BerndM Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Looking good, did you have dry fitted the fuselage parts with the cockpit in ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 Looking good, did you have dry fitted the fuselage parts with the cockpit in ? I have on one of them which is why the cockpit is glued into one side; it's the only way I could get it to stay in place while I dry fitted the other fuselage half! It seemed to be a good fit even with the bits of seat belt on the side of the seats. I have therefore not dry fitted the other aircraft yet. So that will probably be a terrible fit and will need loads of fiddling, sanding and swearing to fit!! Time will tell on that one 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 My girlfriend is building her first kit, currently. Its the same kit with the Yellow Jacks markings and her cockpit didn t fit until i made some cuts 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 My girlfriend is building her first kit, currently. Its the same kit with the Yellow Jacks markings and her cockpit didn t fit until i made some cuts Ahhh, ok... sanding stick, scalpel and swearing jar at the ready!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 Its an easy fix, when it happen to you 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Right. These builds are turning into a right pain in the neck... I'm getting different problems on each kit which is novel...Now, to be honest, before I moan too much about the kits, I think the problem might be with me... I placed the air intakes on after I fitted the cockpit which is the wrong way around (to the instructions). To be honest, I think the whole thing has had a knock-on effect, preventing the cockpit fitting correctly (and intakes), then the underside, then the section between the undercarriage and the wings... Pics:This is the trainer version. Fitting the centre section between the landing gear legs resulted in a land gear pinning off. The attempted cleanup of the locating hole resulted in the wheel well coming off, so I had to remove the all-ready-set centre section and refit the wheel well. The above picture is post-repair. As you can see below, the rear strut has gone for good...The above picture shows rescribing of lost detail with flory black wash to see what I've got. The centre seem is actually fine (I think), it's black from the paint on the inside of the fuselage.The spine join is pretty good on this one though. The round panel line on the nose was rescribed with a pin and pin vice, and an appropriate sized circle template. Wings to fuselage was ok on this kit also.A pic of the fitted cockpit.Aaaaaand the Red Arrows version... A totally different set of problems here...Nice big gap at the front of the wing join and the spine...And under the wings... Despite endless hacking of intakes and cockpits with various sharp implements.... Oh well... FILLER!!So far I've only snapped one undercarriage leg off over both builds... I'll be amazed if that's the final score though!Cheers,Val 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomoshenko Posted April 23, 2015 Share Posted April 23, 2015 Both looking good, despite the trials and tribulations. I experienced similar niggles when I built it, and these don't appear uncommon amongst other commentators on the kit of this and other forums. It's a great kit and goes together well, but the sequential construction of the intakes and particularly the undercarriage leaves a lot to be desired. I believe some modellers fit the undercarriage last, but this is quite tricky. I considered this, but didn't think I'd be able to do it properly as dry fitting proved really fiddly, think I will do things differently next time though. Can't help thinking they could have been engineered differently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted April 23, 2015 Author Share Posted April 23, 2015 Both looking good, despite the trials and tribulations. I experienced similar niggles when I built it, and these don't appear uncommon amongst other commentators on the kit of this and other forums. It's a great kit and goes together well, but the sequential construction of the intakes and particularly the undercarriage leaves a lot to be desired. I believe some modellers fit the undercarriage last, but this is quite tricky. I considered this, but didn't think I'd be able to do it properly as dry fitting proved really fiddly, think I will do things differently next time though. Can't help thinking they could have been engineered differently. Yes mate, you're absolutely right. It's a nice kit, the detail is great, but the build sequence is a nightmare! I'm amazed I've only broken one leg off so far! I also toyed with the idea of fitting the gear last of all, but couldn't really see how... Oh well, I've got the 1/48 in the stash too, I've heard much better of that kit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBlack33 Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 I'll just reflect what others have said in that you're doing a brilliant job despite the difficulties you're having! I built the Red Arrows version and had the issues you're having with the trainer, then I helped my lad build the Yellowjacks version and had the issues you're having with the Red Arrows kit! Very odd! Looking forward to more updates! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 Looking good so far, nothing some putty and sanding can t fix. