mogin Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) Hi. I bought a part built trumpeter tomcat of someone. It was a bargain. Problem is that the underside intake parts don't go together very well and have been assembled as is. I am reluctant to pull all the bits off as it would be traumatic for the plastic and would rather leave it than bugger the kit. Underside of fuselage, the curved parts and intakes that house the engine are in two peices which don't line up. What was your solution? Is it the intake part that needs correcting (pushing down /in) or the back half (pushing up/out) and filling the gaps? Edited May 21, 2015 by mogin Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dehowie Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 Looks like Elbow grease some wet sanding and about 20minutes will fix that. Most of the builds I have seen have used Zacto's intakes so no other hints! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mogin Posted May 21, 2015 Author Share Posted May 21, 2015 The difference is greater than the thickness of plastic. I can flex the parts from what I can see, to get a flush fit. The question is, which side needs correcting? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Alpagueur Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 (edited) The question is, which side needs correcting? considering the "F-15-style" look of the Trumpy intakes (too squared plus too little inclined to the outside), I'm pretty sure that it is the front stump. Maybe you could try to reverse the two forward intakes (the right one to the left position and vice versa) to mitigate this effect. cheers, Luca Edited May 21, 2015 by Alpagueur Quote Link to post Share on other sites
zerosystem Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 From your pics it looks like the inside edge is on the high side, maybe shave it down a bit and see if the fit improves? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Slartibartfast Posted May 21, 2015 Share Posted May 21, 2015 You might throw the fuselage into the freezer overnight to see if maybe the bond will get brittle enough to fail without damaging the plastic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mogin Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Re freezer, I've gone as far as I can with that. It's helped, for sure but these parts are really on tight. I'm just struggling with which part to correct, front or back. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted May 22, 2015 Share Posted May 22, 2015 (edited) Re freezer, I've gone as far as I can with that. It's helped, for sure but these parts are really on tight. I'm just struggling with which part to correct, front or back. I can tell you that the front portion of the intake is correct. The notch that you see is for a latch on the landing gear to fit into. I'm not familiar with the Trumpeter kit. If the engine area is a separate piece, than those are probably the offending parts. Edit: I just checked references and the vents at the end of the strakes are correct. That means the rear portion is also correctly placed. It looks like the fit is horrible on those parts. Edited May 22, 2015 by Darren Roberts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mogin Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Yes the fit is indeed horrible. I can choose to correct the front parts which could give me grief with the wheel bays or correct the rear which give will impact the engines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mogin Posted May 22, 2015 Author Share Posted May 22, 2015 Yes the fit is indeed horrible. I can choose to correct the front parts which could give me grief with the wheel bays or correct the rear which give will impact the engines. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mogin Posted May 23, 2015 Author Share Posted May 23, 2015 Ok well I have reached a conclusion. Getting that first intake off was hard. The second is well stuck down and it's a complicated job. Both the external edges of the rear nacelles have come free on their own. The intakes hold the wheel bays in position, if I stuff around with that then I also risk compromising the stability of the finished product. However, if I push the rear nacelles out by a mm then I will effectively push the engine mountings back from their required position which is a lot better then pushing them in. If I correct the rear nacelles I reckon I can do it with a hair dryer without needing to remove anything, just the existing free edge appears to give enough scope for a fix. Just lift up that side by a mm, add card as a spacer, reshape with hair-dryer to kill the tension, sand, beer. The 3rd shot down shows the engine mount which I will only need to build up/possibly shape slightly. Might have to razor saw out a section to aid in recambering but I think I should be ok....... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bushande Posted June 4, 2015 Share Posted June 4, 2015 To be honest, considering how far off and crappy shapewise the Trumpeter intakes are anyways, I'd seriously recommend to consider dehowie's hint, throw these things in the trash and invest into some decent resin intakes from Zacto-Models. Well worth the cash. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Squizzy 78 Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Mogin, I would also have to agree with the use of the zacto models intakes for the fix. Having used a set on a f-14 b, the detail and correct shape they bring to the model is simply amazing ! I would use a dremal drill to 'machine' the cemented intake, finishing off with files and a wet sand, and continue with the required removal of sections required to use the zacto models intakes. Being that you were able to get the kit cheep, the after market intakes mighty be a good investment. Good luck with the build. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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