Sharkmouth Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 I got my kit yesterday and am quite pleased so far... More coming... Regards, Ads and mpk 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkmouth Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 As you saw in the last photo, Sprue GP (Glass Parts) had its own box as well as a plastic part to protect them. Let's continue the look inside: The clear parts are exceptionally thin, distortion free, and (of course) clear. At the upper edge (furthest from the camera) you can see the second canopy which is frame less. I have seen similar ones to this on war bird restorations. The PE is quite minimal and I wish the hardware, without the belts, were included as I like to make my own belts. Pop Eye has a tan that is the envy of many a Jersey Shore person! Two Huge decal sheets. Looking closely at the stencils, I saw several misspellings and a space entered inside a word making it into two. To be honest, I do not plan to use these decals as I await Zotz' sheets. The fuselages have details on the bottom edge thanks to multi-part molds being used (see the complete photo of sprue A). The engines have a lot of detail but this is one thing where I can improve on by replacing the spark plugs and straps to the inter-cylinder oil lines. The ignition ring and valve push rod tubes are molded together. One of two spinners in the kit. This one is not mentioned at all in the instructions. The base of these propeller blades are too thick. Splicing in appropriately sized rod and fairing them in will imrpove the look considerably. The inside of this cowling piece has a scribed cut line not mentioned in the instructions and may be for a future release. The insides of the fuselage where the rear canopy doesn't have a scribed cut line for the longer rear canopy as used on the commonwealth produced Harvards. More to come... Regards, mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkmouth Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 The other spinner which is split in two and has raised ribs near the base. This is the one to be used according to the instructions. Spade grip control sticks. The rear face of the instrument panels have nice instrumentation details. I need to see if the main landing (alighting) gear mounts are too inboard and need to be moved out. Note the scribed cut line to be able to add the MG blister. More to come... Regards, mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkmouth Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 The last set... Regards, mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ScottsGT Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Thanks. Now I need one! Where did you order it from? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SinuheH Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Nice, nice, nice! Thanks for posting. This is going to the top of my to do pile! Work shall commence immediately…… Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jozef Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 No, it surely is not MY type of aircraft but I LOVE IT and I WANT IT Jozef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Cool, thanks for the close up sprue pics! This is a kit that likely will be on my spring "tax refund purchasing" list. There seem to be a LOT of those making that list lately! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hubert Boillot Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 (edited) Thank you for the photos. From a very first look, there is a lot of potential. Some comments in no specific order: - the clear parts are definitely for a T-6G, the frameless rear blister being used on T6-Fs and retrofitted on many T-6Gs - there seems to be instrument panels for both the AT-6 earlier series and the T-6G. The typical T-6G front instrument panel did not have the top right corner notch for the machine gun as in AT-6Cs. To be checked with the decals though as they show only one type of IP for respectively the front and the rear panels. On the T-6G, the front and rear panels were basically the same, with some minor differences. Aft panels for the early AT6 versions, including Harvards II were different (more of a triangular shape). The Noorduyn-built AT-16 (Harvards IIB) had an altogether completely different and far more complex IP. - the seats are OK for all early (AT-6 A to D and Harvards II) versions. They may have been seen on the T-6Gs, but part of the T-6G rebuidling process was changing such things as removing the rear seat swivelling capacity (used when there was a rear gun installed) and fitting P-51 type seats. This anyway, easy to fix, as the the P-51 type seats are well documented - there is a control bar for Commonwealth-type trainers, like Harvards. Following other discussions on LSP on other threads, I need to check the drawings of Harvard 4s (not IV, btw) which were Canadian-built post war T6 on the T6-G standard (the only new airframes built anywhere after WWII btw) to compare with the typical Harvard II canopy. I have some photos of Harvard 4s with T6-G type front canopy but the Harvard II-type rear part. There were so many modifications on these T-6 that I confess, although I have done more than normal research on the type, I am still sometimes confused from one type to another. I think this was typical of all Harvard 4s, but need to double-check. - the typical long exhaust used on Commonwealth T6 is there. See my comments above about Harvards - the structure of the anti-crash pylon behind the front pilot seat is correct for T-6 Gs. Earlier versions, up to the AT-6 C, including Harvard IIs (which were based on the AT6-A airframe) had an "X" type pylon rather than a "N" type pylon) - The gear legs attchments seem to be set too far inboard. This is an impression, not a definitive statement, based on the above photos and Glen's photos (but we know they rushed through the assembly of the first shots). The Paul Matt drawings give a distance of roughly 6 mm in 1/32 scale from the edge of the straight center wing section (the middle of the bulged center-section/outer wing joint) to the center of the gear leg. Of all the drawings I looked at, Paul Matt's seemed the most accurate, and were at least correct for all the key dimensions. - Can you check wether the extremity of the wing has the typical "washout" (negative incidence of the tip of the wing). This is a very visible feature of the T-6 which was introduced to counter the initial vicious stall characteristics of the early models. - I concur with impression of a "fat" look of the root of the propeller. Easy to fix, by scraping, sanding or some alternative mode of surgery. - I think I remember some early versions of the T-6G and SNJ-8 had the fat spinner. Again, something to be verified. All in all, this is a very impressive model. That some elements seem mixed between different marks is not necessarily a bad thing. I can pesonally testify how hard it is to sort out versions when preparing a model of the T-6 family. No doubt some correction sets will allow to enlarge the field of options. I will personally start working on some as soon as I have the kit in my hands. Hubert. Edited January 15, 2014 by MostlyRacers Sharkmouth 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Jessie_C Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 There's certainly nothing there to run away from . I'm sure that we'll see many contest winners being built from this kit. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Saul, Hubert - I believe I have a review sample on the way, and I'm wondering if you'd allow me to appropriate some of your respective material for the review (with proper credit of course), as it's already more detailed and more comprehensive than I'm qualified to produce on the type. Perhaps even a collaborative review? You can let me know via PM if you like. Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmyjet Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 (edited) Looks good! Agree about the gear legs, the mounting lugs look as if the gear legs will attach 90 deg to the "ground", whereas on the Harvard they were angled 90 deg to the bottom surface of the wing centre section, which looked sightly forward swept, when standing on the ground being a tail dragger. The propellor hub had the piston and distinctive hocky puck counterweights for the pitch change mechanism, as for example all the SAAF aircraft didn't have spinnners. How has that been modelled? Couldn't pick them out on the sprues. I like the way they have done the cooling baffels on the engine, by moulding them in a disc, nice detail. Also have included the rocker box oil pipes between the cylinder barrels, also good detail. Edited January 15, 2014 by Jimmyjet Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iain Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Looks great - thanks for taking the time to photograph and post! Iain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkmouth Posted January 15, 2014 Author Share Posted January 15, 2014 Saul, I believe I have a review sample on the way, and I'm wondering if you'd allow me to appropriate some of your respective material for the review (with proper credit of course), Of course you may use my photographs. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Kevin Posted January 15, 2014 Share Posted January 15, 2014 Of course you may use my photographs. Regards, Thank you Saul! Kev Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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