Flankerman Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 No Red Stars - but plenty of yelllow ones......... Whilst waiting for the red decals to arrive for my XF-89 build, I have been finishing off another one for my growing Scorpion collection. This is the Hobbycraft F-89B in the markings of the 190th FIS, Idaho Air National Gurad...... Built OOB - except that I had to remove the central frame from the canopy - it is finished with rattle cans of Halfords 'Aluminium' and Gloss Black auto sprays..... Decals are from the kit boxing - all those stars are applied individually :bandhead2:/> I had quite a few fit problems with this kit - especially the cockpit tub and bottome fuselage section - but I fought it and eventually won!!! I now have four operational Scorpions in my collection - Hobbycraft F-89A & F-89B, Revell F-89D and Academy F-89J - plus the XF-89 conversion. I still have the Hobbycraft F-89H to build to complete the colllection, then I can get back to Flankers....... Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 What a great build. Outstanding NMF, paint scheme, and decaling. Really well done. Joel Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Sebastijan Posted August 8, 2014 Share Posted August 8, 2014 Well done, Ken! You really got bit by these creatures ;) Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Aigore Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Nice :D odd aircraft but well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
STEN8 Posted August 9, 2014 Share Posted August 9, 2014 Ken, What a nifty looking Scorpion! And a fantastic natural metal finish! Since you were bitten by the Bug four times, any chance of seeing all four? How about a picture? I'll bet they look pretty sharp on the display shelf! Thanks for sharing. Harry Lutz, FL Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Bahr Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Looks good Ken! Wish I could've found that kit when I did mine... would've saved some trouble! http://www.arcair.co...9B_Bahr/00.shtm Here's my D-model as well: http://www.arcair.co...9D_Bahr/00.shtm Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Flankerman Posted August 12, 2014 Author Share Posted August 12, 2014 J.C. I had the same desire to do this version ever since I saw those yellow star markings - and like you I tried to work out how it might be done - then I found out that Hobbycraft had re-issued the kit with those exact markings - so I bought it. The decal sheet gives you a choice of yellow or white stars - and preferred the yellow - but the fin serial number is only in white - presumably in error according to your excellent model and the artwork on the back of Squadron Signal's book?? I also struggled with the fit of parts - exactly how you describe - although I don't recall having the same issues with the HC F-89A that I built last year (maybe I have blotted it out of my memory??) (HC would have you fit two compressor faces inside the fuselage near the intakes - but the instruction tell you to slice off a quadrant from the compressor to allow the nosewheel well to fit ) I must admit that I didn't do the corrections that you did - but I did heavily sand down the prominent 'kink' where the conical nosecone meets the tubular fuselage to get a smoother transition. I still have one more to build - HC again, but this time the F-89H with Falcons in the wingtip pods. I'm planning to have one pod with the missiles deployed for firing - and the other all closed up - partly to show how the system worked and partly 'cos I can't stand the pain of cutting out all the apertures on TWO pods!! An asymetric deployement of the Falcon missiles probably isn't do-able on the real thing(?) - but I'm going to claim artistic licence and say that switches have been overridden and it's on display at an airshow Once the F-89H and my prototype XF-89 are finished, I'll have a collection showing most of the main variants - XF-89, F-89A, F-89B, F-89D, F-89J & F-89H. Then I can get this pesky arachnid out of my system and go back to Flankers!! Ken Quote Link to post Share on other sites
J.C. Bahr Posted August 12, 2014 Share Posted August 12, 2014 Hey Ken, Wish I had thought to try sanding down the "kink" in the nose a bit. I was more pre-occupied with trying to figure out a way to build up the nose a bit more, since it is so anemic... but I think your idea is a simpler fix that gives it the same illusion. After fighting with this kit so much, I was pretty well done with it by the time I realized the nose was really bugging me and figured it was just time to let it go. I'm not sure about the fin serial being in white or the stars for that matter even. I seem to recall having ran across a color pic somewhere of several of them sitting on the flight line and remembered noting that everything was in yellow... but I'll be darned if I can recall where I found that pic. The artwork on the back of the In-Action is based on a black and white photo that is not definitive. If it was a squadron color thing... makes one wonder if there were any other colors besides yellow or white? For some reason I do not recall slicing off the quadrant of the compressor face to fit the nose bay... but perhaps I did and have likewise erased it from memory. LOL! Good luck with the H-model. Not sure I've ever seen one of those with missiles deployed, but that'll definitely be neat. At least you're well versed on the problems with this particular kit family now. Once I did my B and D, I think I've got this Arachnid out of my system now as well. I've thought about re-trying them utilizing the Revell kit a 2nd time around... but have decided life is too short. A new tool specific B-model with better quality Idaho ANG markings is the only thing that will bring me back to the arena and I seriously doubt that's going to happen. Cheers. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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