Monogram 1/48 FM-2 Conversion

[spitfire]

I'm following this one with interest, I haven't got a Wildcat in my collection so I'll be taking notes for the future.

Cheers

Den

[Uncle Uncool]

Looks like it's just you and me on this one; nobody else seems much interested.

Not quite, Kevo; I know for a fact there're a lot of chaps peepin' at yer project as well, only that perhaps they're a lot shy.

I've always been a Wildcat freak; I like it even more than whut I like its bigger bro,' the Hellcat. There used to be this computer game that went by the name of Aces Over the Pacific, which ran only on 486-based machines; ya can imagine I bought one of these old machines - second hand, of course - just to be able to run that game in order to fly the F4F-4. Then Microsoft's version came out and the 486-based machine was left to waste.

Interestingly, with regard to the shape, I had a look at a build-up of the Hobbyboss FM-2 online (could even be on here somewhere), and it shows the same basic exhaust shape as the FF example. So, either that's the true shape of the cutout, or HB used the FF example as their pattern (of course, both options could be true too!).

Hmph, on second thought, maybe the FF example's exhaust panel were the original shape after all? I saw those guys are a tad zealous when it comes to the real thing. Might have to ask them about it.

Awlright, will appreciate any picture showin' RB's bending tool in action. Enjoy yer weekend, my mate!

Unc²

[silverkite211]

Thanks man. I guess my comment sounded a little whiny, huh. This whole project is more of a "because it's there" thing than anything else, and I really have no idea how it's going to turn out. I've never built the Tamiya Wildcat, but I've heard it's very nice. Seems pointless to build the Monogram kit OOB, when the Tamiya kit will give you much more for much less work. I've been able to arrange acquisition of an old Revell 1/32 Wildcat, and plan to give it the same fate, so in some ways this is a dress rehearsal for that project!

Kev

I don't know if you happened to look in on the build thread I did some time back, I backdated a Monogram F-4J Phantom II to a B, it was sort of a matter of realising that I had a couple of Monogram F-4s, parts from a Hasegawa B, some photoetch, resin and aftermarket decals that I could combine into one, so I understand what you mean by saying "because it's there".

As for the Tamiya Wildcat, you're right, it was a joy to assemble, absolutely no filler needed at all, you should treat yourself to one sometime. The KMC conversion that I mentioned comes with a replacement cowl, rudder, propellor blades and replacement panels for the exhausts, you simply cut the kit along already existing panel lines and replace the removed sections with the resin pieces. You have to make your own covers for the underwing oil coolers, however they give you a template for that.

Personally, I think that it's neat when someone takes an older generation kit and works their magic on it, that to me is model building. Don't get me wrong, I like Tamiya and Hasegawa kits, too, but there's not very much craftsmanship involved in putting the pieces together, they fit so well.

[KLP Publishing]

silverkite211 said:

I don't know if you happened to look in on the build thread I did some time back, I backdated a Monogram F-4J Phantom II to a B, it was sort of a matter of realising that I had a couple of Monogram F-4s, parts from a Hasegawa B, some photoetch, resin and aftermarket decals that I could combine into one, so I understand what you mean by saying "because it's there".

Got a link to your Phantom build?

silverkite211 said:

As for the Tamiya Wildcat, you're right, it was a joy to assemble, absolutely no filler needed at all, you should treat yourself to one sometime. The KMC conversion that I mentioned comes with a replacement cowl, rudder, propellor blades and replacement panels for the exhausts, you simply cut the kit along already existing panel lines and replace the removed sections with the resin pieces. You have to make your own covers for the underwing oil coolers, however they give you a template for that.

I'd be interested in hearing about the shape of the KMC exhaust panels. The only clear photos I have are of the Fighter Factory rebuild, but period photos suggest a much more rectangular shape than the FF example. I'm not sure either way, and only went with the rectangular version because it was a lot easier to replicate!

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[silverkite211]

Here's the KMC resin parts.

Please excuse the crappy photo, I fiddled with the midtones so that the recessed areas of the panels would show up a little better. The way the panel is depicted on the instruction sheet is a very accurate rendering of how the resin part is.

And here is my Phantom build thread.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...c=23941&hl=

[KLP Publishing]

silverkite211 said:

Here's the KMC resin parts.

Please excuse the crappy photo, I fiddled with the midtones so that the recessed areas of the panels would show up a little better. The way the panel is depicted on the instruction sheet is a very accurate rendering of how the resin part is.

