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After much soul-searching, I finally decided to build one more for this GB. The soul-searching had to do with which kit to attack in the 3 weeks left...

so the winner of that rumination was the Hobbycraft CF-100 in 1/48 scale.

Here is the first page of the instructions:

P1100437.jpg

I don't have the box for this one. I have this kit courtesy of our very own Sabre-building god... AX 365. He kindly offered to send me a big CF-100 after one of those Ontario modeling mafia events that the rest of us outside the centre of the Canadian universe cannot attend... so one day not too long ago in the mail I got this kit inside a Blue Angels hornet box.

Thanks Mike!

The other kits I was considering building would have taken a bit longer to do justice to, especially the complex CF-5A in 1/32 with the Belcher Bits conversion. I want to take my time to make sure I have all the right decals and other details before starting it. Other candidates included a CC-177, a CC-130H in 1/72, a Challenger in 1/144, a CF-104 in 1/32, and two 1/72 scale CF-104s (one single, one dual). Oh, and there's a 1/32 Sabre, a 1/48 NFTC Hawk... as you can see, I have enough for one more year of this GB!!

ALF

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For those of you who checked into this thread to see how to learn to love this Hobbycraft kit - here's the recipe!

First step - build the 1/72 version of this kit. Shake your head over the pitiful detail in the cockpit, especially the poorly-done ejection seats. Curse at the mediocre fit of the wings to the fuselage. Do a half-***d job on the kit - then go to step two.

Step 2 - build a 1/32 scale Czech Models T-33. Curse at the lack of guides for how and where to glue the nicely-done cockpit into the fuselage. Worry about the spindly little landing gear, and whether or not it will support the model. Decide not to use the resin flaps on this first try, because the rest of it was botched a bit anyway... go to step 3.

Step 3 - build a 1/48 scale Classic Airframes CF-5D. Curse at the incredibly poor fit of the parts. Hack and chop at the resin to get things to more or less go together. Shake head again at how there are few to no locator pins or other indications of where to glue the horizontal stabs in place, landing gear, you name it... the go to step 4.

Step 4 (where I am now). Crack open this kit, and quickly realize it's a virtual copy of the 1/72 version. Be thankful that the parts actually fit quite nicely together, and that the cockpit detail in this scale is 100% better than in 1/72. Be happy that you learned all the pitfalls of assembly from the small version, and relax knowing that this will be a far easier build than the Czech Models or Classic Airframes kits.

I am a Hobbycraft builder... and not afraid to admit that it's not so bad after all!

Progress was quick so far. I could put together the wings right away, and they were not anywhere near as badly warped as their little 1/72 scale cousin's wings were. Dry fit of the fuselage shows promise of a great fit.

P1100435.jpg

Thanks to Shawn (Phantom), I decided to install the little de-icing probes in the front of the engine fans. I chopped little bits of the flat plate with the name of the kit, and made little probes.

P1100438.jpg

Not a masterful job, but good enough from a foot or two away.

P1100439.jpg

The cockpit was easy to paint up, and the fuselage went together quickly.

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I was just holding the fuselage in place until it set, when I glanced at the instructions and realized I had forgotten the nose weight. :bandhead2: Luckily, I can claim that I calculated the weight and balance, and realized that a larger moment arm with less weight would do as nicely... :rolleyes: So I installed some fishing weights into the nose cone. I'll leave off the nose cone until the painting of the fuselage is done, so it will make for a nice delineation black to silver.

P1100446.jpg

ALF

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:whistle: ALF18.

Oohh I am SO looking forward to this great model.

Good start,and nice work so far. :salute:

With AX365{Mike} behind you , you are bound to

go far..and I will be back to watch your great work... :whistle::whistle:

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For those of you who checked into this thread to see how to learn to love this Hobbycraft kit - here's the recipe!

First step - build the 1/72 version of this kit. Shake your head over the pitiful detail in the cockpit, especially the poorly-done ejection seats. Curse at the mediocre fit of the wings to the fuselage. Do a half-***d job on the kit - then go to step two.

Step 2 - build a 1/32 scale Czech Models T-33. Curse at the lack of guides for how and where to glue the nicely-done cockpit into the fuselage. Worry about the spindly little landing gear, and whether or not it will support the model. Decide not to use the resin flaps on this first try, because the rest of it was botched a bit anyway... go to step 3.

Step 3 - build a 1/48 scale Classic Airframes CF-5D. Curse at the incredibly poor fit of the parts. Hack and chop at the resin to get things to more or less go together. Shake head again at how there are few to no locator pins or other indications of where to glue the horizontal stabs in place, landing gear, you name it... the go to step 4.

Step 4 (where I am now). Crack open this kit, and quickly realize it's a virtual copy of the 1/72 version. Be thankful that the parts actually fit quite nicely together, and that the cockpit detail in this scale is 100% better than in 1/72. Be happy that you learned all the pitfalls of assembly from the small version, and relax knowing that this will be a far easier build than the Czech Models or Classic Airframes kits.

I am a Hobbycraft builder... and not afraid to admit that it's not so bad after all!

LMAO :thatfunny:

Your on fire in this group build. Did you find a new magic place in your house to display all those fine kits!!

Will be following this one

Cheers

Neo

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Looks good so far. I have the same kit, but as they're long out of production, I can't bring myself to build it.

thanks

David

You should!

If anyone can do it justice, you can...

ALF

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:whistle: ALF18.

Oohh I am SO looking forward to this great model.

Good start,and nice work so far. :salute:

With AX365{Mike} behind you , you are bound to

go far..and I will be back to watch your great work... :whistle::whistle:

Why is it I keep hearing "with a little help from my friends" in my head?

