chuck540z3 Posted November 20, 2009 Author Share Posted November 20, 2009 Quality control issues are starting to bug me. First, the very nice Academy kit has a big molding flaw on the port side fuselage (Part B2). I recall this flaw from my last build, so I pulled out another kit to compare (top) with the same part I'm using below. Note the dimples and flawed panel line. This is easily fixed, but it's something everyone should be on the watch out for, which is similar to the horizontal stabilizer flaw on the Tamiya F-14A kit. Good thing the leading edge of the walkway covers most of it.... Now a much bigger problem: I was shipped the wrong cockpit!! Based upon the lack of holes for a throttle control in the rear pit and the presence of holes for an F-18D "Night Attack" version (Parts S3 & S4), this pit is for an F-18D, not an F-18B. Damn! Upon closer inspection of the instrument panels, they are also for the D version. Maybe Avionix ships the same pit for both B and D versions? Just to double check, here's a pic of the rear cockpit of the jet I'm trying to build. Note the throttle.... Fortunately this kit included 2 throttles, so the person who packed this kit got something right, so I need to make some changes to get it looking close to the right one. It will never be totally accurate, but short of buying another pit, what's a guy to do? It's not like I can make a whole bunch of tiny switches to match the front pit, so here's what I did. I filled in the holes of the rear, added the rear throttle while rescribing some of the detail around it, used the entire front IP from the kit and used only the top part of the rear IP from the kit, because the bottom console of the resin pit has better side detail and will be a real pain to remove.... A closer pic of the rear..... Thanks for your interest Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie Cheetah Posted November 20, 2009 Share Posted November 20, 2009 (edited) I had the dimples too in my kit, which is the original F/A-18C version. Also were crater shaped sink holes outside of where the nose gear bay locator oins go. I filled all of those with Tamiya putty. I did miss some sink marks on the flaps though, noticed them after the primer coat, not deep enough to show thru paint. Edited November 20, 2009 by Charlie Cheetah Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share Posted November 22, 2009 Cutting and fitting all the resin bits continues.... Before I paint the cockpit and IP's, I noticed the resin IP had a few pieces that were missing on the kit IP's, so I cut them off and added them as per the pic below. Besides foot pedals, I added what look like foot rests for the front pilot and some triangular parts at the top of the rear IP.... Now the REAL challenge- Getting those main gear bays out of the bottom fuselage without wrecking the whole model! Although I had the Aires wheel bay set for my last CF-18A build, I was terrified to cut the kit parts for fear of cutting the fine rivet and panel detail near them. I thought of every excuse, like the kit ones were just fine and the Aires ones were of little improvement. Well, that was last time. This current build is going to have everything possible, so we're going in! Using a Dremel tool is way too crude and a modeling knife won't work either, so I went with what has worked for me in the past- a scribing tool. These tools are very sharp and they pull plastic away with every swipe, so I just scribed and re-scribed along the gear bay door at 45 degrees. This angle allows downward cutting, but it keeps the scribing tool away from the top surface, which has nice detail that you want to keep. To do this you carefully and gently scribe a straight line along the seam where the gear bay doors go. You then re-scribe the line over and over, eventually cutting through the plastic..... When you get close to through on all 3 sides, turn the piece over and scribe the back, to make sure the plastic will break where you want it to. I then used my modeling knife to cut the sides completely through, being careful to not break down the wall between the gear bay and the flare/chaff dispensers on the front and those little vents on the back. When you have got the sides cut through, you can bend the gear bay downward and the back spine will break.... Voila, gear bay removed!..... After a little trimming of the plastic, I taped in the Aires bay to show you the difference between it and the kit bay.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 22, 2009 Author Share Posted November 22, 2009 (edited) Here’s a few other shots to compare the Aires wheel bay to the kit one. Note all the extra bits and plumbing….. The real improvement, however, is along the sides, where the kit parts have almost nothing. Unlike other models like F-14’s, the F-18 gear bays are really visible when the model is completed, so I think this is all worth it….. This method of cutting out the gear bays gives some pretty nice sharp lines, so you’ll never know it was an add-on when the model is completed. Here’s some close-ups of the cuts…. The gear bays are now off to the paint booth, because it will be a lot easier to paint them as a separate part and I don’t have to mask anything off. Try do that with the kit bays! Thanks for your interest. Edited November 22, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Charlie Cheetah Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Dang, didnt think it would be that easy, very well done Chuck. Too late to fix mine though. