Resin/ Aftermarket advice required

[modelling muppet]

G'day,

I've just inherited a 1:48 Academy F-14A 'Sundownner' and would like to attempt my first resin cockpit, flaps, undercarriage and nozzles. Will any 1:48 scale kits be compatible, or do certain kits only work with certain brands (i.e. Hasegawa, Dragon etc)

Cheers

Muppet

[pigsty]

As a rule, resin cockpits etc are designed to fit specific kits. This is because the dimensions and shapes vary from kit to kit - you'd think this wouldn't happen in the world of scaled-down representations of measurable objects, but there you go. In particular, the insides of kits (where a lot of aftermarket goes) are highly variable, as everyone uses their own moulding styles and the thickness of the plastic and its exact profile are all over the show. Having said that, some manufacturers have a reputation for not fitting even the kits they are designed for, which entails a lot of sanding and grinding and swearing. By extension, any aftermarket set can be made to fit your kit with enough work. But I'd still start with whatever is aimed at it.

Metal parts for undercarriage vary less. The main reason for differences is that the replacement part has to fit where the kit's undercarriage goes, so the peg at the top (or wherever) has to be the same shape. This is harder to alter. Pesonally I would avoid metal legs unless (i) the kit is going to be very heavy, or (ii) they're genuinely better than the kit's parts. Some manufacturers seem only to copy kit parts in metal. This has the virtue of saving you assembling them and dealing with seams and sink holes, but otherwise it's no real improvement. As for weight, I find properly fitted polystyrene kit parts are very often sturdy enough without the help.

Edited November 22, 2013 by pigsty

[ChippyWho]

Funny how resin makers label their stuff as 'Designed for' or 'Recommended Kit' -never 'To FIT such-and-such'...

[Aigore]

Funny how resin makers label their stuff as 'Designed for' or 'Recommended Kit' -never 'To FIT such-and-such'... :bandhead2:/>

Hehe semantics....best way to cover your rear there is!

[dinozavr]

Hehe semantics....best way to cover your rear there is!

Maybe, maybe.... ;)/>/>

Developers usually does aftermarket product for a specific kit. But there is another feature. If they use a mold to resin products, then the extent of wear of the mold dimensions will vary slightly. This is usually very quite a bit and virtually invisible. But if they use the mold until its destruction, the differences between the first and last products will be relatively large. It all depends on the manufacturers, how often they changes the mold and how well they have done the master model

Downscale or increasing the scale way too easy to start production of a new set, but not the fact that it will fit the same downscale or increasing kit