Ali62

Thank you for the replies guys on the canopies, my story is such. my canopy has blemishes in both the early and late style canopies, but worse on the later style, they are on the inside and are in the shape of an EYE, they are very noticeable, see the picture. I wrote to Airfix, included the same picture. Got a response from them say all are the SAME, which from comments above, THEY are not all the same, and that the had found a better one for me. I received that today, and low and behold it is almost a carbon copy of my original one, so to be honest I am not very happy, and have told them as such. Airfix response to me Dear Sir Thank you for your e-mail and reply. These marks are on all the clear parts. I have found one that doesn`t look as bad as yours, These have been sent, Thank you Regards Airfix spares my response to AIRFIX TODAY after receiving the replacement part, ONE part only not even a full clear sprue. Thank you I received the replacement part today, as you say they all seem to be the same, a little disappointing, as this is exactly the same as my previous canopy. I am fortunate as I have the skills to either fix it, or even to create a new clear cast canopy set, as that is what I do, aftermarket sets and can cast clear resin. It is just a little bit of a downer that many will not have the skills, they may not care, but for a modern new release kit I do not think blemishes like this should be present, and more skilled or exacting modellers would have to try and fix such issues or be forced to look for an aftermarket alternative. Sorry I am being harsh, but as being a long time model maker and aftermarket producer I just think this should be better. I am a great enthusiast for Airfix products and purchase many of them and will continue to do so. Thank you for taking the time and effort to try and assist, that is appreciated. So there you have it, I am in no way trying to BASH AIRFIX, as can be seen from my response above, but I really do not find this acceptable to be honest, good luck to the rest of you that try and get better replacements. Considering how so many other manufactures are getting better canopies produced than Airfix, surely they need to look at this area and improve upon it. Fixing an opaque part is one thing, most modellers can cope with but clear is another story altogether.

Dave does your canopy have marks on the port side of the sliding canopies, I am really interested to know.

Just received my kit, it looks great, BUT my canopies have some nasty defects on the port inner side, it is on both the early and late style, but very bad on the late style. the are like raised bubbles, am I just unfortunate or do others have them as well. Also me being MR CLEAR CAST canopy man, as a general observation I can see the machining lines in the canopies that cause distortion, I could posssibly live with those but the bubbles not. I will be contacting Airfix for a replacement clear sprue though, but will more that likely make a new finer and clearer canopy set.

Ok I kind of get where you are coming from, from the picture above, BUT is it just a picture, but I would far rather some actual dimensions etc being put to this, but perhaps I will dig out my various 1/48 Phantoms, TAMIYA, HASEGAWA, S version of ZM and have a look…..not today though.

I am fascinated by this discussion, can anybody show via drawing and or a photograph, or marked up photograph what is wrong and by how much, in any of the popular scales 1/72, 1/48 or 1/32. If it is true, and I am not saying that it is not true, that every kit other than the new Tamiya 1/48 kit is incorrect, then to knock the ZM, kit is extremely harsh, unless there option is FAR worse than other kits. Also just think every Phantom model built to date is then wrong……… on top of all of that we are now putting our hope in MENG to get this detail correct along with all the other details of a Phantom. I do not visit ARC forums, but would like to see graphical evidence of what to look for, anyone got that available. I have quite a few books on the Phantom but cannot get where to start looking from words.

Great build Dave, thank you for showing off my aerocraft products so well, it is very much appreciated. I heard there was a build a week or so ago, but just catching up now. Had a few sales recently and I believe a few are on the back of your build, so very helpful towards the aerocraft funds😃 cheers Ali

Mike you have done a great job and building it so quickly is very impressive. From my perspective for me to try and develop a full set of clear cast replacement canopies would just not be viable and then the guys that would buy them would want perfection for spending even more money.

Hi guys Ok the update on the clear parts for the Lancaster. I received a set of clear parts two days ago, and in a word I was ASTONISHED on how bad they are. Most of the problems could have been avoided if a little more care and polishing had taken place on the moulds. Ok we all know the story, but a little investment would have gone a long way to possibly making this a lot long lasting model that could be re-issued for years to come. Well we all know that more than likely in a few years you will get a handsome price when and if you sell your one, but what a waste in many ways, great lumps of plastic to sit in boxes. One of the main stumbling blocks to be honest for me not to take this any further is the fact that the material thickness is mostly 0.5mm. Most canopies are at least around 1mm on kits and in general kit parts are between 1 and 1.5mm thick, that is the norm for most parts on injection moulded kits and there are reasons for that. So with this very thin section, I cannot just polish and restore the canopies because I would not be able to cast and remove from the moulds with success at this thickness, especially for the size and the complex shapes of many of the parts. To remake new masters from the kit parts and thicken them up is one option but that would take me a long time and I am sure then they would be fit problems when mating to other kit parts, so it would all become very complex. So there is my conclusion to this project, sorry to have let you down, but rather sooner than later, and I also need to look after my interests in the first instance. cheers Ali, happy modelling

Simon save it as a PDF then everyone can open and print it, just a suggestion

Hi Guys a new undercarriage set is now available direct link https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/lockheed-sr-71-a-blackbird

Hi Guys These sets are now available to purchase Direct links Tamiya https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/grumman-f-14a-tomcat-replacement-undercarriage-set-for-the-tamiya-kit Trumpeter https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/grumman-f-14a-and-d-tomcat-replacement-undercarriage-set-for-the-trumpeter-kit

Hi Guys These two sets are now available Direct links Tamiya https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/grumman-f-14a-tomcat-replacement-undercarriage-set-for-the-tamiya-kit Trumpeter https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/grumman-f-14a-and-d-tomcat-replacement-undercarriage-set-for-the-trumpeter-kit

Hi Guys The set is now available to order Direct link https://aerocraftmodels.bigcartel.com/product/lockheed-sr-71-a-blackbird

Oh well that is pointless us here in the U.K. cannot order directly. Unless I am doing something wrong, but I do not think I am. Well will have to wait till Hannants gets stock

How come you have NO canopies? mmm it would get exceptionally difficult to get canopies to fit these totally different kits from one master.