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 I'll just reflect what others have said in that you're doing a brilliant job despite the difficulties you're having! I built the Red Arrows version and had the issues you're having with the trainer, then I helped my lad build the Yellowjacks version and had the issues you're having with the Red Arrows kit! Very odd! Looking forward to more updates! I can imagine. Shame really, they are nearly great kits. Looking good so far, nothing some putty and sanding can t fix. Absolutely, it's what modelling is all about really Cheers guys Val 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted April 25, 2015 Share Posted April 25, 2015 nice job mate! love the cockpit effect 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted April 25, 2015 Author Share Posted April 25, 2015 nice job mate! love the cockpit effect Thanks mate, very kind of you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBlack33 Posted May 15, 2015 Share Posted May 15, 2015 Hey Val, how's the build going? Any progress? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted May 17, 2015 Author Share Posted May 17, 2015 Hey Val, how's the build going? Any progress? Hi mate, Nothing of note to be honest. I've basically tidied up a few seems , but I've got an exam coming up outside of work, so progress has slowed... More to follow soon though hopefully! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBlack33 Posted May 18, 2015 Share Posted May 18, 2015 Ah, real life does have a tendency to get in the way sometimes. Good luck with your exam! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted May 19, 2015 Author Share Posted May 19, 2015 Ah, real life does have a tendency to get in the way sometimes. Good luck with your exam! Indeed. Thanks mate, more will follow 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted June 25, 2015 Author Share Posted June 25, 2015 Hi all,Sorry it's been a while... Basically I'm doing a degree at the moment in my spare time (I work full time and also play in a few function bands). I had an exam on 8th June (and I was in London watching Norwich play at Wembley on the 25th May ) so that's knocked May and June out of the modelling equation.As a result, the gnats haven't had much work to them! Since the exam, I have been working on a mojo busting subject before I return to these tiny devils.I know it's off topic, but it's the Bandai 1/72 X-Wing kit. I've got this far in a week (which is the equivalent to a tea break in my modelling world). Well on it's way, a few panels to mask off, then decals and weathering and she's all done.I'm just showing you all this so you know I'm back modelling!! To be honest, I'm on holiday for the next couple of weeks, so more when I return! The Vulcan and the Gnats will then be finished, along with more progress to the 727 Val 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MattBlack33 Posted June 26, 2015 Share Posted June 26, 2015 Good to see you're back on it. Looking forward to seeing how the Gnats are coming along. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Hi all,After the sad news of the loss of gnat recently, and the tragic news of the pilot who lost his life, it seemed like the right time to get on with these.So, onwards with these pesky little critters....The trainer has been undercoated in Tamiya X-18 Semi Gloss black, and the Red Arrows version has had a coat of thinned Vallejo Primer. This has highlighted a number of flaws on both models! Extensive scratching on the belly and other areas of the trainer version are present, whilst some errors with seam lines are evident on the Red Arrow. I'll polish out the trainer version soon, and will over-coat the Red Arrow with Future at some point and deal with those areas. The big issue with these kits is there is very little space to get the sanding sticks in to polish out the kit because of the pesky landing gear and aerials!!Most of the filling work is ok. I dealt with the under-wing root gap by using sausages of Milliput, pushed in with a cocktail stick and smoothed with a wet cotton bud. Worked a treat; Milliput is still probably the best filler imo, but requires a fair bit of preparation...The canopies don't seem to be on straight either, so they are to be reseated. The PTO (I guess) tubes on the front I'm not that worried about, I'm going to probably trim them off and replace them with brass rods later in the build, one is already missing a bit... (well, it's attached to the sprue still!!!)Sanding and repainting to follow...Cheers,Val 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BerndM Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Good to see them underway and good luck with all your intended purposes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stosh65 Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 The pitot tubes are a pain on those. So long and thin sprue removal is a challenge. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 The pitot tubes are a pain on those. So long and thin sprue removal is a challenge. I know! Nightmare! The plastic being so soft and the spruce gates being the size of a bus don't help either. I've long resigned myself to the prospect of them not surviving the build Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synopsis Posted August 18, 2015 Share Posted August 18, 2015 Nice to see your still progressing with these Val, Iook forward to seeing the paint going on! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val Posted August 18, 2015 Author Share Posted August 18, 2015 Nice to see your still progressing with these Val, Iook forward to seeing the paint going on! Thanks, me too! Still a bit to go yet... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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