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Building The Hobby Boss 1/48 F3H Demon


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I have just completed building the Hobby Boss 1/48 F3H Demon and I thought I would let everyone know some of the errors I found in the kit.  This model was at times one of the most aggravating builds I have had in a long time.  I confess I am not a Demon expert but after looking at photos and comparing them to the kit until my eyes crossed I became more knowledgeable than I ever thought I would.  Some of the errors are pointed out in the Detail and Scale digital book but I found more and had to disagree with a couple of assessments in the book and some are overlooked.  Please note I am not a rivet counter but I do try to correct errors if I can.

 

1. The cockpit: In general it has good detail.  However something is off on the control stick location.  I think it is to far forward.  The pilots arms would have to be about 5 feet long to reach the stick.  I did not catch this until I put the ejection seat in. I also added detail on

     the deck behind the cockpit. A gunsight which is offset to the left needs to be added also in addition to a couple of other odds and ends to the instrument shroud.

2. Intake guide vanes:  To thick and to long.  I sanded mine down to about half the thickness if I were to build this kit again I would replace them with strip styrene.  After I had the kit together and after looking at numerous photos I noticed the guide vanes are not flush  

    with the intake lip.  They should be recessed slightly back from the intake lip.

3. Fuselage exhaust and oil vents:  There are 2 large square exhaust vents behind the two large auxiliary intakes on the fuselage ( on photos they often have long streaks of black flowing back from them).  I drilled these out and added brass square tubing cut at an angle

    and attached to the inside of the fuselage. This greatly improved the look of these vents.  I also drilled out the 2 oil vents which are forward and below the auxillary intakes.  I used round tubing cut at an angle for these.  Again there is one per side.

4. Stabilators:  Demons when they are at rest the stabs will deflect to the nose down position.  On the stabs there is a multi-angled piece attached to the stab, on the kit this piece is molded onto the fuselage.  I used a pencil and a white piece of paper and made a tracing

    by rubbing the pencil over the angular piece. I then cut the tracing out of the paper and glued it to a piece of sheet styrene.  I then cut out the styrene tracing and attached it to the stab.  Then remove the angular piece from the fuselage.

5. Speed Brakes:  The interior framing has plastic in between the frames,  this needs to be removed leaving only the frame.  The brass outer panel is missing a row of vertical holes along the rear edge.  There was not much I could do about that.  Note: The interior of the

    speed brake wells are interior green.  The inside of the speed brake and strut should be red.  The Naval Aviation Museum has the well red. Color photos of in service aircraft show it to be interior green.

6. Tailhook well: On the kit the designers apparently used the Naval Aviation Museum aircraft.  Unfortunately it is missing the triangular piece that is between the A portion of the tailhook.  Look at the Pima Air Museum walk around and you will clearly see what I am talking

     about.  I made my piece from basswood and sanded it to shape.

7. Avionics cooling vent: This vent which is located on the top of the fuselage just forward of the wind screen has an impossible seem to eliminate.  I removed the bottom of the kit's vent and replaced it with sheet plastic eliminating the need to fill the seem.

8. Tail cone, short version:  Looks like a ski slope.  I flipped mine upside down and reshaped it sanding to a more acceptable shape.  If I had to do it again I would try reshaping it with Milliput or something similar.

9. Exhaust:  Sits at an angle that is angled downward to much.  I removed the ribbing on top the exhaust and was to get a more acceptable angle.

10. Missile Pylons (Not Rails):  First the pylons are located in the wrong locations.  The outer pylon has about half of it located under the folding portion of the wing.  So when the wing is folded about half of the pylon is actually  exposed.  The pylons are actually about

     double the thickness they should be.  Looking at photos you can clearly see that the pylons are no wider than the rails.  Now the tricky part.  The pylons are not the same size between the Sparrow and Sidewinder.  It took me a while to notice this aspect of the kit.

     The kit pylons are for the Sidewinder rails which are shorter than the Sparrow pylons.  I noticed this aspect when I couldn't get the pylons located properly.  I had to make the Sparrow pylons from the drop tank pylons to get the proper length.

