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

[jgrease]

A quiet afternoon mean a little more progress:

Well, that's one wing kind of done. I didn't assemble it according to the instructions. I obviously didn't want to attach the main gear struts before painting, so I attached E35 (cross brace?) to the bay and painted it to match, then gave the bay a Vallejo wash (good stuff if thinned with a few drops of windex). I then attached the bottom wing to the top, carefully threading E35 to extend out of the bay. I didn't inset the sidewall C10 to the wing until after the two wing halves were connected, then I clamped the life out of the wing assembly. I then detail painted the ejection seat:

I have to touch up the seat cushions and add in the belts, but I'm pretty good with how it came out. Also gave it a wash since I had given it a coat of Future earlier. I also finished off the nose gear bay as I had mistakenly thought the gear had to go in before the bay was all closed up. Apparently not. If I'm wrong, I'll be sure to let you all know.

Earlier I has said that I was going to try and correct the intake shape as I had gotten some images to guide me. I'm gonna have to be honest and say that I'm not going to try it because I don't think I'll do it right, and I don't think it will look very good. It will involve trimming the intake and rescribing. Sorry.

[Joel_W]

Taped up it looks pretty good. It sure is big.

Joel

[jgrease]

If you recall, I left off assembling the wings the other day, and they are now assembled. Here's a look at one of them:

They are still a little rough. I will be cleaning them up today in anticipation of attaching them to the fuselage tomorrow. The flap bays need some touch up, but nothing major. By leaving the main gear struts off until later, I will be able to mask the open bays for painting later on. So far, so good. Next I brought together the cockpit, nose gear bay and the nose, and everything went onto the forward fuselage. First, I installed the cockpit into the forward fuselage. If you recall, I removed the tabs located inside the fuselage to facilitate this step. once the cockpit was firmly in place, I joined the port gun bays (A4) to the fuselage. After a little sanding, it fit relatively well, and I glued it in place. After that was secure, I installed the nose gear bay, using the tabs on the installed gun bay side to guide it. Once that was secure, I installed the other gun bay (A5) and glued it to the gear bay and the fuselage. Let me tell you, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't hard either. Patience and careful fitting of the parts involved goes a long way. This was also another area where I heeded advice. Give the bottom of the cockpit and the top of the gear bay a good hard sanding. Remove as much material as you can safely do because this will facilitate getting everything to fit in the space provided. I then added two spare pieces of metal in the nose prior to adding it to the rest of the fuselage. I'll check the weight later and tell you. Getting the nose on was a slight pain, but I had expected worse based on what others had said. Yes, the nose is a slightly different shape than the fuselage, but not enough to matter, at least in my opinion. Here's everything together:

And here's the gear bay installed:

The places you see filler on the sides was my over zealous sanding to fit. If I had used a medium stick instead of coarse I would have not removed as much material. As others have stated, the plastic is softer than some, but this is a good thing in my opinion since you can reshape problem areas a little easier. I will rescribe the filled areas and clean it up before my next update. Last item for today is the finished ejection seat:

I am pleased with the finished product. Thanks for looking and keep the comments coming in. I can use all the input I can get.

[Joel_W]

Your really making steady progress.

Joel

[jgrease]

Thank you Joel! On that note, here's my progress from yesterday and today. I finished up yesterday attaching the muzzles to the guns. The fit wasn't spectacular even after sanding and filling, but this is my end result:

I have since given the muzzles a coat of Mr Dissolved Putty to get into those crevices I missed the other day. Today I masked off the gear bays and flap areas on the bottom of the wings. Next, I saw this in the instructions:

Then I looked at the parts:

Let me put it to you this way; I'm 49 years old and I have fat fingers. Those little pieces of brass aren't going anywhere! I assembled the intake thingys without them. The fit was ok, not great:

A little sanding will smooth everything out. And as I said earlier, it's a good thing the plastic is softer than some, which makes corrections that much easier.

And finally, my ongoing distraction: the crew chief. Here's how he looks today:

Just needs his hair colored and some eyebrows, then I'll gloss him and give him a light wash to bring out the details. He's from the Esci USAF Support Set. I will add some of the other items from the set as I progress. Thanks for looking!

[Joel_W]

John,

Again, nice progress. I'm following your build with my morning coffee as I'm on another weeks vacation. At some point you'll be better off priming to see what still needs a little TLC. Nothing major, but I can see some missed spots, and some areas that look like they need a final finish coat over the putty work.

