share Posted September 15, 2009 Cool pit for an even cooler plane! Looking forward for progress shots! Kind regards, Jeroen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100Hun Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 The next part of my build was the first problem I've run into with this kit, but read about it before. It appears that the cowl flap ring is designed to be mounted too high, and needs to be lowered by approx. 1/8th of an inch. Others have cut the mounting rings off and lowered them, but that seemed to me that it would throw off the engine alignment as well. I decided to experiment with the 'closed' flap ring since I planned to use the 'Open' flap ring. By trimming away the top of the hole that mounted to the fuselage, and raising the keyed notch, I effectively allowed the flap ring to sit lower against the fuselage. I also had to notch the bottom to allow for the oil coolers. The cowl flap on the left is the closed flaps I tested with, but you can see how I notched both sets out for the oil coolers. Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100Hun Posted September 15, 2009 Author Share Posted September 15, 2009 The next set of pictures shows the before (open set of flaps) and after (closed set of flaps) when mounted to the fuselage. Hope I didn't get too bogged down in details. Bottom line is I liked the way it came out and I didn't have to saw anything off Thanks for looking Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Nice work so far Bill! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lampie Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Looks great Bill. Another good way of dealing with the cowling issue as well Nige P-47 SIG http://p47.kitmaker.net/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingman777 Posted September 16, 2009 Share Posted September 16, 2009 Good stuff Bill and glad to see you've become an active poster at LSP. I"m looking forward to seeing this build come to life. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mhorina Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Hello Bill L, Another word of caution in regards the Hase P-47 when you glue the wings together (tops and bottoms) do not glue the flap area together. There is a mismatch on some kits where the wings meet the fuselage, by not gluing the flap area together you are able to adjust the wing trailing edge areas to the wing roots. The installed flaps hide this area and if you decide to use the dropped flaps there is nothing to do to hide any opening in the wing trailing edge. Or just be careful in this area wing to fuselage. HTH Nice work so far keep as posted as you go along. More pics,more pics. Mike Horina Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Juggernut Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Another word of warning....Since you've moved the cowl flaps and subsequently the cowl lower (to fit better) your engine might not fit within the cowling any longer as it will sit too high. At the very least, the propeller will sit too high in relation to the cowl opening. The entire assembly (cowl and engine as a unit) need to be lowered to keep the symmetry correct. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100Hun Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 Thanks for the words of encouragement and warning. I will pay attention to these as I proceed. When I tested lowering the cowl flaps with the closed flaps. I did a test fit with the engine and 'taped together ' cowl. They appear to be centered correctly with the correct alignment for the prop. This was a concern after reading how another modeler sawed off the mount and lowered everything. When I mount the engine I'll be sure to take a pic of that assembly for you. I think I have a pic of the test mount I can post for now. Now bear in mind, nothing is glued and there is a little 'play' in the cowl flaps and cowl while they are sitting on there, plus I'm trying to do two things at once... never easy when you're looking for detail.... However, you can see that things do line up where they are supposed to be. This made me optimistic that this would work. Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100Hun Posted September 18, 2009 Author Share Posted September 18, 2009 I got alot done today (yesterday actually) but most of it was the little things, that while they take alot of time, add so much to the finished model. A majority of my time was spent painting and doing seam work. The later is a new endeavor for me, as I used to just heap on the Testors glue and run my finger over it while it was still wet. Paint covered up my mistakes . But since joining the local model club (shout out to the guys in IPMS Eagle Sqrn- Raleigh NC) I've seen some really good modelers demonstrate to the club how to do things better. Now part of learning is applying what you learn, and sometimes failing.... the key is to keep trying. OK stepping down off the soap box. So I sprayed a lot of the bits and pieces ( engine parts, prop, etc..) and set them aside to dry. The engine and detailing that big boy is my next effort. In the mean time SEAMS SEAMS SEAMS!!!. The good news is that this kit is so well manufactured that the fuselage seams don't appear to need much work, but still can't be neglected. So CA glue...wet sand...CA glue ..wet sand... yadda yadda yadda. Well I'm happy with the final results, and when you look at the pic, you'll see that I polished it out with my polishing stick and you can see no seam, well you can see where it was, but if you could run your finger over it...smooth as silk!! Remember the CA glue appears clear on some of the gap filled areas that were polished up. That's why it looks like there is a gap in the nose. FYI - Don't panic - The wings are not glued in place yet, so I haven't tackled those seams. I'm going to let it sit for a while (de-gas a little) and tomorrow morning I'll cover the seams with Mr Surface to fill in any pin holes left in the glue from using the accelerator. I can let it sit while I start the engine work. Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wingman777 Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Glad to see the progress Bill, keep the momentum going. I"ll be referring to your build as I've just worked out a trade to acquire one of these kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azgaron Posted September 18, 2009 Share Posted September 18, 2009 Nice progress Bill! Looking good! Cheers, Håkan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F100Hun Posted September 19, 2009 Author Share Posted September 19, 2009 Thanks guys. It's a great kit Wingman777, certainly one of the best I've ever worked on. I've got the 1/32 Hasegawa P-40E and the Trump F4U-4 on deck and it will interesting to compare those builds to this one.... especially the Trump kit. Seems you never know what you'll get from them in the quality area. Not sure how much (if anything) will get done over the weekend, life usually gets in the way. I'll post whatever I get done. Bill L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now