Killingholme Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Hi all, I've been wanting to join a groupbuild for a while, but haven't had the time. Hopefully the half-term hols will give me a bit of impetus that will carry me through when school starts again! At least all my kids have done their exams now! The Italeri kit is 'fully upgraded', which given the rather rough surface texture suggests that they have spark-eroded the moulds to incorporate recessed panel lines. I don't have an 'old' italeri kit on hand to compare. The breakdown of the kit is utterly conventional, and doesn't have very many parts. I will finish the kit as a rather attractive French Aeronavale machine operating out of Tunis in 1946. I forgot to take sprue shots, but here's the main fuselage sprue to convince you all that I haven't been cheating! The build-up should be simple, and includes a few nice extras such as an etched fret. The fret isn't really essential, giving you some intakes, a rather fine fuselage-top walkway and a panel. Unfortunately the dials on the panel are only half-etched and so it will not really look mcuch better than an injection moulded part. I suppose Italeri provided it because it was cheaper than re-tooling the 'blank' plastic instrument panel part. A decal to go over it wouldn't have gone amiss though! The fit seems OK. Instead of starting in the cockpit, I decided to glue together the wings. The fit between the inner and outer wings is a little rough- the rather vague setting of the dihedral will need some filling and sanding to fill up the gaps created. There's rather a lot of glass on this mode,l, so I fully intend to 'cheat' and buy the montex mask set. Updates soon regds Will Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
swordfish fairey Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Looks like one to watch, great choice Will...........Smudge Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pigsty Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Do watch for the way the wing attaches to the hull. There are nothing like enough aids to it and butt-jointing the struts while trying to keep the wing level will drive you bonkers. You may want to insert your own locating pins. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Welcome to the GB, Will I can see why you've chosen that French scheme - very tasty. Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Rogers Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Good luck Will, welcome to the GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted May 29, 2013 Share Posted May 29, 2013 Nice looking subject. Hadn't realised how much use the French made of German aircraft post war. Very interesting. Regards, Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Killingholme Posted May 30, 2013 Author Share Posted May 30, 2013 (edited) Progress on cockpit. All OOB except masking tape belts- not bad for the age of the kit. Everything behind the bulkhead is hidden in the depths anyway (which is why I painted the seats a lighter shade of brown than is strictly accurate) As I said above, the inclusion of an etched panel is a waste of time. The details are only half-etched depressions which makes picking out the characteristic German coloured bezels all but impossible (so I didn't bother!) This is it for a while- the turrets need to be fitted when the fuselage halves are joined, and so I'm waiting on my masking set to arrive. regds, Will Edited May 30, 2013 by Killingholme Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehed Posted July 5, 2013 Share Posted July 5, 2013 Bonjour Will, Comment va l'avion .. Regards, Steve (French O level failure : 1973) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 (edited) Just found this.. Good work so far.. Have you gotten any more done, thank you Edited April 19, 2014 by HOUSTON Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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