Your crew chief looks darn good. Go for a darkish color with a little gray on the sides.:rolleyes:/>

49 is a youngster. I'm almost 67, and while my fingers aren't too fat, they do shake some.

Joel

[jgrease]

Another morning to get some work in on the Voodoo. So yesterday, I assembled the rest of the wings, adding the rest of the intakes and choosing to omit the incredibly tiny PE braces. I started today attaching the port wing to the fuselage:

At first, there was a decent gap in the central area of the wing, but with the help of my Irwin Quick-Grip clamps, problem solved! Here's a view of the underside:

Again, nothing horrendous that a little putty won't fix. After I post this, I will try to attach the starboard wing. While the glue is drying, I started prepping all of the various doors and other small thingys for primer:

Aside from trimming the leftover plastic from the enormous sprue connections, there were only minor ejector pin marks on the main gear doors as you see in the photo. I sanded them and I think they will be ok. The smaller main gear doors (B44 and B45) had some serious sink marks, so they got a coat of putty:

After a trip to the hobby shop yesterday, I picked up paints for the plane. Since it's supposed to be natural metal finish according to bentwaters81tfw (who spent some time around the F-101), I picked up the following paints:

So the question is which one will be more representative of a NMF? I'm guessing the Aluminum will have more of a silvery shine as opposed to the Steel. I'm certainly open to suggestions. Thanks for looking!

[Joel_W]

Definitely go with the Aluminum, as that was what the airframe panels were made from.

Joel

[jgrease]

Sounds like a plan. No pictures today as all I did was putty and sand the remaining gaps and irregular spots. Probably won't get any more work in until Monday. Scorvi sent me an old set of Almark Decals for the F-101 which includes an -A model assigned to the Nevada ANG, so I'm considering it as an option. Thanks Joel for your input.

Edited July 12, 2014 by jgrease

[Joel_W]

John,

BTW, my brother and I met for breakfast this morning. We decided to take a trip to the hobby shop in Babylon. There web site said that he was open on Saturday from 10-6. When we got there it was more like 10:30 and he was still closed. Then we saw the sign in the window. Printed time was 11-6 which was crossed out, and hand written 12-6!! No wonder he doesn't do much in business. If he wanted to change his hours, that's his business, but then change your web site too.

Needless to say it was a wasted 40 min trip, and we'll never be going back. Will continue to support Bobby at South Shore Hobbies, and my all time favorite: Sprue Brothers.

Joel

[jgrease]

Unfortunately, Baseline Hobbies has been on a slide for a while. If you're looking for older kits, that's the place to look. South Shore Hobbies is quite a good store for selection of newer stuff.

So I've been looking over the Almark Decals. I have set A48-21, and a nice way to put it is to say the set is rough. Granted it was printed in 1990, but the artwork is all done by hand, some of it is just comical. The ANG emblems actually look good, and the words "Nevada" just need some touch up to work. That's why I am considering it just for a more low-key option. We shall see. Hope you all have a great weekend!

[chek]

I don't think I have any MV Lenses small enough to use.

I use the following technique for small home-made small lenses:

1)Stretch some clear sprue fairly thin.

2)Snip into manageable sizes - 2 to 3 inches long.

3)Using a candle flame as a heat source, carefully bring the cut clear sprue end to approach the base of the flame.

4)The end of the sprue will melt back to form a ball or 'mushroom head' depending on the sprue size. Remove from heat when ball looks the correct size.

It may burst into flames a few times too, but persevere until you get the hang of it.

5)Paint the spherical side a bright silver.

6)When fully dry, superglue the silver side into the drilled out or already concave lamp body.

With practice the ball size should be a close match to the lamp body diameter.

7)Snip off the sprue end, then sand and polish the clear lens to shape.

You'll find you've got that characteristic inverted reflection with depth look to the lens.

Be prepared to need a few attempts to get it right.

Hope this helps.

Edited July 12, 2014 by chek

[Helidriver]

Will have to give that technique a go...

[jgrease]

Thanks Chek, I will give it a try!

[chek]

Thanks guys, you're welcome!

I'm not sure if it's already 'out there', but it was one of those 'accidental discoveries' for me.

Sorry JG, I forgot to add you're making a fine job of the kit.

It's certainly one I've always wanted since the Monogram two-seater was released,

although I have to say I'm slightly disappointed with the degree of sanding required just to get the basic shape.

But you're tackling it well and I'm following your build with interest.

