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KItty Hawk 1/48 F-101A Voodoo - A non-partisan build.


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Please refer to post 122 for a list of suggested changes to the assembly instructions.

Alrighty then. My daughter picked this kit up for my birthday, and unlike so many of the other kits I have, I will do my level best to build it before her next visit. Let me just preface this thread with some information about me. I am not a "rivet counter", rather I am just a model builder. If I can make a kit look better or more realistic within the bounds of my abilities, I do. After I got the kit, I did some reading here and on other sites. From my perspective, it would appear that this kit is being billed as inaccurate and a poor kit in general. It would seem that most of that criticism is coming from folks who don't even have the kit in front of them. Well, I got it, and I will do my best to explain any problems or issues during the build. I have the usual tools at my disposal- nothing the average modeler wouldn't have on hand. I'm building the kit out of the box, there's not much out there for it yet and I had considered waiting for Caracal's decals for the -A model, but I'm an impatient man, and I'd like to see what I can do. Without further ado, let's get started. Here's the standard box shot:

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Nice. Inside, the sprues were bagged separately. The decals were in a ziplock bag, and the small photoetch sheet was protected by plastic on both sides. Now I plan on using some of the advise given on other builder's threads where necessary. First up was the ejection seat:

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Simple enough. I almost messed it up by reversing the seat cushion. Duh. Easy enough fix. My first complaint is that like Kinetic, the connection points on the sprue are way larger than necessary. Some parts also have that annoying half-moon shaped injection residue on the insides, just like Kinetic. In any event, a little sanding and cleanup, and the seat is done, waiting for harnesses. Next came the cockpit:

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The cockpit was a single piece, with the PE instruments added on. As before, the pedals, stick, and throttle were connected to the sprues with oversized connections.it went together easily enough with little cleanup needed. I then assembled the front landing gear:

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So here's where my annoyance began. The diagrams were vague, and parts E5 and E6 were just horrible. Even with cleanup, E6 just didn't want to go into the locating hole made for it in the strut. Further, the locating hole for E32 didn't even exist. Also, there were two pieces of excess sprue connected to the main strut E53 that looked like part of the assembly! I thought they were for the landing lights until I realized they were on the opposite side! Well I removed them and cleaned up the strut. I then did a partial assembly of the front gear bay:

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The bay can't be completely assembled until you insert the gear, so I glued one side in. The issue here was a small tab molded into the roof, E37, which appears to be part of the detail. However, you can't get the two parts to close up without removing it. Oh well, a little swipe of the knife and a little sanding and done.

After this stuff is dried later today, I will clean it up further and prepare to paint it. My opinion so far? Pretty much like a Kinetic kit. I built their F-16 and liked it, so I'm looking forward to making progress. Thanks for looking.

Edited by jgrease
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Another day, another...uh...day. So up to the man cave this morning to push on with the Voodoo. Yesterday after posting, I drilled out the lightening holes in the ejection seat, and it looks better for doing it. Photos after priming. Next up, I looked over one of the two online builds I could find for this kit. (So many complaints, so few examples). I decided to take some advice and work out of sequence. I moved to the tail and assembled the two halves, C16 and C18. The halves went together well with little fuss. After getting them together, I set to work removing the formation lights. Honestly, I normally would have left them on, but in an attempt to address some of the issues raised, it's off to the races:

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I hate scraping off detail, and this is certainly a valid complaint. These lights could have been added to the photoetch, or even just a decal. I eventually got them scraped off, redid the panel lines and attempted to redo the rivets. I'll see how everything looks in primer. While I was working this area of the plane, I took a look at the air brakes:

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Ouch! The sink marks are a result of trying to make the detail on the inside nice and deep. Bad idea. So, instead of whining about it, I took some Squadron White Filler and...wait for it...I filled the sink marks! Continuing, I attached the tail assembly to the upper mid fuselage:

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Looks like the crew chief is ok with it. So was I. The two parts lined up with little clean up- I had to sand down one side of the tail assembly a smidge and it went together with little drama. After everything dried, I had a slight step on the port side, but it's so minor I'm not going to go insane fixing it. After some paint, you can all start critiquing my choice. Here's another view of the assembled tail/fuselage:

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I hope the photos are clear enough. I've been using my ipad for photos and text, a much simpler combination with the photobucket app. The other filler you see drying is for the sink marks on the rear of the mid- fuselage and where I removed the other formation lights on the forward section of the mid-fuselage. Hope this is actually informative and helpful for those considering this kit. Thanks for looking!

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Thanks for taking the time to do a detailed build blog of KH F-101A. It's on my list to eventually buy and build, but like so many others, I've put off even buying it from all the negative posts and comments. So far nothing seems that bad, or can't be corrected. I'll be following your build to the conclusion with much interest.

