Otto Posted March 31, 2012 Share Posted March 31, 2012 The topic description said it all. What I have in mind to be more specific, are the cowlings. Somewhere I red that there is a major flaw with them. Can anyone enlighten me? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
caiotfjr Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 AMT or Italeri F7F? The second may be considered by some just a rebox, but Italeri used a much better quality plastic and get rid of plastic eating vinyl tires. The propeler blades are still reversed and the kit could have a little more detail in the cockpit area. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jennings Posted April 1, 2012 Share Posted April 1, 2012 The AMT and Italeri kits come from the same molds, regardless of the kind of plastic, and are the exact same kits. I'm not aware of any problem with the cowlings. The props are completely wrong (wrong shape and they're backward). The only other big problem is the shape of the radar nose on the night fighter version. The nose gear leg is pretty flimsy, but so was the real thing. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Spruemeister Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 The afore mentioned plastic eating vinyl tires: Rick L. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 2, 2012 Author Share Posted April 2, 2012 The afore mentioned plastic eating vinyl tires: Rick L. "Ouch" I did notice this when I took the kit out of the bag and the tires were imbeded in certain plastic parts. I am throwing them all in the garbage. (tires that is) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sabre Freak Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 (edited) I'm building a -2, -3 and -3N at the moment. I 2nd the props, tires, flimsy landing gear comments. To address those issues I went for Ultracast Props, True Details wheels, and SAC landing gear. I also 2nd the comment about the nose of the -3N being to small. For that I went with DMold's The other nagging issue for me were the wing intakes. I think the shape is wrong and they have no depth. For that I went with Lone Star Models (about 3/4 down): My link Other minor things. Shape of the pilots seat is wrong, top should be rounded, not squared off. And again, if you have the -3N, I think the RO's panel is incorrect. It looks like they used the -2N for both. Might also want to check the 20mm cannon barrels for the wings. They just look a little "blah" for me. My last is the area behind the engines that you can see though the wheel wells is pretty bare. Doing some scratch building there. Edited April 2, 2012 by Sabre Freak Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DonSS3 Posted April 2, 2012 Share Posted April 2, 2012 (edited) Obscureco has some nice props that you could use. http://www.obscureco.com/product_pages/OBS48003/OBS48003.html Edited April 2, 2012 by DonSS3 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Robertson Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 The AMT and Italeri kits come from the same molds, regardless of the kind of plastic, and are the exact same kits. I'm not aware of any problem with the cowlings. The props are completely wrong (wrong shape and they're backward). The only other big problem is the shape of the radar nose on the night fighter version. The nose gear leg is pretty flimsy, but so was the real thing. Once again the props are not wrong or "reversed", just the base of the cuff area is reversed, which is nearly invisible... They are in fact excellent with a superb twist, and much better than glueing some lousy resin prop which will inevitably be misaligned, and may even curve over time, as resin should not be trusted with long thin items anyway... The gears are similarly a non-issue, and the cowls are unusually accurate... I don't know about the nose, but D mold offers an alternative. What is it about beating on this kit? Robertson Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kevan Vogler Posted April 3, 2012 Share Posted April 3, 2012 What is it about beating on this kit? I think it's more to do with it's origins than anything else. AMT put some real garbage out when it came to plastic kits and I think people just expected the Tigercat kit to be garbage too. The vinyl tires and usual overly soft AMT styrene of the original issues didn't help much in making modelers particularly optimistic about it. I built it as a straight day fighter version several years ago from the AMT boxing for a relative of a friend who'd had some involvement with the real machine. The only deviations I made from what was in the box was to order up a set of resin wheels (True Details IIRC), I scratchbuilt a new nose gear leg from tube styrene with a length of steel wire as it's core and then sourced some aftermarket decals. My friend's relative was elated to have the model and made no nitpicks about it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 3, 2012 Author Share Posted April 3, 2012 The only reason i asked the original question is because I noticed the MUCH LARGER diameter of the cowling than the diameter of the R-2800. This made no sense to me since the theory was to cowl the engines as close as possible. Since than I did some research on the web and found a F7F with a open cowling picture. This theory was disprooven. There was aLOT of extra room inside this cowling. In some places it looks like almost six or so inches. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dsmith Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 A shameless plug here, but the TD wheels are too bulged (i.e. flat). I offer a set of resin ones if your re interested. F7F Wheels Cheers, -Doug :) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 A shameless plug here, but the TD wheels are too bulged (i.e. flat). I offer a set of resin ones if your re interested. F7F Wheels Cheers, -Doug :) I hate the "flat tire" look that most of these wheels represent. Actually I am interested. I am happy you chimed in. I will be ordering some stuff from you. I like those wheels and some of the other stuff on your sight. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DonSS3 Posted April 4, 2012 Share Posted April 4, 2012 I hate those "flat" tires that became the fashion for quite a while, plus Doug puts out some very nice stuff. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 4, 2012 Author Share Posted April 4, 2012 I hate those "flat" tires that became the fashion for quite a while, plus Doug puts out some very nice stuff. What doo you mean "for a while" true detail and many others still make the "flat tires". If a real airplane had tires that falt, they would come off the rim at touch down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Viperguy Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 The trouble I had with the 'Toxic Tires" was not what it did to the plastic but what it did to the finish of my shelf. To this day you can still see where I had the Tigercat sitting. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 (edited) I never even thought of that. I have about six or seven of these kits. I plan ob buying wheels from Doug. Edited April 6, 2012 by Otto Quote Link to post Share on other sites
