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Had a problem with the pictures in this post, I will need to re-shoot the pictures and re-post them. - check back again soon 😄

 

 

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Major progress with the monogram ... The wing has been mated to the fuselage

 

No going back now, it will no longer fit in the box!

 

I am also moving along with the Kitty Hawk kit, 

 

 

 

I assembled the fuel tanks. I had to remove the locator pins on the tanks. With the pins in the holes, the halves were noticeably misaligned.  The fit of the other major components has been pretty good otherwise. 

 

 

Edited by Kurt H.
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Looking great so far! I built the F-101B about 10 years ago, had some frustrating spots, but in the end it was worth it. It's a beast of a plane, it dwarfed a lot of the other 1/48 Jets I was building at the time.

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On 3/26/2020 at 10:46 PM, bashace said:

Looking great so far! I built the F-101B about 10 years ago, had some frustrating spots, but in the end it was worth it. It's a beast of a plane, it dwarfed a lot of the other 1/48 Jets I was building at the time.

 

thanks bashace. The only real frustration has been the flaps, I made it hard on my self by closing the flaps and it really took a lot of time and effort to make it look acceptable. The rest has been what I would expect from 1980s monogram. And yes, it is pretty big.

 

So, let us look at what is next ..

 

There is a bit of a gap where the wing meets the fuselage. Hopefully I can perform clean putty work and not make a mess

 

20200327_193309sm-vi.jpg

 

Here is the rear fuselage, both sides are similar, this is a manageable gap 

 

20200327_193339sm-vi.jpg

 

Here is the kittyhawk keel, I can fix this, it will just require care to maintain the sharp "stair step" effect of the layers on this area

 

20200327_193504sm-vi.jpg

 

I think I am all set for major assembly of the KH kit, my next mini project will be the burner cans for both kits.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I am still going in circles with the main airframe of the Monogram voodoo, but I made visible progress with the nose section

 

I installed the windows, masked the windows with bare metal foil, and started putty and sand work

 

20200406_025325sm-vi.jpg

 

After sanding, I applied primer and it is mostly ok

 

20200410_020848sm-vi.jpg

 

It looks ok, but not perfect

 

And with the keel of the Kitty Hawk kit, I had to use putty in the seam. I tried to apply putty neatly but largely failed

 

20200410_020853sm-vi.jpg

 

See ya next time.

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I have attached the nose to the Monogram voodoo

 

20200417_042222sm-vi.jpg

 

There is a gap around the join. I had to think for a few days, I could not decide whether to try to fix this. I did not want to destroy all the raised detail, but I can not live with that gap. I think I will mask the area around the join, and carefully apply putty, then use the "wipe off" method with lacquer thinner instead of sanding. It might not totally fill in the seam, but it will look better.

 

And the rear fuselage is about as good as it will get. 

 

20200417_042232sm-vi.jpg

 

There is a fingerprint where I picked up the model while the primer was still wet. 🤦‍♂️

 

I forgot to take a picture, but the keel area for the Kitty Hawk kit looks much better now after sanding the putty and re-priming.

 

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For the seams I often use vallejo putty. The one with long applier. After application You can wipe it with anything. Even a blade will do.

But generally I just rescribe raised lines. Hate it, can't do it well, but I guess it pays off with sanding.

 

Keep up great work.

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I am getting closer to Major airframe assembly with the KH kit. I decided to build and paint the seats

 

Let us have a side by side look

 

20200427_041121sm-vi.jpg

 

On the left is a side view, so the Kitty hawk seat is on the far left, and next to it is the monogram seat, and similarly with the front view of the seats

 

The KH kit has Photo eteched straps. I will need to prime and paint them, but I hand painted the straps on the Mnogram seat. The monogram seat has more detail and looks busier so, I declare Monogram the seat winner

 

I moved on to the exhausts. Frankly I made a mess of the KH exhausts

 

There is a PE part which is applied to the plastic part

 

20200427_033005sm-vi.jpg

 

I had trouble getting it to sit evenly and straight. It may have just been too hard for me, a more skilled builder could probably do a better job. I did my best. 