Joel

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So, after a coat of Model Master Primer, here's the current state of play:

Ejection seat 96d1b2533c51e5ec3e4739ccde94efa1.jpg and 2f5be4a45fb333c34110ff7d3f90be48.jpg

I've drilled out the lightening holes as I mentioned yesterday. With the belts and some paint I think it will look the part.

Cockpit 4b42bf022af7764ad2f00f8a1394e904.jpg

I haven't compared the kit cockpit to the real thing yet. I will report back when I do, but in the meantime I like the detail on the joystick.

Nose landing gear 7a8cc18fc7bbde64d09731110d2bdd0b.jpg and 1a5e635a1d53278707efcf13688f2082.jpg

this is one area I'm not completely happy with. I still have some cleanup to do on this assembly, but why couldn't they provide clear lenses for the landing lights? Not a hard decision in my opinion. Some painting and weathering should make it nice.

Intake assembly 719ada05c18e3af121d501f18d3a9991.jpg

I'm really happy with the results of this assembly. No putty, just a sanding stick along the joint. After priming, I found the sink marks on the splitters, so a little putty.

Fuselage assembly ff0fef579b0c4a9399e7eec0f74f01d9.jpg

this is probably one of my better efforts to date. A little sanding removed a slight gap on the starboard side at the join. The molding is crisp and not overdone.

The tail a3ab9bd74edb24b54ba92de3be3d24a6.jpg and f18a01ac2d6734afdce2e93993ca464e.jpg

my formation light removal skills need some work. I might try to clean it up a bit more. I also had a terrible time trying to rivet the cleaned up area, but that's a result of my skills, not a flaw in the kit. And a shot of the step where the tail and fuselage meet on the port side:

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Had I realized the step was there, I would have sanded down the lip on the inside of the fuselage. After my photos yesterday, I installed the area beneath the tail where the exhaust hits. The fit was very impressive with no sanding needed beyond the usual cleanup of the parts.

So far, so good. I'm happy with my efforts and I will post more tomorrow. Today's work will be the wings in all likelihood. Painting probably won't be for a while with the humidity hanging over Long Island right now. Thanks for looking.

Edited by jgrease
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One more update for today. I lied about the wings. I wound up working on the nose. All I can say is ugh:

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First of all, this is awful planning for molding. It's bad enough there are huge tabs connecting everything to the sprues,but in this instance, it extends onto the part. All the careful trimming in the world won't fix that. So, I cleaned it up the best I could, and set it aside. I assembled the two forward nose halves, A12 and A13 leaving off the refueling probe bay since I wanted it closed. Now don't get me wrong- I'm all about open bays and options (the Trumpy F-14D I'm building has all the bays open), but at least give me a set of closed doors! Instead, I got this:

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From the top it doesn't look horrible, but it is. The closed doors in no way match the nose profile. Speaking of which, I'm afraid I will have to agree with the few folks who have built this kit- the nose cone does not match the profile of the forward nose assembly. There are small steps around it once attached, but I think some careful sanding will remedy this. So here's the nose assembled and puttied:

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The putty on the nose cone is to smooth out my thumbprint from the glue.

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I'm confident the end result won't be terrible. It is disappointing to see some of the worst issues at the very front of the plane. I suppose if you were to model the refueling probe open and the nose cone up to display the radar, much of that would go unnoticed. My last work today was the forward fuselage, parts B2 and B13. The instructions would have you inset the cockpit and nose gear bay while assembling the two halves. I have opted to follow online advice and assemble the fuselage halves first. If you remove the two large locating tabs shaped like a T on each side at the lower rear of the cockpit location, you can still insert the cockpit snugly after the two halves are done. This looks to reduce the agony of trying to fit everything together simultaneously. Here's a couple of shots showing the couple of spots I had to use filler on:

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The upper forward fuselage looks to need no putty, maybe a little light sanding. The lower fuselage had a slight gap after assembly, so there it is. Thanks for looking.

Edited by jgrease
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Joel - No, it's been pretty good. I just can't get over all the trolls complaining about a kit that 90% of them don't even own. In thirteen posts, we already managed to get one complaint. I'm still waiting for him to post some pics of his kit, which I am fairly certain he doesn't have. I like it so far, and if I have to do a little work to make a plane look good, I will. Only thing I would have liked was the Caracal Decals, and of course the one time I really want a set, they won't be out for a month. Oh well.

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Joel - No, it's been pretty good. I just can't get over all the trolls complaining about a kit that 90% of them don't even own. In thirteen posts, we already managed to get one complaint. I'm still waiting for him to post some pics of his kit, which I am fairly certain he doesn't have. I like it so far, and if I have to do a little work to make a plane look good, I will. Only thing I would have liked was the Caracal Decals, and of course the one time I really want a set, they won't be out for a month. Oh well.