Hi Tony no problem I understand your stand point I would do exactly the same. To be honest all round, this is not going to be a quick overnight fix for any of us. Let us see what happens, possibly between you and another one or two I may get a full set of ‘second’ canopies and with that can see what I can achieve. At this point I am really in the dark with the entire project as I have only seen what a few guys have shown with broken bits of canopy. cheers Ali

Let me do a quick explanation. £600.00 is a lot for me to pay out on a kit that I would probably never build. I would need to buy the kit, fix up that canopies and then sell everything off, which could work, but the gamble is fairly high. Also the time just to develop better parts would be quite a bit, and then if Border does fix the problem then where am I, having done all the work. Flow lines are even a problem in my clear casting, but as a general rule are no where near as apparent as in many kit canopies. As far as some of the other failures, like the lines you guys are discussing through the clear I should be able to eradicate those as well as the orange peel effect. I agree with Simon though the canopies WILL ALMOST definitely not be changed or upgraded, OTHER than where they are actually broken I recon in time you will get replacements but the quality will be the same. So plan B, IF between a few of you or at least one person is prepared to send me a set of canopies, these can be ones that have cracks in them, but not in pieces, I can then see how I can repair to take sub masters from them and then to start working up a set of replacements. I do not even know the sizes and shapes of all the parts exactly, but am hoping that between 2 or 3 of you we would get a full set of SPARE canopy parts I could work with, once you have received second sets etc. THE NEXT BIG THING, just remember that a full set of clear cast resin parts will probably start setting you back in the region of possibly £40-£50.00 PLUS SHIPPING (pure guess / estimation) BUT how many of you would be prepared to pay that? I shall leave this with you guys, come back with your thoughts and ideas, I am quite happy if you want to repost or discuss this on other modelling forums, to start the ball rolling, as Jason says if there is enough requests and commitment, I am more likely to look at these options. I still reserve the right to pull out once I see the parts or the project becomes to problematic. Could somebody post up a picture or two of the complete clear sprue / sprues layout so I can see shapes and sizes. Believe you me clear takes a HUGE amount of work to get the master right and working moulds, material costs are 5X higher that standard resin and silicone, and the failure rates are often around 50%, added to all of that there is an electrical bill for post curing the resin in an oven. General turn around time from pouring resin to removing from mould is 6-7 hours, and then the part could be a failure…….

Oh ok Paul that is great, just thought you may have known something different. I think we are all pleased with this, and I am sure that the guys at Dora will offer some alternatives, they are already looking into the various float options as we have seen. I made some enquiries myself to get information and drawings on this but it is not easy to get good definitive information.

So how should these be different Paul, interested to know what you would like different.

Fantastic choice looking forward to this one

I take the comments by both of you above, npb748r and Sabrejet (who I admire for you knowledge and help to guys with regards to Sabre), however I do think my assessment was and is fair (the Vampire just does not have surface texture as shown) and I am entitled to my opinion. If the kit meets up well in other areas and depending on the cost I may change my mind, which is how I started my thread, I would like to see more. If you read carefully I said I may succumb to one, with a smiley face after, I also did state some guys would be quite happy with it as it is, added to that I do have a small model company, I am certainly not perfect in all I do but I do try, at the same time I do get critiqued on things that I do ‘wrong’ or do not meet expectations, but sometimes those need to be taken as part of learning. Enjoy your modelling, and have fun doing it. I certainly look forward to seeing some Vampires getting built soon.

Agree with you removing soft over done panels is not easy, and or to match up to them as you need big blunt tools not sharp pins and scribing tools. I am hoping the shape will be correct where far to many Trumpeter / Hobby Boss have a nice feel to them as far as details go but the shape or major errors are far to common place. Maybe we are all getting too old and cynical and critical, I need to tread carefully being a small manufacturer myself, but I am inclined as with most to go for kits that look and feel right from the outset.

I am the stage checking that all the parts work in reality, NOT just in CAD, once I am satisfied, the parts that are to be cast in brass will be off to the brass casters, then we wait a few weeks to get the product back

Looking forward to seeing this kit a little more closely, the over done rivets puts me off personally. I know all the arguments that they can be sanded and or filled or many will not even care about them. I got one of the Helldiver’s because I really like the aircraft, but after looking at it for a few days I moved it on because I just thought this is going to be HARD WORK. As much as I would love a 1/32 Vampire, I have a horrible feeling this will be the same, which is great pity as the future subjects really interest me as well, but the soft details and over emphasised surface details just make me think twice…..but I may succumb

Order now placed, so the wait begins…..:)