Darren Roberts Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Through brute force and sheer will, I think I've pulled victory from the jaws of defeat. I switched over to CA glue and that seemed to hold I reconstructed the forward fuselage and reattached it to the bottom rear fuselage section. I glued in my support pieces and got ready to add the upper fuselage sections. I also added a support piece to the tail section. After adding the upper sections of wings, I went ahead and added tabs to help align the outer wing sections. Then I assembled all the subsections. With the support pieces in place, the fit wasn't horribly bad. It's now assembled and ready for primer. I still need to add the wing fences, but I've made a set of resin ones that I want to try out. This is by no means contest quality, but it gave me good experience for the next one I build. Yes, you read that right. I'm going to give this another go. I want to get proficient at building the basic Cougar kit so when the fighter variant comes out I'll be able to whip through it with no problems. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 (edited) Darren Remarkable progress and an excellent work-around, by using CCA and support pieces. But the ugly truth regarding Testor's liquid cement failing to 'cement' the pieces together still remains unanswered. Peter Edited July 26, 2014 by Peterpools Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tailspin Turtle Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 The cannon ports are flush, so to speak. The raised rim surrounding them should be sanded off. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 You most assuredly snatched victory from the jaws of defeat! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 (edited) Darren, Excellent progress. However, as Peter said, the issue of why such a basic modeling glue as Testors liquid glue didn't bond the parts, is still a major issue. Hopefully someone from Kitty Hawk is following this build thread, and can offer some answers and suggestions. Joel Edited July 26, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 27, 2014 Author Share Posted July 27, 2014 It's now primed and almost ready for paint. There are a couple of areas I want to touch up. I've got to decide what markings to put it in. The easy way would be to choose one of the decal sheet options. However, since this build has already challenged me, I'm thinking of going the extra little bit and painting the majority of the markings on. I'm leaning towards one of the training squadrons since I've obliterated some of the surface detail and a nice gloss finish will hide that somewhat. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 Darren Remarkable comeback on the Cougar. My vote would be for a training squadron in the high vis colors. Keep 'em coming Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 27, 2014 Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) Darren, It's hard to believe that you've gotten past the primer stage with the issues that this kit has. Honestly, I still have major concerns as to why KH and or the company that actually makes these kits, decided on this inferior grade of plastic. After all, it's not their 1st kit. The newly released F-101A doesn't have those issues. Just doesn't make any sense. Being the two seat version, one of the training squadrons is a natural for a paint scheme. Joel Edited July 27, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 Paint is now on and decaling will commence shortly, although I have to work on a Steel Beach restock, so that's going to take up most of my time over the next couple of days. I'll try and squeeze in some decals between pours. Markings will be of the NAS El Centro base hack. They are simple yet different. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Nice! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Darren, Looks fantastic. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Laurent Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 After all, it's not their 1st kit. The newly released F-101A doesn't have those issues. Just doesn't make any sense. Well it could make sense. Perhaps KH doesn't own a plastic injection machine and it could be different subcontractors that injected the different kits ? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 (edited) Well it could make sense. Perhaps KH doesn't own a plastic injection machine and it could be different subcontractors that injected the different kits ? Laurent, From what I understand, KH is just the design house. The actual kit making process is sub contracted out. As I said, this isn't their 1st kit. Odds are that they're using the same company to produce the Cougar as they did for the Voodoo, right back to their F-94C. This isn't their maiden kit contract either. It could very well be that either they got a bad batch of plastic pellets, or they're looking to increase their bottom line with a cheaper alternative. Either way, it's unacceptable to me, and I'll pass on a much wanted series of kits till the issue is resolved publically. Joel Edited July 28, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 From discussions on other forums, KH used ABS plastic instead of polystyrene, as most kit manufacturers use. There is a build on HS where the builder is using Tamiya Extra Thin and he's had no problems with adhesion. That will be the route I go next build. It's actually a nice kit. Just don't follow the instructions. Start with the upper fuselage pieces and work down. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 28, 2014 Author Share Posted July 28, 2014 I couldn't help myself. I spent the morning decaling. NOW I'll get back to casting Steel Beach stuff. LOL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Darren, Looks fantastic. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 That's looking good Darren! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted July 28, 2014 Share Posted July 28, 2014 Darren Simply stellar ... But for KH to use ABS and not styrene is unconscionable! How about telling the consumer that the kit isn't made with styrene. Keep 'em coming Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Falcon50EX Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Nice job Darren. Also, cool choice of a "Non-Cliche" paint scheme. As for ABS, i wonder if this is one of the cases where The folks doing the injection molding didn't tell KH what kind of plastic they were using. I can't imagine anybody consciously doing a switcheroo and substituting ABS for high impact polystyrene without telling anyone; its just bad business and not very nice. -d- Quote Link to post Share on other sites
11bee Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Outstanding job, I really like the choice of markings. Nice to see a lowly "hack" instead of all those frontline squadrons. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted August 1, 2014 Share Posted August 1, 2014 Great work indeed ! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted August 3, 2014 Share Posted August 3, 2014 WOW Simply gorgeous work. Keep 'em coming Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.