John,

That's usually the case. I've yet to find the perfect model. Today's kits are so much better then what we had back in the 70s before my 30 year hiatus. I've learned to buy just about everything I need for a build at the same time. I usually use kit decals as today most seem to be by Cartograf. I'm just starting the Hobby Boss 1/48 scale A-6E Intruder, and purchased Fightertown decals, and Wolfpack Mk7 seats.

Joel

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Those intakes cleaned up nicely! From what I've seen you do so far, there doesn't appear to be anything a little dry-fitting and adjusting won't fix. My kit is on its way, so I'm glad you're blazing this trail. Keep up the good work.

Edited by VMI Vince
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Not a problem Vince! I pushed a little further today, sanding the nose assembly down and rescribing a little where I went a little overboard. I also did a dry fit of the entire fuselage from nose to tail, and the fit is looking pretty darned good. No pics though, sorry. Tomorrow will probably include some painting, including some early priming of the wing innards. My plan by Friday is to get the cockpit painted and installed into the forward fuselage so that I can get the rest of the fuse assemblies put together. She's gonna be a big one!

Edited by jgrease
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So the new day brings new work on my Voodoo. First up, here's my painting work for the day:

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My crew chief got a splash of color, so I think he'll be in a better mood these days. Next, the cockpit, instrument panel, and ejection seat all got a coat of Testors Aircraft Grey, and I gave the sidewalks of the cockpit in the fuselage a spray as well. The instructions have FS35237, and I believe I read online about dark gull grey. So I painted them Aircraft Grey. The nose landing gear bay was painted with Testors Green Zinc Chromate, and I like it so far. In the back you can see the PE sheet, where it painted the seat belts with Testors Olive Drab. The intake trunking, intake fans, and nose gear all got hit with Testors Aluminium, and I finished up by spraying the afterburner rings(?) and the way inside exhaust area with Testors Burnt Iron.

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I know, I have to give them another spray, or at least do a touch up. Nobody will ever see them again anyway... And here's the nose landing gear:

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I'm actually liking them now. Under a wash and some detail painting I think they will look the part. And I also sanded down the putty on those speed brakes from a couple of days ago:

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As I mentioned earlier, the sink holes were a result of Kitty Hawk trying to give some real depth on the insides of the brakes. Didn't work. But they are filled and rescribed where needed. One of the build reviews stated that his brakes were short-shot, meaning that the mold wasn't completely filled with plastic. That is not the case here:

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Both brakes sit in their recesses fairly well. I am modeling mine open, so it isn't an issue for me. Another hysterical review point done away with. But here's a point I will keep bringing up:

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What is going on with these attachment points? Why oh why do they extend onto the part? People sat over a computer figuring all of this out ahead of time, so what were they thinking? That is just inexcusable. It definitely ranks with the nonsense on the decal sheet for me. We will get to that when the time comes. Well, thanks again for stopping by. See you next time!

Edited by jgrease
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I keep on looking at the front landing gear. Like you stated it makes little sense to have molded those lights as solid pieces. How are you planning on deal with them? I would assume you're going to drill and reshape them, then silver paint, and fill with Microscale's Krystal Kleer or a similar product. And those sprue attachment points are insane. Whom ever designed it, and approved it, certainly isn't a modeler. What were they thinking? Better to protect the leading edge? Makes little to no sense.

Joel

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Only thing I would have liked was the Caracal Decals, and of course the one time I really want a set, they won't be out for a month. Oh well.

Sorry, but these things take time; despite the fact that my design was out of the door two days after my kit arrived from Hong Kong. Hopefully there will be a next time when you're interested in one of my decals, and it will not be a time when you are in an extreme hurry to build a brand-new kit. ;-). The main markings in the kit decals are usable for the most part, but the stencils are thoroughly inaccurate.

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Joel- I'm probably going to try and hollow them slightly with a drill bit, paint the inside chrome and fill with future. I don't think I have any MV Lenses small enough to use. KursadA- I get it. It takes time to get them done. I normally would wait but I want to finish this before the next time my daughter comes home. When the -B model comes out I'm sure to get your decals!

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One of my favorite aircraft. I look forward to watching your build progress. Thanks for taking the time to be detailed, open, and honest.

Regards,

Don.

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So it's been a hectic weekend. Some family issues combined with the long weekend have kept me from progress. The other day, I decided to do a quick dry fit of the primary parts, and this is what I got:

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It's a big one! The wings are just taped together, but snapped into place on the fuselage with ease. The nose went on well, and will be attached after the cockpit and nose gear well are placed in the forward fuselage. Underneath looks like this:

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I like it! The flaps will be posed open because I just can't give up that nice detail inside! For today, I've given everything a heavy coat of Future with a brush so that I can do a wash and some dry rushing before closing everything in. More to come tomorrow.

Thanks to some references from bentwaters81tfw, I will attempt to correct the intakes to better resemble the -A intakes. Thanks for looking. Please feel free to post questions, comments, or observations.

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