 

Here are the exhausts side by side

 

20200427_041032sm-vi.jpg

 

The monogram parts have some detail molded into the plastic part on the end. The KH Exhausts are more detailed but at the cost of applying PE.  I think I have to give it to KH here, but the monogram was much easier.

 

Another thing to address with the Kitty Hawk kit is for the RF, the weapons bay cover is not included, it only has the weapons by panel for the fighter version which is intended to carry missiles. There are two panels, ont has lots of protruding detail, and this one with cutouts for the missiles

 

20200425_224200sm-vi.jpg

 

I decided to try and fill in this one I knew a solvent based filler  would make a mess, shrink, and using that much would warp the plastic. So I used CA and nail acrylic powder. I tried to clean up the excess, but .. did not do a great job

 

20200425_231005sm-vi.jpg

 

This will require a lot of sanding but will do the job.

 

Next up the instructions call for these photo etched stand offs on the intake fence

 

20200427_032954sm-vi.jpg

 

Here is the photo etched sheet, the parts are so tiny and I just do not have the patience to try and bend them and glue them in place. I applaud the effort, but I will leave the parts off.

 

 

20200427_033024sm-vi.jpg

 

 

 

That is all for now. 

 

Talk to you later

 

 

 

 

Edited by Kurt H.
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Nice. I hate working with PE. Exhaust looks awesome.

 

Perhaps You could subsitute this detail on the splitter plate with plastic rod? First put on the splitter plate, than drill holes in proper positions, and after that, put a rod in place, cut it, sand flush, and voila! Unless there are some locating holes on the other side of the splitter plate, it'd be easier to drill them out.

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I think the person who came up with the idea of photoetch parts was secretly trying to drive modellers crazy!  Especially when they get so small you need a microscope to see them.  I agree with Thandeus to try and make new ones from plastic which is easier to work with and if one goes flying off into oblivion you can make another one; if you decided to put them on in the first place. 

 

Geoff M

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On 5/3/2020 at 1:39 PM, Geoff M said:

I think the person who came up with the idea of photoetch parts was secretly trying to drive modellers crazy!  Especially when they get so small you need a microscope to see them.  I agree with Thandeus to try and make new ones from plastic which is easier to work with and if one goes flying off into oblivion you can make another one; if you decided to put them on in the first place. 

 

Geoff M

 

I do not think I will put anything there, it is in a place you really can not see, but I would probably use little pieces of plastic instead.

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I have been working on this one, and the momentum has finally started to pick up

 

Here is the cockpit, nose wheel bay, and radar subassembly

 

20200509_030641sm-vi.jpg

 

I realized later I forgot the missle bay, but it still fits after the foward fuselage is assembled

 

Here is the forward fuselage 

 

20200509_174556sm-vi.jpg

 

I assembled the wings, but the area around the intakes just did not want to bond, so this will require clean up

 

20200509_174713sm-vi.jpg

 

The wings have hooks instead of tabs, so it is possible to build this with removable wings, like a monogram B-17. The fit is reasonable enough if you want to go this route .. but I will not

 

20200509_174816sm-vi.jpg

 

That is all for now, I will work on the wings then assemble the airframe. 

 

See ya next time.

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4 hours ago, Geoff M said:

Pit looks very nice.  Strange about the wing not bonding, I'm sure you'll work it out.  

 

Geoff M

 

It was a situation where I had to hold the seam together to keep it closed, as though there was a mechinical issue forcing the seam apart. I thought I removed all the sprue nubs. I used tape to hold the seam together but when the glue was dry, the seam still came apart slightly. Filler will remedy the issue.  And If you look closely the throttle lever is still gray plastic in the picture, I painted it after the picture was taken.

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I've had similar issues on a few trumpeter/hb builds. I seem to remember the 1/72 Su-27. A piece of front fuselage, by the gun port, would not accept plastic glue. I had to use super glue, which was fine. It wasn't symmetrical, /happened on one side of fuselage and not the other. But I haven't had anything like that since I started to sand surfaces before glueing. And I built a Flanker since - no problem. But I never degrease a kit.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been working on this and I seem to have gone for a while without an update

 

I painted the area of the fuselage behind the intakes, and I panted the intake fences, as this area is hard to paint after the model is complete

 

20200516_153258sm-vi.jpg

 

And in the past few days I assembled the fuselage. 