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Chuck, huge hat off for having the courage to cut those bays out! Wow! Regarding receiving a D pit, that really sux, but looks like you'll convert it to a B and nobody wil ever know. Cheers, Marcel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Eastern Posted November 23, 2009 Share Posted November 23, 2009 Nice progress Chuck! Maybe some pics of my F-18D will help? Drop by here and here Cheers and happy modeling! Alexander. :lol: Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 24, 2009 Author Share Posted November 24, 2009 (edited) Maybe some pics of my F-18D will help? Drop by here and here Cheers and happy modeling!Alexander. Thanks Alexander- any build pics can only help me along the way and if my Hornet is half as good as yours, I'll be very happy! The gear bays are painted white, the cockpit is painted grey and the seats are painted black, so while they dry I thought I'd investigate the famous sagging landing gear problem. Now I'm not sure exactly what it is because I see no cracks, bends or breaks in the plastic, but the left gear on my last build has clearly sagged- almost into the sparrow missile mounted above it.... The culprit is pretty easy to figure out, which is wimpy kit metal for the gear itself. It a straight line like the nose gear, this can work, but on a very complex hinged main landing gear, this just won't do. It eventually sags, bending the pliable plastic parts with it..... Now to fix or prevent this problem, you have 2 options. The first and cheapest method is to use Scale Aircraft Conversions metal landing gear for the main gear and to use the kit one for the nose gear. This set is fairly cheap at about $14.00. With some clean-up and using the small plastic kit parts, this could look pretty good with a little effort..... Fortunately, if you've got a little extra dough, the new G factor landing gear is the bomb! I bought mine for $36 from Fightertown Decals. Just look at all those finely detailed brass parts. One problem for my CF-18 build, however, is that I'll have to flip the shock absorbers. Canuck bugs have the piston of the shock positioned downward and the shock is quite different, so I've got my work cut out for me to convert this metal into something more accurate..... The really impressive part, however, is that nose gear that is already made up. It's sort of like cheating, isn't it?.... I know which set I'm going to use. Look out for the SAC set on ebay soon! Thanks for your interest. Edited November 24, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
JMan Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 WOW, totally fantastic job! I migh be interested in those in the near future, the gear I mean. PM me so we can talk about them! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted November 24, 2009 Share Posted November 24, 2009 I used the G factor on my recent build as well. My older Academy A build sagged really bad. All the way to the sparrows. The G factor gear is still strong and still (it better not!!!!) shows no sign of weakening. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted November 25, 2009 Share Posted November 25, 2009 • MK1 Design F-18 Exhaust Nozzles (32001). Are you starting to see a pattern here? Yes, another head to head comparison. Chuck, those MK1 exhausts are worth their weight in gold, I couldn't find them anywhere and contacted the manufacturer, the owner got back to me saying the molds were destroyed so they are definately out of production. Cheers, Marcel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 25, 2009 Author Share Posted November 25, 2009 Chuck, those MK1 exhausts are worth their weight in gold, I couldn't find them anywhere and contacted the manufacturer, the owner got back to me saying the molds were destroyed so they are definitely out of production.Cheers, Marcel Dang! I should have bought a few more sets when I had the chance! When you were having difficulty finding them I did a search myself and came up blank, so now I know why. I think I'll be extra careful with mine now. At least the Black Box ones aren't too bad, but they lack that lip under the petals that the MK1 have that we know is real.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
niart17 Posted November 26, 2009 Share Posted November 26, 2009 (edited) great build! just wanted to point one thing out. notice that the inner petals and the outer petals are staggered on the real exhaust. you said the Mk-1 nozzles are two piece, i assume you can rotate the inner petals to line up correctly? i just caught that on the kit nozzles i'm using and had to redo mine. also, i'm not 100% sure but i think the riveted inner petals are on the ceramic covered nozzles. the older ones like you're picture don't have the rivets. keep up the great work here, i'm learning a lot! :D Bill Edited November 26, 2009 by niart17 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 26, 2009 Author Share Posted November 26, 2009 great build! just wanted to point one thing out. notice that the inner petals and the outer petals are staggered on the real exhaust. you said the Mk-1 nozzles are two piece, i assume you can rotate the inner petals to line up correctly? i just caught that on the kit nozzles i'm using and had to redo mine. also, i'm not 100% sure but i think the riveted inner petals are on the ceramic covered nozzles. the older ones like you're picture don't have the rivets.Bill Thanks Bill- I noticed the very same thing when I compared the Black Box ones to MK-1 ones. Since I don't see rivets on the nozzles of the CF-18B pic I took, I was going to sand them off. Pity since they look like nice detail, but inaccurate for the version I'm building. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Dang! I should have bought a few more sets when I had the chance! When you were having difficulty finding them I did a search myself and came up blank, so now I know why. I think I'll be extra careful with mine now.At least the Black Box ones aren't too bad, but they lack that lip under the petals that the MK1 have that we know is real.... I'm hoping to have a look and see if I can use the Aires insides with the Black Box outsides--still waiting for my Black Box set, so we'll see. It also looks like the inside of both the Aires and Mk1 are more representative of a later engine (featuring those fasteners on the inside), whereas the Black Box are more like the earlier engines, looking at the pic you posted the earlier engines don't have those fasteners. Or maybe Black Box just didn't want to go into that level of detail. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
