Kurt H. Posted March 26, 2020 Author Share Posted March 26, 2020 (edited) 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 😄 ----- 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 March 26, 2020 by Kurt H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
bashace Posted March 27, 2020 Share Posted March 27, 2020 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted March 28, 2020 Author Share Posted March 28, 2020 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 Here is the rear fuselage, both sides are similar, this is a manageable gap 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 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
phantom Posted March 28, 2020 Share Posted March 28, 2020 That gap is common on the Voodoo kits, built 5 of them last year. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted April 6, 2020 Author Share Posted April 6, 2020 On 3/28/2020 at 2:16 PM, phantom said: That gap is common on the Voodoo kits, built 5 of them last year. Thanks Phantom. I have performed 1 round of putty and sand, and it will need more. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted April 10, 2020 Author Share Posted April 10, 2020 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 After sanding, I applied primer and it is mostly ok 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 See ya next time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted April 17, 2020 Author Share Posted April 17, 2020 I have attached the nose to the Monogram voodoo 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. 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff M Posted April 18, 2020 Share Posted April 18, 2020 It's tough working around those raised panel lines. Your doing a great job. Keep it up. Looking forward to more progress on these. Geoff M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted April 19, 2020 Share Posted April 19, 2020 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted April 27, 2020 Author Share Posted April 27, 2020 (edited) 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 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 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 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 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 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 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. That is all for now. Talk to you later Edited July 20, 2020 by Kurt H. typos Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff M Posted May 3, 2020 Share Posted May 3, 2020 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 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 I realized later I forgot the missle bay, but it still fits after the foward fuselage is assembled Here is the forward fuselage I assembled the wings, but the area around the intakes just did not want to bond, so this will require clean up 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 That is all for now, I will work on the wings then assemble the airframe. See ya next time. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Geoff M Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 Pit looks very nice. Strange about the wing not bonding, I'm sure you'll work it out. Geoff M Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Thadeus Posted May 10, 2020 Share Posted May 10, 2020 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted May 23, 2020 Author Share Posted May 23, 2020 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 And in the past few days I assembled the fuselage. 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... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 (edited) I spent a lot of time with the seams all over the KittyHawk Fuselage Then I went to test fit the RF camera bay it is a horror show The other side is OK 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 I guess I am in for more putty sand repeat Edited June 3, 2020 by Kurt H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 (edited) 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. 🤦♂️ 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 Oh well .. 💩 happens. I will now pay the price for my lack of attention. Edited June 4, 2020 by Kurt H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainObvious Posted June 8, 2020 Share Posted June 8, 2020 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 (edited) 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 June 10, 2020 by Kurt H. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
picknpluck Posted June 20, 2020 Share Posted June 20, 2020 That KH build looks like a total slog-fest. Way to keep at it. One of these days I'll get around to the Monogram kit in my stash. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Kurt H. Posted July 20, 2020 Author Share Posted July 20, 2020 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 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) 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 Then they do something like this 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 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 The monogram is ready for primer, the KittyHawk requires a little more putty / sand repeat See ya next update! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
CaptainObvious Posted July 30, 2020 Share Posted July 30, 2020 No easy day huh? But it looks like you've got most of the hard stuff done. Press on Kurt! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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