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Found 8 results

  1. FIrst up Collect-Aire's XF-103 Thunderwarrior. There will be some modifications, I'm going to attempt to scratch build the weapons bays and improve the engine along with making the other openings look like they should have had it gone into production. Also going to try and go for a natural metal finish. (Crossing fingers)This may take a while
  2. The Northrop McDonnell-Douglas YF-23 was the losing contender to the Lockheed Martin YF-22 in the 1990s Advanced Tactical Fighter competition. These are two very different kits, one nearly 20yrs old and one a recent offering, both requiring a lot of work. The 2002 Collect-Aire is the more accurate and much of the dual build was to get the HB model to look more like the C-A. Some photos of the build can be seen here. F-15, F-18 parts where used for the landing gear just like the real aircraft, lots of modifications to both aircraft's cockpit although the C-A was the more accurate but lacking details, both canopies needed scratchbuilding interiors. The C-A had the dropped flaps and the weapons bay. There's no photos I've seen of it ever carrying weapons but the PAV 1 (gunship gray) aircraft had operating doors. It had some decent details and I only added riveting in the bay but left the Collect-Aire's offering of a weapons mount intact, I may add the door mounted sidewinders later but for now I wanted to show the essence of the company's endeavors on putting out such a remarkable kit especially considering the resources and published photos at the time. Probably not a dogfighter but they still haven't published it's top speed.
  3. I bought the Collect-Aire resin YF-23 when it came out, I think in 2002. Big price, big box and some big hunks of resin, it was awesome. Although well designed and molded it did require extra skills and I was fairly new to resin, I think at that point I had made a handful of resin kits including Collect-Aire's MiG-19, which was fairly straightforward. For those who never built any kits by this company the detail and quality differed substantially. Their YF-23 was good however, good cockpit, decent shape, metal gear, rubbish missiles and wheels and a good attempt on the decal sheet (it had decals for the two prototypes plus some for an active duty what-if - Hobbyboss only had what-if decals so this project is made easier thanks to the more accurate Caracal decals release). A really great effort by Collect-Aire considering how much reference was out at the time and the budgetary limits of a small company. The nearly 20 year later Hobbyboss offering didn't have those limitations and while applauding them for making the kit it does have a handful of odd errors. More on that later. My plan in 2002 was to make a what if F-23A so I had made it an Eduard F-22A instrument panel and was going to rework the missile bay. With the Paul Metz YF-23 ATF book arrival, (a Northrop ATF test pilot) I now had good published detail shots of the two aircraft prototypes, called PAV 1 and PAV 2. I had the HobbyBoss kit in the stash and got out the (fuselage assembled) Collect-Aire and decided it was time to get them done. I didn't want to correct both kits to look like each other- too much work, merely make them each as close to a prototype as possible. The ATF competition made this a little easier: both the YF-22 and the YF-23 prototypes were also using two different engines each (P&W and GE were competing for the winning design contract too). Visually the only difference was the size of the engine exhaust area, the P&W engine was a little bigger and so its exhaust area was wider. The Hobbyboss was better for the PAV 2 because its tiled exhaust was a little wider and it had the sawtooth detailing on top. The PAV 1 also had operating weapons bay doors and no sawtooth engine detailing, so Collect-Aire (resin) was better for that aircraft. Here I've used Milliput underneath the HB fuselage because there are strange fictional shapes above the intakes that needed to be sanded down. Below the left side is untouched, there's a strange square ledge that shouldn't be there, on the right side it has been sanded away as well as some of the squared off engine hump. HobbyBoss did a good job with the cockpit instrument panel but everything behind the seat was a strange bit of fiction. Collect-Aire did a pretty good job with the whole thing, their metal instrument panel was ok, a bit small and the detail soft, I had filed it down to remake the displays but instead I made a resin copy of the HB one. It looks much better in scale and accuracy. I plan to have both canopies open so at least now each cockpit will look similar.