geedubelyer Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Hi Chuck, Sorry for being late to the party but I'll be following along for sure now. This is another great thread. The comparisons are enormously helpful. Like many, I have a Bug in the stash so everything that you do will be useful as a future reference. cheers, Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Wolstenholme Posted November 28, 2009 Share Posted November 28, 2009 Hi Chuck, excellent work. Good to see you giving the Academy Hornet the full treatment. I only point this out as I know you are into the detail and it is easily correctable. Not that noticeable on the bays, but it is on the doors hanging down. Regards John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 28, 2009 Author Share Posted November 28, 2009 (edited) Hi Chuck, excellent work. Good to see you giving the Academy Hornet the full treatment. I only point this out as I know you are into the detail and it is easily correctable. Not that noticeable on the bays, but it is on the doors hanging down.Regards John Thanks for stopping by John and also thanks for the tip. After checking a few pics of this area, I'm still not quite sure what change is necessary from the kit/Aires bays. Any more guidance here? It also great to see Guy stop by. Bring on the advice! I'm going to need it on this build. What was planned as a fairly straight forward build has changed a lot already. This bird is going to take me as long as my Tomcat (8 mths) at my current pace! Like most builds, the cockpit needs to be painted first, since it will soon be hiding in the front fuselage under masking tape. As mentioned earlier, I am using kit part G26 for the front IP (instead of G27) and I7 for the rear IP (instead of I6), since these parts are a "B" model, instead of a "D". Besides being nicer than the poorly molded resin of the resin pit, they hold those nice display screens that you can use decals and clear plastic for the fronts. I used the "high vis" decals last time, but I think they are too bright and intense, especially for a stationary bird.... This time I used the lower vis decals (C4,C5, & C6), but I still think they are too bright..... So I mixed up some gloss Acryl black and mixed it with some Future, then dabbed some on the screens to reduce the green and give them some depth.... Dry fitted into the pit, they look pretty good. The rear IP glare shield is from the resin pit and I still need to dull coat and weather everything...... The Avionix pit is fairly high quality...... Next up, the seats! Thanks for looking in. Edited November 28, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
John Wolstenholme Posted November 29, 2009 Share Posted November 29, 2009 Sorry Chuck I wasn’t that clear. Here is my note extract/photo. #1 J23 and J24 are not correct on the bottom forward edge. The corresponding areas of the gear bays need filling. The ‘structural stiffening’ to inside door is not correct (Daco p110). Removed using S.M. No.10 blade etc and reformed using 0.25mm card. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 29, 2009 Author Share Posted November 29, 2009 (edited) #1 J23 and J24 are not correct on the bottom forward edge. The corresponding areas of the gear bays need filling. The ‘structural stiffening’ to inside door is not correct (Daco p110). Removed using S.M. No.10 blade etc and reformed using 0.25mm card. John Thank you very much sir! Now that I see what you mean, my pics of the CF-18 gear doors show the same features, so I'm going to modify mine just like you have instructed. Again thanks- and please give me more tips if you see I'm heading down the wrong path! Now back to the cockpit and the seats. My last 2 builds I relied heavily on Eduard photo-etch stuff for the instruments and the seat belts. This time, I'm going "old school" and just painting them, so please cut me some slack if things look a little rougher than my last build. Still, the seats came out OK, but I did use some Eduard placards because I don't have the equivalent in decals. Canadian F-18 seats have the characteristic copper colored seat belts that are almost metallic and the ejection hoop is orange instead of yellow..... It's going to be months before they find their way into the cockpit. The fit is fairly snug, just like the real deal...... I really like those IP's now.... And here's a pic I took of this seat a few years ago for your reference. It's way more complicated than what I've done, but there's lots of crap there too that's only for static display so that dopes like me don't pull any ejection handles.... Edited November 30, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
B-1 Nut Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 This is one of the best looking cockpits I've ever seen. You're doing a fantastic job. JED Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tilt Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Dang-it!! All these sweet looking Hornets. I may need to get going on mine sooner. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Marcel111 Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Chuck, very nice work on the cockpit! Also like the extra effort you are putting into the gear doors, that put mine to shame. Cheers, Marcel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Ken Middleton Posted November 30, 2009 Share Posted November 30, 2009 Chuck, that dual cockpit looks awesome! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
chuck540z3 Posted November 30, 2009 Author Share Posted November 30, 2009 (edited) Thank you for your support Gents! The cockpit doesn't look like much now, but just wait!........ Edited November 30, 2009 by chuck540z3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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