seawinder Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 I never even thought of that. I have about six or seven of these kits. I plan ob buying wheels from Doug. Another option is Ultracast, who have both wheels and HS props for the F7F. Pip Moss Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 There is only a couple things about Ultracast. I would have to pay shipping from canada, The CMK wheels are very late Korean war with the wrong tread pattern for land-based USMC aircraft. That tread pattern was hardly ever seen. It is almost always seen today however on civil aircraft. The props are very easy to fix but I also have about ten sets of the Obscureco props on hand that I bought for various projects. I am patriotic to a fault. If I can buy what I need that is made in the USA I will. Not until I can't find an American product to suite my requirements do I buy a foreign product. at that point I turn to the British, Czech, Polish in that order. Just a flaw I have. Russian and German are the last two I turn to. Not that I do not buy from them but they are just the last I go to. I take that back Russian is the last I go to, German I don't buy anything. I won't even fly on an Airbus aircraft. I know it is extreme but it is just me. The problem with ordering from canada is their postal system. I have had WAY TOO MUCH stuff lost. I am about $200 short on canada post losses. And that is in both directions. I have not had anything lost going or coming from any other country in the world, just canada. This is why I also, on my eBay auctions will not ship to canada any more unless the person pays with a postal money order and excepts the responsibility of a loss. Six shipments in one year is just too much. Three going and three coming. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
seawinder Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 There is only a couple things about Ultracast. I would have to pay shipping from canada, The CMK wheels are very late Korean war with the wrong tread pattern for land-based USMC aircraft. That tread pattern was hardly ever seen. It is almost always seen today however on civil aircraft. The props are very easy to fix but I also have about ten sets of the Obscureco props on hand that I bought for various projects. I am patriotic to a fault. If I can buy what I need that is made in the USA I will. Not until I can't find an American product to suite my requirements do I buy a foreign product. at that point I turn to the British, Czech, Polish in that order. Just a flaw I have. Russian and German are the last two I turn to. Not that I do not buy from them but they are just the last I go to. I take that back Russian is the last I go to, German I don't buy anything. I won't even fly on an Airbus aircraft. I know it is extreme but it is just me. The problem with ordering from canada is their postal system. I have had WAY TOO MUCH stuff lost. I am about $200 short on canada post losses. And that is in both directions. I have not had anything lost going or coming from any other country in the world, just canada. This is why I also, on my eBay auctions will not ship to canada any more unless the person pays with a postal money order and excepts the responsibility of a loss. Six shipments in one year is just too much. Three going and three coming. Understood. I myself buy a lot of stuff from Ultracast (I'm in Massachusetts), mostly seats, and have never had any trouble with stuff lost in the post. Perhaps I'm just lucky. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted April 6, 2012 Share Posted April 6, 2012 Once again the props are not wrong or "reversed", just the base of the cuff area is reversed, which is nearly invisible... Sorry to say, but they ARE wrong. The blades are a mirror image of what they should be. And if you simply twist them so they're pitched with the leading edge facing "forward," then they'll be turning the wrong direction. Here's an old post from HS that illustrates shows the problem, which really can't be corrected using the kit props. Tigercat Prop Problems SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 6, 2012 Author Share Posted April 6, 2012 Sorry to say, but they ARE wrong. The blades are a mirror image of what they should be. And if you simply twist them so they're pitched with the leading edge facing "forward," then they'll be turning the wrong direction. Here's an old post from HS that illustrates shows the problem, which really can't be corrected using the kit props. Tigercat Prop Problems SN The airfoil on the prop is correct but the leading and trailing edge shapes at the base are reversed. It is very easy to fix that. One side you remove a bit of material from and the other you add a little material to. It takes about five minutes per blade to fix. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 I just went threw a PART of my stash, and found 8 of these things squirreled away just in the few places I looked. I hate to think what I will find if I look in everything I have. I guess I have enough, that If I screw one up, it shouldn't matter much. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Steve N Posted April 7, 2012 Share Posted April 7, 2012 Hehe..sounds like me and Academy/Minicraft B-24s. I've probably got a dozen or so of various versions in The Stash. The Liberator is my favorite bomber..I remember excitedly grabbing the A/M kit when it first hit the shelves in 1991, and collected multiples of each variant as they came out...and I've still never finished one! SN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Otto Posted April 7, 2012 Author Share Posted April 7, 2012 Hehe..sounds like me and Academy/Minicraft B-24s. I've probably got a dozen or so of various versions in The Stash. The Liberator is my favorite bomber..I remember excitedly grabbing the A/M kit when it first hit the shelves in 1991, and collected multiples of each variant as they came out...and I've still never finished one! SN I hope that we never get together, That would be total disaster. We are way too much alike. :D Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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