  4. This was one of that builds I had planned as a second possible build for this GB, and actually one of the inspirations for the GB itself. I’ve had this model for a while now and have always wanted to build her. She’s a pretty basic model not much to her and surprisingly straight an not warped for a change…..ok the nose well bay is…no biggy. I’ll be doing the Marine version used in Korea, which was the last carrier based Nightfigher the US produced. Though it’s use in Korea by the Marines was off airfields. The Skyknight shot down more enemy aircraft then any other single type of naval aircaft for the loss of only one aircraft. I’ve made a sort of start….and lots of dust opening up the exhausts openings and intakes. I’m going to use some short pieces of brass tube to lengthen the intakes a bit as they were too shallow. There’s no surprises with this build so if should be quick and simple, once I get the intakes and exhaust areas sorted out.
  5. I’m getting in nice and early with this one.....or should I say 3 builds! Rather than the usual large complex build I’ve gone for 3 smaller and hopefully simpler builds with models coming from the stash....and me being me this year, resin is involved with 2 of the builds being resin. Ok first up a NA F-86K Sabre Dog! The model is another Collect-Aire resin beast from my stash which has parts to cover covers all three (3) versions of the F-86 Sabre Dog. I’ll be doing the Luftwaffe one, these were actually manufactured under license by Fiat and were in-service from 1959 to 1965. The model is very typical Collect-Aire, not super clean modelling but for a change not warped in any place. Two fuselages are supplied for the different variants, one with 20mm cannons for F-84K and the other with rocket pack for D & L models. (plus the K model was slightly longer). The wing is solid in one section, which I prefer and for the D model you need to chop the wing tips off, they had shorter wings. There’s quite a bit of flash on the rest of the parts and some giant air bubbles on a few parts so I see a wee bit of scratchbuilding will be required. Some of the cockpit detail is quite poor so I will use Eduards F-86D Interior PE set for sort that out, plus a wee bit of custom work.....I may end up re-building the whole cockpit floor yet! The wheels are also a touch on the poor side as well.....well more like resin blobs! So I’ll be using Eduards resin F-86F ones to replace those. They are very close to what they should be so I can get away with using them. The colour scheme will be a Luftwaffe F-86K, the kit does have a colour scheme and decals for one of these, however the decals are a bit old and out of register. So with some help from Arniec I managed to find a set produced by HaHen. These are beautiful and cover all he aircraft that were in Luftwaffe service. I’m actually quite excited about the GB and baring any unforseen issues this will be a very straight forward build......... hopefully!
  6. As usual something a bit different, not so much in the model, though it is resin, but in the colour scheme. For the base model I’ll be using Collect-Aire’s 1/48th RA-5C Vigilante, in resin. It’s a bit old and quite hard to find, but it’s still considered the best one available in that scale. The Trumpeter one has quite a few errors and really not worth the effort to correct. It’s a typical Collect-Aire resin model, some parts are nicely moulded while others…..well they’ll need some work. To help take the weight, cast metal U/C legs are provided. One item that is a bit of a worry is the VacForm canopies, they both appear to be a bit discoloured, hopefully it’s not too bad…. The only issue with the model was a broken cockpit frame on the RHS forward fuselage section, on the LHS one the fuselage was cracked. Ok now the extras….it wouldn’t be a build or mine without extras. The wheel bays are very basic, the cockpit is just as basic, and the exhaust nozzles…… The only replacements are form Aires and are for the Trumpeter model, so fitting them is going to be interesting!! For the colour scheme I’m going to do something completely different to the usual Vigilante colour scheme, I’m going to be one of the camouflaged ones of RVAH-13 (RVAH-6 was also a test squadron). During RVAH-13’s deployment on the USS Kitty Hawk (Oct65 to Jun66) the navy experimented with camouflage. At the end of their tour on USS Kitty Hawk they decide not to go with camouflage as the benefit from it was far out weighed by the issues it caused. There were 2 variations both with 3 colours; RVAH-6 went with Green/Dk Green/Grey and RVAH-13 with Green/Dk Green/Tan (USAF colour scheme). CtA (Cut then Add) provide a nice set of decals covering all the USN aircraft that wore these schemes. I started looking at how these new resin bits were going to fit and a pile of resin dust later……..well they’re going to fit, eventually! Well I’m glad it’s a 4 month build as I think I may need it, anyway it’s going to be an interesting build that’s for sure!