11. Missile rails: Only Sparrow rails are included in the kit and they are early rails missing the cooling vent on top of the rail, they are correct for early Sparrow rails.  I made the cooling vent from U channel.  No Sidewinder rails are included in the kit.  I used Hasegawa rails

      from an A-4 kit and cut the rear of the rail off.  The real rails have a blunt end.     

12. Cannon shell openings and deflectors:  The cannon shell ejector ports are missing.  If you are making a 4 cannon aircraft the ejector ports are double the length of the 2 cannon aircraft.  The kits shell deflectors, as are many smaller parts of the kit, are grossly

      oversized.  I made mine from sheet brass cut and bent to the proper shape and size.

13. Tail bumper, windscreen air data probe, tail light, wing fences:  All the aforementioned parts are way out of scale, probably closer to 1/32 scale.  For the tail bumper I cut it in half length and width wise.  Left as is it will not fit into its well.  I replaced the the windscreen

      air data probe with one from a Hasegawa A-4.  I also used a piece of wire for the tip.  The tail light was replaced by a piece of a straight pin.  The wing fences again are way over scaled.  I replaced mine with sheet styrene.  However, if I had to do it again I would just

      use the kit fences and sand them down to scale.

14. Pitot tube:  Detail and Scale says the pitot tube is to short.  It is not to short it is in the wrong location.  It should be located immediately behind the first panel line aft of the corragard panel line.  I added the tip of a straight pin to mine.

15. Radar altimeter:  Add the rectangular radar altimeter to the left outer wing.  I made the hole and then used Microscale Kristal Klear for the glass.

16. Refueling probe cradle and probe: The probe cradle is slightly wider near the middle at both the top and bottom ( I am talking about the actual area in which the probe is retracted into).  I did not notice this until it was to late and was unable to correct it.  The

      refueling probe is to short.  The probe should almost touch the windscreen.  I made mine from styrene rod and the tip of a Hasegawa A-4 probe.  When the probe is retracted there is a a small U-shaped support which is included in the kit.  The instructions have you    

      mount this piece directly to the fuselage.  However it should be attached to the forward end of the probe housing.  This is due to the fact the refueling probe was an attachment package and not actually manufactured on the aircraft. I replaced mine with with square

      styrene rod and heavy foil for the cradle.

17. Windscreen and Canopy:  Both are pinched in at the bottom.  The windscreen should mount flush with the side of the fuselage.  However, if you look at some of the builds on the internet you will see the the rear bottom edge of the windscreen is pinched in on both

      sides leaving an edge if not corrected.  The same goes for the canopy.  I dipped my windscreen and canopy into boiling water for about 20 seconds and then spread them to the appropriate width.

18. Landing gear.  If needed add a landing light and approach lights to the nose gear (early Demons apparently had neither). The main landing gear doors the ones which are actually attached to the gear are mounted to low.  Remove the locating holes and mount them

      just above the bottom pin on the gear.  Leave the pin there is something similar on the real aircraft, however you will need to remove the top locating pin. The fit of the forward wheel well is horrible.  One side will have a large gap.  I had to fill mine with Millput.

19. Wingfolds:  The detail is totally fictitious.   I added U-channel to the bottom half and added details.  While they the folds are not totally accurate I was able to improve their appearance.

20. Odds and ends:  Drill a hole in the fuselage on the right side just forward of the landing gear bay.  If needed remove the light on the vertical tail.  This light was added very late in the Demon's service life and most did not have it. Drill out the cannon ports.

 

I hope this will help any of you which wants to tackle this beast.  This sorely tested my modeling patience.  However, it looks good when completed.  It just takes a lot of work to get there.

 

Terry Hill

 

 

 

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50 minutes ago, efd327 said:

I have just completed building the Hobby Boss 1/48 F3H Demon and I thought I would let everyone know some of the errors I found in the kit.  This model was at times one of the most aggravating builds I have had in a long time.  I confess I am not a Demon expert but after looking at photos and comparing them to the kit until my eyes crossed I became more knowledgeable than I ever thought I would.  Some of the errors are pointed out in the Detail and Scale digital book but I found more and had to disagree with a couple of assessments in the book and some are overlooked.  Please note I am not a rivet counter but I do try to correct errors if I can.

