Coolie Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Gorgeous work matey. How did you find the kit overall? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Great job! And I wouldn't worry about the matte aluminum finish, after exposure to the elements, the aluminum would have have oxidized to a matte finish anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 How did you find the kit overall? Well it was the first "old" kit that I've tackled so I can't comment on how it compares to other older kits. Also, having next to no experience to draw on, I am learning alot of stuff the hard way - so some problems I had may be more to do with the tradesman than the tool! It needed alot of care in the build. Fuselage halfs were not 'fully rounded' at the join which meant alot of sanding and filling to get a (relatively) seamless finish. I approached the wing build by attaching the two top halves to the single lower half (that's a total of three halves so no wonder I was confused ). Anyway, when fitted to the fuselage there was a step of 1 to 2mm along the upper edge of the wing root. This needed alot of chocking and wedging to force the plastic into place, although I was pretty happy with the final result - no filler on the upper seam The wing top/bottom halves also have a funny joint set-up on the trailing edge. The rear joint is actually below and about 5mm inboard from the trailing edge. This joint, running right through the middle of both ailerons (textured) and both buttefly flaps required alot of filling to (almost) cover up. The bare-metal surrounded "vent" holes on the anti-glare panelling are set too low. Photos show them basically in-line with the guns. I was happy with the effect I got from scribing them and adding rivet detail, but when I came to do the anti-glare paneling (which photos show was basically straight) I needed to cheat and bend the lower line to not intersect the vents . Too late I noticed that the canopy sat high at the very rear. More rigorous test fitting would have identified this. It aint perfect now - sits about 4 scale inches high at the rear. Actually, if I had a wish for one single aftermarket product for this kit it would be a nicely detailed canopy with riveted frameing, and with better/stronger frameing deliniation than on the stock kit parts. It was really difficult to cut out the masking and the final job was very ordinary... Fact is that I am still terrified of clear parts. The landing gear is very fragile. Also difficult to align. Photos and drawings lead me to beleive that the main gear struts angled forward from perpendicular to the main fore-aft axis (from side view). I am pretty convinced that I overdid this however. Having made alot of compromises already as a "practice kit", I was unwilling and too inpatient in the "race to the finish" to attempt to scratch up a decent gunsight. The kit gives you a basic shape which leaves alot to be desired, although the clear parts would (I think) build well into a scratched up type 100 (IIRC) army gunsight. Other modifications included removing and re-setting the tailwheel at a more convincing angle and dropping the elevators. It's also worth mentioning that scribed in a few details (such as the vents on the anti-glare panel, the runner groves for the canopy and the prop spinner seam, that weren't shown on the original model in any way. In summary, I reckon the kit has great potential for a skilled and experienced modeller. Full cockpit rebuild is required including instrument panel. For a motivated newbie like me, who has patience and an interest in learning, it is a fun, highly education boo-boo fest (I could name at least 20 stuff-ups on this build) which can still result in a somewhat passable addition to the display case. Finally.... A really great part of this build has been the process of posting progress regularly to this thread. Receiving the tips and compliments has been encouraging. This forum changes modelling from being a very solitary past time (not that I mind) into more of a shared experience. Good show LSP! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 Some more photos if I may. Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 "studio" shot Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 Pleased with the gear. Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 The canopy is only white glued just in case anyone makes a detailed replacement. Just enough visual suggestion of appropriate cockpit clutter catches the eye to make the work that went into scratch building the pit worth while. Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Koala Posted February 23, 2005 Author Share Posted February 23, 2005 That's all folks Thanks for the encouragement. Looks like it gunna be an alcaded P-38 next Greg W 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MikeMaben Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Nice work Koala!, I like the base too. Mike a b e n ...model on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimInOz Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Bloody beauty Koala, the whole thing looks the business, plane and base. Looking forward to seeing your P-38 and Zeke builds. Stay safe and well. Cheers JimInOz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coolie Posted February 23, 2005 Share Posted February 23, 2005 Thanks for the description as well. I reckon you could do an article with that Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Mike Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Koala, I'm shamelessly going to use your build for reference and inspiration. I think this is an ideal first kit to scribe- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 ...if you're a newbie I'm the fifth Beatle!l So YOU are the fifth Beatle Nice to know you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erwin Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Koala, I'm shamelessly going to use your build for reference Isn't that a 'copyright' violation ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Perris Posted April 20, 2005 Share Posted April 20, 2005 Koala, Congrats on a great looking bird. You mentioned in your string that the IJN planes might not have had the same paint deterioration problems as the IJA planes. Getting ready to do a N1K2-J George--can you point me in the right direction concerning the weathering of the IJN versus the IJA planes. thx, Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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