Thanks for posting this Gregg. The KMC parts are closer to the FF example in overall shape, but not quite as rounded. I could probably round mine out a bit with some Milliput. I'll know more once I get some primer on.

silverkite211 said:

And here is my Phantom build thread.

http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.p...c=23941&hl=

Nice work!

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[KLP Publishing]

OK, finally got the cowling all sorted out:

 

 

Got new push rods on the engine, plus some primer:

 

 

I'll add some simple wiring too. I just have to work out whether to paint it up first, or do the wiring first.

 

And here's how the exhaust panels have turned out:

 

 

Still a couple of minor gaps and blemishes to deal with. I managed, of course, to make them different to each other, most noticeably in depth. Not sure I can be bothered going for a more accurate shape. We'll see.

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Righto Uncle, here's the mini Flip-R5 demo I promised! I tried to take the photos without the flash, to avoid creating nothing but blinding glare. Now they're a bit dark and indistinct, but hopefully self-explanatory.

 

First, I removed a part from the etched fret and cleaned it up. I then marked the position of the bend grooves on the back, and placed the part on the unit:

 

 

Lift the clamp section slightly using the tab pictured, and slide the part under to the position marked:

 

 

Keeping pressure on the part with a left-hand finger, use your free hand (at this stage, that would be your right!) to rotate the other section upwards to 90º:

 

 

Here's the result:

 

 

Flip the part around, rinse and repeat, and you end up with this:

 

 

Pretty easy!

 

In the meantime, I've been painting up the engine, but it's not ready for photos yet. More when it's done.

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[KLP Publishing]

OK, for what it's worth, I've finished painting and detailing the engine. This is something I normally suck at, and this case is no exception:

 

 

Here it is fitted inside the cowling:

 

 

Bugger of a thing to photograph clearly too. Whaddaya reckon, guys? Passable?

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[silverkite211]

That's quite an improvement over the kit powerplant. The cowling looks good, too.

[Uncle Uncool]

Whoa, yer engine is lookin' very nice, Kev! I like the way it looks like surrounded by the cowling. Me thinks the engine/cowl assembly is ready to go, or do ya plan to add some more detailing to it?

Nice work, my mate! Whut's next?

Righto Uncle, here's the mini Flip-R5 demo I promised! I tried to take the photos without the flash, to avoid creating nothing but blinding glare. Now they're a bit dark and indistinct, but hopefully self-explanatory.

Aw, thank ya so much for havin' taken the time to take photos to illustrate me on this RB's self-explanatory mini Flip-R5 demo. Photos are quite okay, Kev! I really appreciate them. Me thinks I'll get one of these.

Geez, perhaps I'm indeed dumb...? Somehow I had figured PE parts were to be placed under those numbered slots instead... Whut are those for then?

Thanks again, Kevo, my mate!

Unc²

[KLP Publishing]

Uncle Uncool said:

Whoa, yer engine is lookin' very nice, Kev! I like the way it looks like surrounded by the cowling. Me thinks the engine/cowl assembly is ready to go, or do ya plan to add some more detailing to it?

Nice work, my mate! Whut's next?

Thanks mate. I think it's ready to go too. I was toying with idea of thinning out the rear sections where the exhaust outlets would be, and putting a pipe in there, but I don't think I'll bother. I think I'd only be buying trouble at this stage!

 

As for next, I think I need to get the cockpit sorted out. Eduard provide absolutely no indication about how their flat bits of bendable torture are supposed to interface with the kit parts. I'm working on it though.

Uncle Uncool said:

Geez, perhaps I'm indeed dumb...? Somehow I had figured PE parts were to be placed under those numbered slots instead... Whut are those for then?

NFI mate, NFI. (That's No Fornicating Idea.) I'll have to check the little instruction sheet that came with it, but I'm pretty sure they're not mentioned. The unit itself comes just like a PE fret, and you have to cut the parts out and assemble them. The instructions mainly deal with that. I guess I'll just have to ask Radu for clarification.

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Yet another update tonight. I prefer to post frequent small updates, as it keeps my momentum and motivation up, even if it bores you guys silly!

 

I've kinda worked out how the cockpit is supposed to work. At least, I think I've found a solution that will work; whether it's actually how it's supposed to go is anybody's guess. Which is exactly what Eduard makes you do - guess. Anyway, it basically involves fixing the PE cockpit floor to the bottom of the lower wing area:

 

 

It's just blu-tacked in place at the moment, but I think it'll work. It makes the cockpit sit a bit low, but in the absence of anything more definitive (or anywhere else to fix it to), it should do. I still can't work out what those little tabs poking out of the sides are for.