 

  1. The cockpit: In general it has good detail.  However, something is off on the control stick location.  I think it is too far forward.  The pilots arms would have to be about 5 feet long to reach the stick.  I did not catch this until I put the ejection seat in. I also added detail on the deck behind the cockpit. A gun sight, which is offset to the left, needs to be added also, in addition to a couple of other odds and ends to the instrument shroud.
  2. Intake guide vanes:  Too thick and too long.  I sanded mine down to about half the thickness.  If I were to build this kit again I would replace them with strip styrene.  After I had the kit together, and after looking at numerous photos, I noticed the guide vanes are not flush with the intake lip.  They should be recessed slightly back from the intake lip.
  3. Fuselage exhaust and oil vents:  There are 2 large square exhaust vents behind the two large auxiliary intakes on the fuselage (on photos they often have long streaks of black flowing back from them).  I drilled these out and added brass square tubing cut at an angle attached to the inside of the fuselage. This greatly improved the look of these vents.  I also drilled out the 2 oil vents which are forward and below the auxiliary intakes.  I used round tubing cut at an angle for these.  Again, there is one per side.
  4. Stabilators:  Demons, when they are at rest, the stabs will deflect to the nose down position.  On the stabs there is a multi-angled piece attached to the stab, on the kit this piece is molded onto the fuselage.  I used a pencil and a white piece of paper and made a tracing by rubbing the pencil over the angular piece. I then cut the tracing out of the paper and glued it to a piece of sheet styrene.  I then cut out the styrene tracing and attached it to the stab.  Then remove the angular piece from the fuselage.
  5. Speed Brakes:  The interior framing has plastic in between the frames, this needs to be removed leaving only the frame.  The brass outer panel is missing a row of vertical holes along the rear edge.  There was not much I could do about that.  Note: The interior of the speed brake wells are interior green.  The inside of the speed brake and strut should be red.  The Naval Aviation Museum has the well red. Color photos of in service aircraft show it to be interior green.
  6. Tailhook well: On the kit the designers apparently used the Naval Aviation Museum aircraft.  Unfortunately, it is missing the triangular piece that is between the "A" portion of the tailhook.  Look at the Pima Air Museum walk around and you will clearly see what I am talking about.  I made my piece from basswood and sanded it to shape.
  7. Avionics cooling vent: This vent, which is located on the top of the fuselage just forward of the wind screen, has an impossible seam to eliminate.  I removed the bottom of the kit's vent and replaced it with sheet plastic eliminating the need to fill the seem.
  8. Tail cone, short version:  Looks like a ski slope.  I flipped mine upside-down and reshaped it, sanding to a more acceptable shape.  If I had to do it again I would try reshaping it with Milliput or something similar.
  9. Exhaust:  Sits at an angle that is angled downward too much.  I removed the ribbing on top [of] the exhaust and was to get a more acceptable angle.
  10. Missile Pylons (Not Rails):  First, the pylons are located in the wrong locations.  The outer pylon has about half of it located under the folding portion of the wing.  So when the wing is folded about half of the pylon is actually exposed.  The [kit] pylons are actually about double the thickness they should be.  Looking at photos you can clearly see that the pylons are no wider than the rails.  Now the tricky part.  The pylons are not the same size between the Sparrow and Sidewinder.  It took me a while to notice this aspect of the kit.  The kit pylons are for the Sidewinder rails, which are shorter than the Sparrow pylons.  I noticed this aspect when I couldn't get the pylons located properly.  I had to make the Sparrow pylons from the drop tank pylons to get the proper length.
  11. Missile rails: Only Sparrow rails are included in the kit and they are early rails missing the cooling vent on top of the rail, they are correct for early Sparrow rails.  I made the cooling vent from U channel.  No Sidewinder rails are included in the kit.  I used Hasegawa rails from an A-4 kit and cut the rear of the rail off.  The real rails have a blunt end.     
  12. Cannon shell openings and deflectors:  The cannon shell ejector ports are missing.  If you are making a 4-cannon aircraft, the ejector ports are double the length of the 2-cannon aircraft.  The kit's shell deflectors, like many smaller parts of the kit, are grossly oversized.  I made mine from sheet brass cut and bent to the proper shape and size.
  13. Tail bumper, windscreen air data probe, tail light, wing fences:  All the aforementioned parts are way out of scale, probably closer to 1/32 scale.  For the tail bumper I cut it in half length and width wise.  Left as is, it will not fit into its well.  I replaced the the windscreen air data probe with one from a Hasegawa A-4.  I also used a piece of wire for the tip.  The tail light was replaced by a piece of a straight pin.  The wing fences again are way over-scaled.  I replaced mine with sheet styrene.  However, if I had to do it again I would just use the kit fences and sand them down to scale.
  14. Pitot tube:  Detail and Scale says the pitot tube is too short.  It is not too short, it is in the wrong location.  It should be located immediately behind the first panel line aft of the Corragard panel line.  I added the tip of a straight pin to mine.
  15. Radar altimeter:  Add the rectangular radar altimeter to the left outer wing.  I made the hole and then used Microscale Kristal Klear for the glass.
  16. Refueling probe cradle and probe: The probe cradle is slightly wider near the middle at both the top and bottom (I am talking about the actual area in which the probe is retracted into).  I did not notice this until it was too late and was unable to correct it.  The refueling probe is too short.  The probe should almost touch the windscreen.  I made mine from styrene rod and the tip of a Hasegawa A-4 probe.  When the probe is retracted there is a small U-shaped support which is included in the kit.  The instructions have you mount this piece directly to the fuselage.  However, it should be attached to the forward end of the probe housing.  This is due to the fact the refueling probe was an attachment package and not actually manufactured on the aircraft. I replaced mine with with square styrene rod and heavy foil for the cradle.
  17. Windscreen and Canopy:  Both are pinched in at the bottom.  The windscreen should mount flush with the side of the fuselage.  However, if you look at some of the builds on the internet you will see the the rear bottom edge of the windscreen is pinched in on both sides leaving an edge if not corrected.  The same goes for the canopy.  I dipped my windscreen and canopy into boiling water for about 20 seconds and then spread them to the appropriate width.
  18. Landing gear.  If needed, add a landing light and approach lights to the nose gear (early Demons apparently had neither). The main landing gear doors, the ones which are actually attached to the gear, are mounted too low.  Remove the locating holes and mount them just above the bottom pin on the gear.  Leave the pin, there is something similar on the real aircraft, however you will need to remove the top locating pin. The fit of the forward wheel well is horrible.  One side will have a large gap.  I had to fill mine with Milliput.
  19. Wing folds:  The detail is totally fictitious.   I added U-channel to the bottom half and added details.  While the folds are not totally accurate I was able to improve their appearance.
  20. Odds and ends:  Drill a hole in the fuselage on the right side just forward of the landing gear bay.  If needed, remove the light on the vertical tail.  This light was added very late in the Demon's service life and most did not have it. Drill out the cannon ports.

