Fury FJ-4

[mikeew]

Just started this new one from Hobby Boss in 1:48

Its the North American FJ-4 Fury

Really impressed with the cockpit, less so with the instrument panel which is truly awful. I am going to add some scratchbuilt details to the IP then I'll put up some before and after piccies of it.

For now though , here is the cockpit. I scratchbuilt some form of canopy opening/closing mechanism on the rear deck behind the ejection seat as ther was noting moulded on or included in the kit for this area, just a blank deck. So it was a quick rummage in the spares box to find some suitably shaped bits n piees to fill the void, paint them blak and drybrush them dark grey. The rest is whats in the box except pre-painted seatstraps from an Eduard set. the e/j really is fantastic for a OOB item.

I also scratchbuilt a piece to put inside the rear portion of the opening part of the canopy as I want to display the canopy open on my model. This was a plasticard base with more spares box rubbish stuck on and painted the same as the rear cockpit decking. It should look better than a blank area on the finished model.

The rest of the kit looks superb onthe sprues too, only time will tell though how it builds.

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[AnonymousDFB1]

Nice, very nice pit Mike

[bexwh773]

Mike,

Looking pretty amazing so far & at the ready............ forgive my ignorance, but what is an FJ4 Fury? Ive not come across this one before.

Bexy

P.S: Did you see the note I left for you in Traders?

[entlim]

Mike is this the one in MAI?

Ed

[mikeew]

Mike,

Looking pretty amazing so far & at the ready............ forgive my ignorance, but what is an FJ4 Fury? Ive not come across this one before.

Bexy

P.S: Did you see the note I left for you in Traders?

Hi Bex, Yup saw the good trader post, thanks

the FJ-4 Fury is a derivitive of the F-86 Sabre, a naval bird like this...

[mikeew]

Mike is this the one in MAI?

Ed

Same kit Ed yes. As you probably know, the MAI one was built by Britmodeller's very own Zeke

I have read his article and will draw on his conclusions for my build too.

[bexwh773]

Now this looks kinda cute, I like the look of this one, well you got my attention with this Mike

Bex

[entlim]

on the list...........

[zeke]

Same kit Ed yes. As you probably know, the MAI one was built by Britmodeller's very own Zeke

I have read his article and will draw on his conclusions for my build too.

Thank you Mike...

But I can tell you that your 'pit looks waaaay better than mine did and you've done a good job on the gubbin's behind the seat on the rear decking...I didn't have a clue what was back there, I couldn't find any good piccies of it...

Looking forward to seeing the rest of the build...

[mikeew]

Thanks Steve, the gubbins in mine is fictional too, like you say, no good piccies around. I just figured it would have some form of canopy retraction system

I added some lead shot to the nose to stop tailsitting and then closed up the fuselage, the joints were perfect, just a light sanding to elimimate the seams will be needed. The one piece nose gear bay fitted easily too, its well detailed too; pity the doors are shut with gear down, they only open on cycling of the gear up or down.

Decided to add the IP as is, its rubbish, but can't be seen anyway with the coaming on and all painted black

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[daz greenwood]

Hi Mike.

Looking good.

IIRC wasn't the FJ-4 based on an F-86H fuselage?

Cheers Daz

[Guest snipersmudge]

looking good so far, yes that is a nice seat. looking forwards to the rest of the build

[mikeew]

A dry fit of the wing to fuselage found that a significant gap appeared at either side at the upper wingroot. So a short length of sprue was cut and strategically placed to spread the fuselage enough to close the gap.Simple really!

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[mikeew]

The main and nose undercarriage legs are moulded with the oleo struts completely compressed; as if the measurements that HobbyBoss took for the moulds were from a museum example whihc all the fluid has drained out over the years. Its a quick fix with some plastic rod and some scrap etch for the nose leg scissor link. It improves the look of the stance in comparison to a plane that still flies in the US.

Before .......

After......

Stance after modification.....

I also sanded off the moulded in lower rear airbrake that is only fitted to the FJ-4B, not the earlier FJ-4. HobbyBoss obviously made only one set of moulds for they have both the FJ-4 and FJ-4B models out.

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[Alan P]

Another fantastic effort in the offing methinks

Nice pit!

Al

[mikeew]

Right, almost ready for paint now. All gaps filled and sanded on the lower fuselage where the u/c doors don't fit proper. Otherwise all is sound. I broke it all down into sections to make it easier and also means less sprue on the bench getting in the way. I need to add brake lines to the main gear as they are quite prominent. the nose gear not so much. Aso need to reposition the pylons on the tanks as they are too far forward in the kit.

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[mikeew]

As I mentioned, the pylons on the tanks are positioned too far forward if installed OOB, so i trimmed down the tabs and filled the resultant gaps in the tanks with plastic strip. Easy fix methinks!

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[mikeew]

Well, i got the white paint on. The shading seems to have worked. i'd like your opinions guys...does it need more white? or is it just right? All comments welcomed!!

Also tried something new to me. Chipped the tanks using Alclad Aluminium first, sponged on some masking fluid and sprayed them white and the rubbed off the masking fluid. I like it! Any feedback gratefully recieved on this too though .

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[Seamus]

The white looks pretty good to me, gives the impression that she's nice and grubby, the way navy birds should I'd say

The paint chipping also looks great, and a very clever way of doing it, methinks I shall be nabbing that technique for myself

[entlim]

White's fine.................

[zeke]

Yep...just dandy...the last thing you need is it to look too white and clean...and the tanks look great!!! That;s the technique that I use as well...think I nabbed it off someone on here...

[mikeew]

Cheers guys, appreciate the feedback. The white will tone down afetr a panel wash and matt varnish top coat too i guess.

So onto the Gull Grey uppers. I used Gunze acrylic semi-gloss which sprays beautifully and is quite translucent allowing the colour to be built up over the preshading. I boxed on the airbrake bays as they are incorrect. They seem to be copied from an F-86, the Fury had blank interiors of the airbrake bays according to Steves article in MAI .

These were sprayed matt red too.

Also glossed up the whole thing with two coats of Klear through the airbrush.

decals next!

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew

[zeke]

Oh that's a nice colour...I used the Humbrol equivalent on mine and it looks a little too 'grey' in some lights...can't wait to see the markings going on!

[Angels49]

Methinks I'm gonna need more popcorn on this one...... ..........looking like a winner already..

[mikeew]

Cheers guys.

I got the decals on, really nice and thin, if a little bright! Might have to tone them down a bit.They worked well though and settled down nicely using Klear as setting solution.

Also added the wheels and painted the oleos silver, I popped the seat in too.

Loooking like a real 'plane now!!

Edited August 6, 2008 by mikeew