 

You can see I've also started gluing the wing sections together. The fit is pretty poor generally, and I learned from my previous attempt at building this kit that if you attach the outer sections to the inner sections as complete units, you will suffer. So I'm going to deal with the upper and lower portions separately, with the idea of displacing any horrible gaps or mismatches to the wing leading edges. I've glued some reinforcement tabs in place to help with strength and alignment.

 

The delicate PE parts for the seat frame became bent and twisted beyond repair during my attempts to free them from the fret, so I had to improvise. (Did I mention that I hate PE?) I ended up using the smallest diameter brass tube I had, but it's still too large in retrospect. Oh well. I gave the rear bulkhead a new headrest too:

 

 

I need to find a decent shot of a typical seat belt arrangement, as I'll have to make my own.

 

More soon.

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[Uncle Uncool]

I've kinda worked out how the cockpit is supposed to work. At least, I think I've found a solution that will work; whether it's actually how it's supposed to go is anybody's guess. Which is exactly what Eduard makes you do - guess. Anyway, it basically involves fixing the PE cockpit floor to the bottom of the lower wing area. It's just blu-tacked in place at the moment, but I think it'll work. It makes the cockpit sit a bit low, but in the absence of anything more definitive (or anywhere else to fix it to), it should do. I still can't work out what those little tabs poking out of the sides are for.

Well, that PE floor is a world of difference with regard to the inexistent Monogram floor... Never mind, anyways, as ya won't be seein' much of the floor once the seat is placed in its place within the tub.

As for the horrible tabs where the landing gear is attached to; I had almost forgotten about those. I sort of partially concealed 'em behind the instument panel frame and below side consoles. More or less, here's an approximate idea:

You can see I've also started gluing the wing sections together. The fit is pretty poor generally, and I learned from my previous attempt at building this kit that if you attach the outer sections to the inner sections as complete units, you will suffer. So I'm going to deal with the upper and lower portions separately, with the idea of displacing any horrible gaps or mismatches to the wing leading edges. I've glued some reinforcement tabs in place to help with strength and alignment.

Uh-huh... Me recalls havin' done pretty much the same, but I braced the lower half wing assembly usin' longer strips of Evergreen (or were 'em Plastruct?) after the lower cental wing/cockpit floor had been already glued to the fuselage. Then, I attached the upper half wings.

The delicate PE parts for the seat frame became bent and twisted beyond repair during my attempts to free them from the fret, so I had to improvise. (Did I mention that I hate PE?) I ended up using the smallest diameter brass tube I had, but it's still too large in retrospect. Oh well. I gave the rear bulkhead a new headrest too:

Yep, those tubes do look a tad large, but they don't show too much. However, me thinks the thinness of the PE seat rest makes 'em look not THAT large. Whut are ya usin' to cut yer PE parts off the fret, Kev?

I need to find a decent shot of a typical seat belt arrangement, as I'll have to make my own.

Yet another stolen image for an approximate idea, I'm afraid:

Nice work so far, Kevster! Keep it comin,' mate.

Unc²

[spitfire]

Looking good Kev, the engine does look smart, got to remember that this is 1/48 and not 1/32.

I also hate PE, there's a lot of us about ! I had to yield and buy a PE bending thing, there was quite a bit of PE on a Bronco armour kit I did a while back and I had to use one so I bought a Hold and Fold from Cammett.

Cheers

Den

[KLP Publishing]

Uncle Uncool said:

Whut are ya usin' to cut yer PE parts off the fret, Kev?

It depends on the part, really. It'll either be a hobby knife, standard side cutters, or a pair of cuticle scissors. I mostly use a hobby knife though, with the fret placed on a glass sheet, as there's usually not enough room to get the scissors or side cutters in there. I think I need to invest in a better set of side cutters, like those fancy (and expensive!) Xuron jobbies. Maybe they'd do the job better. How does everyone else do it?

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[Uncle Uncool]

How does everyone else do it?

Me does it exactly as ya do, mate; X-acto #11 blade against a tile or glass sheet, or sometimes I've used my mum's cuticle shears, while she ain't watchin.' There're some items before the Xuron tool on my list, me fears; like Radub's riveters, JLC saw and now the mini Flip-R5 <---------- that's yer fault, my mate...

[KLP Publishing]

Uncle Uncool said:

[...] and now the mini Flip-R5 <---------- that's yer fault, my mate...

I was perusing Radu's store last night, and discovered that he sells several different additions to the Flip series - kinda like plugins. Basically, the 'flap' with the cutouts is removable, and you can insert different types in there to achieve different bends and whatnot. Well-priced too. I think I'll be slinging some more cash Radu's way soon.