 

I hope this will help any of you which wants to tackle this beast.  This sorely tested my modeling patience.  However, it looks good when completed.  It just takes a lot of work to get there.

 

Terry Hill

 

 

Wow, congrats for taking that kit to the mat.  Your notes are invaluable.  They are also difficult to read.  I quoted and edited for spelling and used board formatting features.  I hope you don't mind too much.

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Re. #18 (Nose Gear Bay): BOTH sides (and the rear bulkhead) have a ridiculous gap between the bay walls and fuselage, except at the front! I had to deploy a shedload of styrene sheet and filler to lose it...

 

Ben Brown, the GP kit looks wonderful in the box, and there is enough AIRES resin there to sink a carrier. But it does need some, uh...commitment?! And it doesn't have a wing-fold, spurious or otherwise. That was a 'thing' for me, because I really wanted to display the distinctive fold configuration. The HB kit is awash with silly little build niggles and missing or inaccurate features, but some potentially tricky bits (modular fuselage, for example) fit really well. It's all fixable, and I'll get around to finishing it someday, but TBH the silly bits took the wind out of me sails, shipmates!

 

(About this far in:)

 

PB020010.jpg

 

 

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  • 2 years later...

Hi,

I'm a newbie on this site and am contemplating building Hobby Boss F3H Demon.

While I find Terry Hill/efd327's notes very instructive and helpful for my project, I'm curious to see photos of his Demon model. Can any of you give me some pointers?

 

Thank you for your help,

Quang

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