Out2gtcha Posted June 25, 2019 Share Posted June 25, 2019 Looking good!!! I love how sharp the FM&P inlet section looks. Much thinner and more scale than OOB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 (edited) Thanks for your support and positive comment. Finally...phew ... I have reached my objective in remodeling the shape of the forward fuselage. I have been working for four days on it but in the end it worth the energy and patience used to it. I sprayed 5 times primer with the sanding work coming with. The most difficult had been to reproduce the flat surface starting from the camera bay to the nose. The shape of the air intake looks better now. Honnestly this build is far to be an easy one but the is the cost for an unique aircraft model. I keep working hard on it because I'm waiting for the Kinetic Mirage 2000 that probably would be my next project after this RF-8. I return to my work bench preparing the next update, stay tuned. Cheers Eric Edited June 27, 2019 by EricF johncrow, Gazzas, TorbenD and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted June 27, 2019 Author Share Posted June 27, 2019 Small update with the stiffener plate between the camera bay and the front wheel well. Coneheadff, Gazzas, LSP_Kevin and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hansen Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Eric, those shape fixes look great. In fairness to Paul, he did the best he could with the info he had. Bill Spidle and I managed to get him the Vought factory drawings, but how much he used them, and where he was in the patternmaking when he got them, i don't know. Regards your earlier comment about the Aires nose wheel well: If i use the Fisher nose wheel well, will the Aires cockpit tub give me fit problems? i got one on the way from the late great "Superheat"'s kit stash. -d- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 David, I agree with you and I mesure how it had been difficult for Paul to make the master. I discover every day that reproducing to scale all the different volumes and their intersections is by far a difficult task, especially for the flat surfaces on each side of the fuselage. Nevertheless, I am really involved in this build in regards to Paul's great job in this kit. Concerning the nose wheel well, I have discovered that Fisher's one has better dimensions than the Aires. Aires wheel well is a bit larger to fit the Trumpeter kit. Since I dimesionned my Stations 3 and 4 windows according to it, they look too small now on my model. Honestly I discovered this issue yesterday when I made the stiffener plate :-))) Anyway, it is too late now. The perfection does not exist and it is only a hobby. ;-) So, I recommend to use the Fisher wheel well instead of the Aires and it will be easier to install. It is the same for the air intake which looks too big on the Trumpeter kit. Again according to me, Fisher intake looks good compared to the real thing. Thanks for your sharing and comments David. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Hansen Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 Eric i will proceed with the Fisher wheel well. Especially since i have it painted, LOL. My biggest concern right now is the cross section at the belly. The forward belly was flat as a pancake, but the resin parts have sort of a tenuous mating surface and i feel that if i don't somehow clamp the lower surface to something perfectly flat while gluing, the end result will resemble a Revell Germany kit box.. Know what i mean?? -d- Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted June 28, 2019 Author Share Posted June 28, 2019 13 minutes ago, David Hansen said: Eric i will proceed with the Fisher wheel well. Especially since i have it painted, LOL. My biggest concern right now is the cross section at the belly. The forward belly was flat as a pancake, but the resin parts have sort of a tenuous mating surface and i feel that if i don't somehow clamp the lower surface to something perfectly flat while gluing, the end result will resemble a Revell Germany kit box.. Know what i mean?? -d- Yep! Mine had been initially tortured by dipping it in boiling water to take benefit of shape memory of the resin. Next, I repeated the process several times until recovering the flat belly in forcing on it. The resin is very flexible and depth enough that avoids any risk of brake. Then after, I sanded down the belly on a sheet of sand paper on a flat surface. It worth working patiently on this kit because this airplane is really fabulous. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timmy! Posted June 28, 2019 Share Posted June 28, 2019 18 hours ago, David Hansen said: Eric, those shape fixes look great. In fairness to Paul, he did the best he could with the info he had. Bill Spidle and I managed to get him the Vought factory drawings, but how much he used them, and where he was in the patternmaking when he got them, i don't know. Regards your earlier comment about the Aires nose wheel well: If i use the Fisher nose wheel well, will the Aires cockpit tub give me fit problems? i got one on the way from the late great "Superheat"'s kit stash. -d- There is a funny phenomenon, Paul and I have discussed several times, that no matter how accurate a kit is someone will see flaws in the shape. In fact, Paul specifically mentioned to me that sometimes you have to meet expectations of shape, rather than true representation. With that said, David your and Bill's work ended up in my hands. The factory drawings were plotted in CAD at 1:1 scale and using noted dimensions and x, y, and z coordinates the factory drawing were "corrected" to reduce distortion from copying and draftmans' errors. 3D surfaces were constructed from those cross sections and profiles, and then scaled to fit the rear section of the Trumpeter Kit. The 3d model was then CNC cut to provide masters for Paul to do his magic and convert the solid part provided to the kit. Eric, Do not read this as criticism of your build. To the contrary, you are building to suit your vision and the results are very good so far. I'm looking forward to kits completion and see what else you have in store. Cheers, Timmy! Starfighter, Chris_B-1B and johncrow 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted June 29, 2019 Author Share Posted June 29, 2019 5 hours ago, Timmy! said: There is a funny phenomenon, Paul and I have discussed several times, that no matter how accurate a kit is someone will see flaws in the shape. In fact, Paul specifically mentioned to me that sometimes you have to meet expectations of shape, rather than true representation. With that said, David your and Bill's work ended up in my hands. The factory drawings were plotted in CAD at 1:1 scale and using noted dimensions and x, y, and z coordinates the factory drawing were "corrected" to reduce distortion from copying and draftmans' errors. 3D surfaces were constructed from those cross sections and profiles, and then scaled to fit the rear section of the Trumpeter Kit. The 3d model was then CNC cut to provide masters for Paul to do his magic and convert the solid part provided to the kit. Eric, Do not read this as criticism of your build. To the contrary, you are building to suit your vision and the results are very good so far. I'm looking forward to kits completion and see what else you have in store. Cheers, Timmy! Very interresting input Timmy about the genesis of this kit! Thanks for sharing. You are absolutely right when you say building a kit to suit our modeler vision. I have an exemple: the Mig 21 MF from Trumpeter which wrong in shapes around everywhere. In the end with an extended nose and a good finish we obtain a beautiful result. I think specially about the romanian one I built several month ago. Sometimes we think that we are right in correcting something and months later we discover that we did a missinterpretation of a picture. I agree with your point of view. Do not hesitate to bring your feedback if you see that I am wrong somewhere. Greetings from France Eric johncrow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted June 30, 2019 Author Share Posted June 30, 2019 (edited) The nose camera bulge is installed. The window is in plexi as well. Edited June 30, 2019 by EricF LSP_Kevin, johncrow, scvrobeson and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 First of all thank you very much for all the followers. Today three pictures of the nose mounted ECM fairing Cheers Eric Starfighter, johncrow, Marcel111 and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 On 7/3/2019 at 6:30 PM, MARU5137 said: FLAWLESS work there Eric. Thank you very much Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricF Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 Hi everyone, I have work on the fin. I made the trailing edge as thin as possible, I modified the position of the rudder actuator. The CME are made from the one furnished in the Fisher kit. Just for comparison, we have the non corrected fin of the F-8E on the left Bye Eric Marcel111, Starfighter, scvrobeson and 5 others 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Excellent work Eric, that fin looks much more sharp and realistic after the thinning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crobinsonh Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Lovely progress. I do love the F-8 and you are doing an amazing job on the three you are building. 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