Scott_ Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 (edited) I realised that I've been lazy in sharing my builds on Britmodeller, so thought I'd add my next one to the forums. Then I stumble in here and discover this group build, which fits perfectly a kit I have in mind to finish. The kit is a Monogram 1:48 Black Widow. The kit itself was purchased in the 80s and I started work on it some 20 years back, only to give up on it and consign the box to my stash. I've pulled it out quite a few times but never really got the urge until now to have a go at it. What greeted me in the box was a somewhat assembled fuselage, an interior coated with lashings of zinc chromate and the usual horrible glossy monogram decals. First task will be to dis-assemble most of the parts and start over with the interior paint job, and proceed from there. If I can finally finish this one I'll be a happy man. Wish me luck! Edited November 17, 2016 by Scott_ 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 17, 2016 Share Posted November 17, 2016 This looks like a nice project Scott, particularly given its history Cliff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 Nice to see a classic kit built Good luck Martin H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozothenutter Posted November 19, 2016 Share Posted November 19, 2016 God I remember building one of these way back when as a kid......clearcoating it and calling it done.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
At Sea Posted December 8, 2016 Share Posted December 8, 2016 I remember doing one of these to! I think mine went Matt 30 inside and looked odd because of it. The days when you painted everything with the 6 paints you had!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott_ Posted December 13, 2016 Author Share Posted December 13, 2016 OK - so work has been a little slower than planned, but still moving forward. First step was to try and pull the fuselage apart so the cockpit could be repainted. Luckily, 20+ year old glue is pretty brittle, so it came apart OK. I even managed to get the seats out without breaking anything. Then the interior along with the undercarriage bays, got a coat of cockpit green over the lurid zinc chromate, followed by some detail painting and weathering. Gear doors went on as well to dry before putting the landing gear in. Panel lines on the wing were scribed and the horrible gap on the trailing edge which would be exposed with flaps down was filled with putty. More soon. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandboof Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Good progress Looking forward to more Martin H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairystick Posted December 13, 2016 Share Posted December 13, 2016 Ooooh!! Most excellent, someone else doing this kit! It is quite a nice build and looking at the level of detail included for the 1970's, rather impressive quality. I took the plunge and purchased PE for interior and exterior, but really wonder if it was worth it. Following with eager anticipation! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott_ Posted December 14, 2016 Author Share Posted December 14, 2016 5 hours ago, hairystick said: Ooooh!! Most excellent, someone else doing this kit! Thanks - would love to see some pics of your build as well. Don't see nearly enough Black Widows on display. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairystick Posted December 14, 2016 Share Posted December 14, 2016 On 12/13/2016 at 5:06 PM, Scott_ said: Thanks - would love to see some pics of your build as well. Don't see nearly enough Black Widows on display. Hi. I haven't been tracking this build (speed of glacial movement at times...) with photos. Here's the current state of play. A heap of filler needed on the top surface where the turret is. The glazing is the next stage and is where the fit of clear parts is a bit pants... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott_ Posted January 17, 2017 Author Share Posted January 17, 2017 OK, back onto this after a bit of an absence. Assembly had been going well when I struck a problem - one of the elevator halves is quite warped. I tried assembling it hoping that the two booms would pull it back into line but it didn't work that way and the bend was still fairly obvious. So I decided to split the fuselage halves apart again, take the warped piece out and think about what could be done. At this point I'm thinking about scoring the plastic almost through on the inside with a razor saw and then using super-glue to reshape it (if that makes sense). Once the offending part is straightened up, the rest of the assembly should be fuss-free. If anyone has any other ideas, let me know 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted January 17, 2017 Share Posted January 17, 2017 If I may be so bold I offer an alternative. I use an Olfa P Cutter rather than a razor saw as it's much more controllable. I'd then back the part with plastic card and lashings of glue to taste and clamp together until set. Monogram plastic reacts well to this in my experience, much better than superglue. That's a very good recovery so far Scott I like it. I note that Monogram gave us 4 drop tanks all those years ago but Trumpy/HB didn't manage it just recently. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scott_ Posted January 18, 2017 Author Share Posted January 18, 2017 12 hours ago, SleeperService said: If I may be so bold I offer an alternative. I use an Olfa P Cutter rather than a razor saw as it's much more controllable. I'd then back the part with plastic card and lashings of glue to taste and clamp together until set. Monogram plastic reacts well to this in my experience, much better than superglue. That's a very good recovery so far Scott I like it. I note that Monogram gave us 4 drop tanks all those years ago but Trumpy/HB didn't manage it just recently. I might just try that - I have a Tamiya P-cutter already (in fact I used it on this kit to scribe the panel lines). If I can get that done I should be back on track. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hairystick Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 (edited) After getting the F-20 completed, I'm now getting back on track with this. Structurally up together and now primed, just to see how much extra work is required before painting. The wing-fuselage join needed a cement-mixer load of filler. Seriously large quantities! Luckily a bit less on the tailplane joins. Getting the clear parts into position... Gah! A bit of strip styrene was used to fill in some of the gaping canyons of gap. I wanted it all "buttoned up" on top, to show off the lines of the craft, but lower hatches will be open. Last, the noseweight... The entire capacity of the nose has been filled with lead. I guesstemated half the amount and then kept adding until jam-packed. A slosh of PVA to keep it in place inside the nosecone and bolt into place. I see why the A-10 uses depleted uranium in the gun... solely to keep the nosewheel on the ground! (Yes, I know it is all HE nowadays.) Once the nose is on, you can then attack the fact that this join also needs filler to fair the fuselage sides. I've used the Montex masks for the first time. I'm impressed so far! What is interesting about all of this, is the wartime effort the US went to. With extravagance galore and a late arrival into the war (typical...) simply purchasing Beaufighters would have been much more intelligent. Edited February 4, 2017 by hairystick 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SleeperService Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 I'm glad you're still progressing this. It does need a lot of weight up front. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cduckworth Posted February 11, 2017 Share Posted February 11, 2017 It is a good feeling finishing up a model that was started many, many years ago. I had a Roden Junkers D.I and SH Sopwith Tabloid both about 40% started and for whatever reason they went back in their respective boxes until the end of 2016. I ended up finishing them both in less than two weeks (I'm retired and it's winter here) and it felt pretty good seeing them in the cabinet. Reminds me I have a Gotha GIV in 1/48 (AZ Model?) that's in the same boat as these two were so I need to dig it out of the stash and see if I can finish it to. Btw your P-61 looks great, Monogram did some great models back in the 1980s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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