 

20200523_032308sm-vi.jpg

 

The fit of the forward fuselage to the mid fuselage was fine, the aft fuselage seems to have a small step and a gap. I am not sure if it is operator error, or a real fit issue.

 

This build feels more like a scientific study or a homework assignment at this point so I have begun let small gaps and things which do not line up perfectly slide. I have run out of something ... since we do not use bad language here I will not say it, but  If you have watched any videos by Doog's models or read his posts, you know what I mean. 

 

I will have the major assembly finished soon. 

 

See ya next time...

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

 

I spent a lot of time with the seams all over the KittyHawk Fuselage

 

20200603_032846sm-vi.jpg

 

Then I went to test fit the RF camera bay 

 

it is a horror show

 

20200603_032900sm-vi.jpg

 

The other side is OK

 

20200603_032911sm-vi.jpg

 

I briefly considered abandoniung the plan to build it as an RF-101 but decided to press on

 

I glued the windows in place with Tamiya Extra Thin. This way they will not fall out

 

20200603_033950sm-vi.jpg

 

I guess I am in for more putty sand repeat

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by Kurt H.
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When I mess up,  even though it is hard, I will own up to it.

 

It ends up I did not follow the directions carefully

 

There are different parts for the nose between the F and RF versions. 🤦‍♂️

 

20200603_132054sm-vi.jpg

 

 

20200603_132100sm-vi.jpg

 

I had to remove the nose cone and remove these parts. They were cemented in place so well Ihad to use a screw driver to get enough leverage

 

20200603_132331sm-vi.jpg

 

Oh well ..  💩 happens.  I will now pay the price for my lack of attention. 

Edited by Kurt H.
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Gosh, that looks like a lot of quality elbow grease!
I admire your tenacity for powering through the issues one by one.
I'm not sure if I would have been able to keep going after that last issue with attaching the wrong panels.

Keep up the great job! 
-co

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On 6/8/2020 at 9:49 AM, CaptainObvious said:

Gosh, that looks like a lot of quality elbow grease!
I admire your tenacity for powering through the issues one by one.
I'm not sure if I would have been able to keep going after that last issue with attaching the wrong panels.

Keep up the great job! 
-co

 

Thnaks. It was frustrating when I realized the issue was my fault. It was also sad to tear apart some pretty nice seam work.  I have everything glued together now, and it will require some sanding.

Edited by Kurt H.
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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 5 weeks later...

Oh my goodness it has been too long since an update on this one. I seem to have found myself involved in Group builds all over the place and it is a challenge to juggle everything.

 

This project had finally come back around, and it is creeping closer to the painting stage

 

The KittyHawk kit continues to annoy me in small doses. it is just the little things that frankly make me not want to continue. For example,  these strakes on the side of the fuselage, there are prominent ejector pin marks on the side which faces outward

 

DSC_1027-vi.jpg

 

I mean, the monogram kit had no ejector pin marks on these, and if it is unavoidable, why not put them on the opposite side where they would not be easily seen?

 

The strakes on the monogram kit required the typical glob of putty to fair in. (it cleaned up well)

 

DSC_1029-vi.jpg

 

I installed the wings on the KittyHawk kit, and this was much easier than the monogram kit, there are two separate wings and everything fir very well

 

DSC_1031-vi.jpg

 

Then they do something like this

 

DSC_1059-vi.jpg

 

Why put the lug there? tricky to remove without damaging the tabs. I managed to do it by carefully scoring and snapping the lug

 

but when test fitting the canopy .. SNAP

 

DSC_1060-vi.jpg

 

It was as though the tabs did not line up with the slots in the fuselage. I was able to glue it back on with TET but it is just not the same.

 

Here is where they stand

 

DSC_1061-vi.jpg

 

The monogram is ready for primer, the KittyHawk requires a little more putty / sand repeat

 

See ya next update!

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

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