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[KLP Publishing]

Righto, got the lower wing sections all joined up and (relatively) straight:

 

 

Since taking this photo, I've sanded the join on both sides (left and right) flush, and will next fill and the rescribe the wing fold lines. I'll move on to rescribing the entire lower wing after that.

 

I finally figured out how and where to position the cockpit floor. Basically, those little PE tabs are supposed to be folded upwards to form little attachment points, which are then affixed to the inside of the fuselage halves. Well, I figured it would be better to add a small styrene shelf for it to rest on, so I did:

 

 

 

This will put the cockpit floor in a much more accurate position, and make it much stronger that Eduard's method would have. I've modified the rear bulkhead to suit this new position by cutting off the little 'feet' at the bottom and trimming my brass rails. I also padded out the top section with Evergreen strip, as test-fitting showed it to be a bit narrow. I think it's a tad fat now, but at least I can sand it to size if necessary:

 

 

Still such a long way to go!

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[Uncle Uncool]

Kev! It seemed as though yer stubby bird were goin' to be endowed with some long 'n' thin wings!

I was perusing Radu's store last night, and discovered that he sells several different additions to the Flip series - kinda like plugins. Basically, the 'flap' with the cutouts is removable, and you can insert different types in there to achieve different bends and whatnot. Well-priced too. I think I'll be slinging some more cash Radu's way soon.

Yeh, me's seen 'em as well. If only I knew how to use 'em...

I finally figured out how and where to position the cockpit floor. Basically, those little PE tabs are supposed to be folded upwards to form little attachment points, which are then affixed to the inside of the fuselage halves. Well, I figured it would be better to add a small styrene shelf for it to rest on, so I did:

Clever fix; say, is Eduard's PE cockpit meant for the Tamiya kits? Not only have ya got to pay extra bucks for those PE kits, but also ya've got to figure out how to best make 'em fit to yer builds. However, this Monogram Wildcat needs to have an aftermarket cockpit as much as George Smith needs to grow his hair long once again.

Still such a long way to go!

Uh-huh... thank God there is, for, as Phil Collins would have put it, I relive my build in whut ya're doin' (sit down, sit down, sit down...!!!) 'cos ya won't get away, no, with us ya will stay for the rest of yer days, sit down.

Hey, Kev, speakin' of which; there's this Aussie band, The Cruel Sea, that plays a song called Welcome. D'ya know it? Me needs that song! Hahahahaha...

Cheers, mate

Unc²

[KLP Publishing]

Uncle Uncool said:

say, is Eduard's PE cockpit meant for the Tamiya kits?

Definitely Monogram:

 

 

I think this set was released before the Tamiya kit even existed. It says 1993 somewhere. When did the Tamiya kit come out?

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[Uncle Uncool]

When did the Tamiya kit come out?

Dunno, but me recalls having purchased mine in late 1994, and it was a very recent releasement.

[KLP Publishing]

Uncle Uncool said:

Dunno, but me recalls having purchased mine in late 1994, and it was a very recent releasement.

Interesting. I found a review yesterday from 1998 that suggested it was brand-new then. Anyone know for sure?

 

No photos this time around. I've been busy rescribing the lower wings, and getting the top sections joined. As we all know, scribing is hardly the word's greatest spectator sport...

 

More soon.

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev

[Uncle Uncool]

Interesting. I found a review yesterday from 1998 that suggested it was brand-new then. Anyone know for sure?

Huh...???!!! Well... y'know the way in which Einstein would use to explain the relativity theory to some people; some folks might think the burn on their flesh was recent for as long as it hurts to them...

But ain't this review kinda funny comin' from the very same forum? Check out the second paragraph.

[KLP Publishing]

Uncle Uncool said:

Huh...???!!! Well... y'know the way in which Einstein would use to explain the relativity theory to some people; some folks might think the burn on their flesh was recent for as long as it hurts to them...

But ain't this review kinda funny comin' from the very same forum? Check out the second paragraph.

Well, whaddaya know? I don't have the Tamiya kit unfortunately, so I can't check for myself. Plus, I'm sure it's had several releases, each of which would have a different copyright date on it (unless Tamiya followed Monogram's lead and moulded it into the kit somewhere!). Either way, it looks like the Eduard set still predates it. I'd love to build Tamiya's kit someday!

 

On a related note, a fellow LSP member has sent me a box full of 1/32 Revell Wildcat parts, with probably enough bits in there to build at least 2 models. So, I'm now formulating plans to do this conversion in 1/32 as well! Anyone know if there's a suitable conversion already available?

 

Kev

Edited August 5, 2017 by Big Kev