[jgrease]

Let me just start with:

:bandhead2:

So this morning, I re sprayed primed in sanded areas of the fuselage, and figured "let me mask the canopy". Yep.

Ugh. So I'm gonna try and sand it or something. The clear canopy is rather thin, and as I stretched a piece of Tamiya tape across the back of the frame, it cracked. Apparently only the section meant to stay clear is cracked. The frame portion isn't, because I can't separate it to drop in a dot of cement. I'm guessing a little polish on a q-tip to rub some of it out. I'm wide open for ideas here, so please chime in! Aside from that nonsense, my second coat of primer and sanding will do it for me. I'm happy with the results, and I will post more pics tomorrow after I stop banging my head on the desk. Thanks for looking!

John

[IrishGreek]

Maybe some future? If it can 'sink' into the crack, might fill it like water does scratches on your watch face.

[scorvi]

Let me just start with:

:bandhead2:/>/> :bandhead2:/>/> :bandhead2:/>/>

So this morning, I re sprayed primed in sanded areas of the fuselage, and figured "let me mask the canopy". Yep.

Ugh. So I'm gonna try and sand it or something. The clear canopy is rather thin, and as I stretched a piece of Tamiya tape across the back of the frame, it cracked. Apparently only the section meant to stay clear is cracked. The frame portion isn't, because I can't separate it to drop in a dot of cement. I'm guessing a little polish on a q-tip to rub some of it out. I'm wide open for ideas here, so please chime in! Aside from that nonsense, my second coat of primer and sanding will do it for me. I'm happy with the results, and I will post more pics tomorrow after I stop banging my head on the desk. Thanks for looking!

John

You might try to plunge form a new canopy. If you can find the Squadron Thermo-Form sheets (clear). It is a pretty easy procedure. You use clay to attach the canopy to a stick and put it in a vise. Secure it nicely. Then heat the Clear sheet over a candle until it starts to warp and flex. Then quickly pull it over the original canopy and you can do this multiple times to get the perfect canopy. It is as close to a vacu-form canopy you can get ?

Just an idea

Steve

Edited July 14, 2014 by scorvi

[Joel_W]

John

That's why I really don't like to polish canopies. Half the time I manage to crack one. Not really sure how you can go about fixing it so that the crack doesn't show. Try soaking the canopy in future. That will seal the crack, and it will soak into the seam. Just not sure if it will make it vanish or not. You can try to get in touch with Kitty Hawk and see if you can purchase a replacement canopy.

Joel

Edited July 14, 2014 by Joel_W

[IrishGreek]

Was thinking about what Joel said. I think maybe if we put putty/clay or something like that on the inside of the canopy before sanding/polishing/etc, it would give it strength so it doesn't crack. Not that I have done this yet...

[jgrease]

Thanks for the suggestions. I've tried a dip in Future, and the crack is still visible. After it dries, I can try another dip. In the interim, I'll contact Kitty Hawk.

Edited July 14, 2014 by jgrease

[11bee]

I know it's too late but for what it's worth, when I do any hard, physical work on canopies I make a point of pushing a big chunk of modeling clay underneath it. It acts as a support to counteract the force of polishing the exterior.

Good luck!

[jgrease]

Thanks 11bee, lesson learned by me. By the way, there's a progressive build being done on a certain "cyber" model website, and as has become the norm, the builder is just slamming this kit. I'm sorry, but it's just not that bad. Aside from my own mistakes, it's been fun to build.

[Joel_W]

John,

Took another look at your canopy, and while I can't offer any other ideas then I've already done, I have noticed one other issue. The back of the canopy where you snipped it off the sprue, actually broke a small piece off the canopy frame. I've done this more times then I care to publically admit, but it's a pain to next to impossible to repair. So now I don't cut or snip clear parts off their sprue trees, I cut them off with a fine razor saw leaving a little extra that will have to be sanded or filed. If I do snip it off, I use a sharp pair of nail clippers and work around the sprue tab slowing indenting as I go. Something like a tube cutter. This way the pressure on any one spot is less, and tends to not want to shatter.

Joel

[jgrease]

Yeah Joel, I noticed that after the fact. Ugh. I am pressing on. Preshaded the panels that will be ADC grey, and sprayed the anti glare panel. Still found some marks around where I had to fill those stupid refueling probe doors, but I refuse to fill them and sand them yet again. I will have to see what I can do. I still like this kit, honest.