Always nice to have you drop by.

ALF

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LMAO :thatfunny:

Your on fire in this group build. Did you find a new magic place in your house to display all those fine kits!!

Will be following this one

Cheers

Neo

Neo

Yup, sort of found a place... I gave a bunch of my kits away to the local Air Cadet squadron (took care of a lot of really big ones such as the 1/72 Boeing 707 and Aurora, plus my 1/24 scale Harrier and Spitfire, and my 1/32 F-16 and F-4D. Immediately relieved the pressure to get rid of the ones that were out in plain sight.

Then, based on SWMBO feeling very bad about having knocked my 1/32 CF-18 off a shelf and shearing off all the external stores, canopy, and many other bits, I got the authorisation to build some sort of display case in the corner of the garage. For years I had been talking about it, and always being shot down. After the Hornet massacre, she actually suggested I build something. Currently drawing up plans for a garage wall unit for storage/hangers/boots/etc, and for the display case on the other side.

Every cloud has a silver lining!

ALF

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I got the authorisation to build some sort of display case in the corner of the garage. For years I had been talking about it, and always being shot down. After the Hornet massacre, she actually suggested I build something. Currently drawing up plans for a garage wall unit for storage/hangers/boots/etc, and for the display case on the other side.

Every cloud has a silver lining!

ALF

I put in a requisition for that. Just wating on CO approval.

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Haven't been lurking much on ARC - too busy building! The Phantom is right - nothing much shows in this cockpit. Which is a good thing...

The structure went together quite quickly.

The fit is reasonably good, especially for Hobbycraft. It's almost as if this kit were their showpiece in 1/48.

P1100447.jpg

P1100448.jpg

Of course, until the nose is glued on, the suspense was palpable - would it forever remain a tail-sitter?

Here it is with Tamiya light grey primer sprayed on, sitting on its tail...

P1100449.jpg

After the primer, I sprayed some black along the leading edges of the wings, on the nose, and on the front surfaces of the horizontal and vertical stabilizers. I then masked the black, and prepared to spray Alclad.

More about what I learned from Alclad in the next post.

ALF

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A happy accident here is that I left the black overspray after I masked the black. When I sprayed on the Alclad, it made for some variations in the tint of the alumunim colour - almost as if the surface had weathered a bit. Happy with the effect, I left it that way.

P1100451.jpg

I used the Alclad chrome colour for the most part. I masked some of it with Tamiya tape, and sprayed some white aluminum on some panels. I don't know if it's because I didn't wait a day or so for the Alclad to set, but the tape left some marks and pulled up bits and pieces of the chrome Alclad with it. So I took an idea from another ARCer, and rubbed some pencil lead into the panels that were affected. This made for a nicely darkened tint to some of them.

P1100464.jpg

And the end result!

P1100557.jpg

P1100558.jpg

P1100559.jpg

P1100561.jpg

P1100562.jpg

ALF

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A happy accident here is that I left the black overspray after I masked the black. When I sprayed on the Alclad, it made for some variations in the tint of the alumunim colour - almost as if the surface had weathered a bit. Happy with the effect, I left it that way.

I used the Alclad chrome colour for the most part. I masked some of it with Tamiya tape, and sprayed some white aluminum on some panels. I don't know if it's because I didn't wait a day or so for the Alclad to set, but the tape left some marks and pulled up bits and pieces of the chrome Alclad with it. So I took an idea from another ARCer, and rubbed some pencil lead into the panels that were affected. This made for a nicely darkened tint to some of them.

And the end result!

ALF

I always thought the fin flash had the red colour to the front

Tony

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That looks great.

Hard to tell it's a Hobbycraft kit. Wish someone would buy those molds and release it again.

Thanks

David

Edited by RiderFan
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I always thought the fin flash had the red colour to the front

Tony

You may be right about that... in fact, the almight Google Images agrees with you!

Doh!

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It does, but the finished job came out great! :woot.gif:

Thanks Shawn!

That looks great.

Hard to tell it's a Hobbycraft kit. Wish someone would buy those molds and release it again.

Thanks

David

Thanks David. The nicest Hobbycraft kit I've built.

ALF

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Je te plumerai indeed!

Fantastic work ALF. I like the effect of the different panel shades you created. Very realistic looking. Me like.

Sorry about the Hornet box. It was a lot easier to wrap and there was a lot less chance for the sprues to move around in the box. Also improved the chances that it would arrive undamaged and it would appear that it did.

Further, forget the small display ares in the garage. I think you'll need to build an annex in the garage to store your growing collection. :whistle:

NEXT!

Ciao for now...

Mike

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Mike

Give an inch...

I think I'll just cash in on the offer of a space in the existing garage, despite your (evil?) urgings to go for more. Sometimes it's better to take what you can get!

Is it fair to say that neither you nor I are suited for intense negotiations? :rolleyes:

Thanks for the comments, bro! Look for build number 8 very soon...

ALF

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Think big and then scale back a bit. That's the way it's supposed to work.

The only time I'm good at intense negotiations, or persuasive 'discussion' is when I'm in uniform with a Glock on my hip. Unfortunately, I'm not allowed to wear either in the house.

I'm also, on occasion, reminded of he toast to the bride that was given at our wedding all those years ago. Mr. Lamont (ex-440 Clunk pilot) said, "Teri and Michael will share equally in the decision making during their lives together. Michael will make all the major decisions. Teri will make all the minor decision. There will be NO major decisions." Very prophetic man, Mr. Lamont... <_<

Looking forward to numero huit! Allons y!

Mike

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