  7. This is a bit of strange place for me to be in as I normally live in the GB section. A scary new place to explore! This is a build I started sometime ago for the Prototype, Experimentals, World Firsts & Record Breakers GB (that’s a mouth fully!) and for various reasons I was not able to complete. Now as a sort of Mojo restorer she’s back on the workbench. I’ve attached the link to the first part of the build for those interested. I had gotten to the stage where I was ready to fit the new mounts for the wings and elevators. These were to be pinned in place rather than trying to use the tiny resin stubs supplied on the kit parts. This would help give everything the strength it needed plus make sure everything was aligned correctly and at the right angle! Ok with the new mounts for the wings and tail done it was time to fit these. I needed to make sure that these new mounts were perfectly square with the body. The moulded mounts on the model were out quite a bit! The front mounts were off by nearly 5mm from one side to the other. The rear mounts for the elevators was I though correct at the time but it ended up being 3mm too high! Unfortunately I didn’t find this out until I’d glued the fuselage together! At this stage I also modified the lower rudder leading edge. During the early flights this rudder was longer and similar in shape to the upper one. Later on it was reduced in length and the leading edge squared off. This wasn’t the easiest of jobs to do as only the front 10mm had the new beveled shape, and everything had to be square as well. It came out pretty nicely in the end. The speed brakes will be closed on her but the insides these lower ones can be seen so I’m going to have to add details here. The model supplied parts are pretty poorly made (white metal and “off cast” resin) so I’ll have to scratch build this area. Not a big job just time consuming. Now the cockpit. I still not quite sure if I’ll leave the canopy open or closed, a lot will depend on if I stuff it up or not! The detail is a bit on the basic side but I’m not going to go too crazy here, just some careful painting and a few small extras. Luckily I have the Aerofax book on the X-15 to help out, it’s a great reference manual. With the basic work done on the cockpit I could close up the fuselage….and what a fun task that was! CA glue was no go for this stage as it dries too quickly (even the Gel stuff for this sort of work), and there was a bit of aligning required as the nose was slightly warped. So the Epoxy resin was pulled out, funnily enough I could have sworn the last time I used it it was the 5 minute type and not the 24 hour type I had in my hand?? I got the fuselage together eventually along with covering everything in epoxy. It was put aside to dry. While it was drying I found the 5 minute epoxy, now I was worried, I had a feeling the stuff I used was VERY old! Two days later it still hadn’t dried properly and the entire nose has moved to one side! The only thing that saved this now was that the epoxy hadn’t set, so I was able to carefully split the fuselage. The only time I’ve been glad for really thick resin fuselages. Once I’d removed all the old stuff and re-cleaned up the fuselage, it was re-glued with the 5 minute epoxy. This cured nicely and everything remained in it’s right place. Then some careful sanding back and she was done. I forgot to take photos of all this fun and games. Inbetween this I managed to almost finish the auxiliary tanks, they're now finally round and not oval. I now just have to start adding all the detail to them. (ones on the left are before filling and re-scribed, one in right are complete). With the fuselage done the upper rudder was fitted. The airbrakes will be closed on her, these were fitted later along with the Helium bottle that sits behind the rudder. It was around this stage I found out that the elevator were in the wrong position, luckily with a bit of “keyhole’ surgery I managed to get them in the right position, as seen here. I need to rebuild/make the fairing section where the elevator meet the fuselage. The main skids were fitted now as well, as I’ll be using the trolley at the rear these skid are in their flight position. It’s a strange combination on resin skid and white metal support here, namely to support the weight of the model. The support was actually too thin, it now sits on some plastic card so it’s at the right height. I still need to make the hinges for the struts, these will be from plastic rod and card. The cockpit is actually starting to look quite good, this is just the basic painting, I have a lot more to do here. ..and finally all together. The wings and elevators are just slide in place for the moment, but she’s starting to look really nice. Most of the re-scribing has been complete since these photos and the upper rudder is nearly completed. I’m really starting to enjoy this build, apart for a few errors a faults it’s a really nice model to build. I should be ready to paint her by the end of my next break.
  8. Well this is a totally unplanned GB for me and it’s only by chance I’ve decided to join. This baby just happened to show up on evilBay for the right price and I just couldn’t help myself, plus I’m a huge fan resin especially resin from Collect-Aire, I presently have quite a collection which I do hope to build…one day. So for this GB I’ve got the Ultimate Badass beast, the X-15A-2! She has held the absolute speed record for a manned aircraft for 50 years! Set in 1967 by William J. “Pete” Knight at 4519mph/7274km/h (Mach 6.72) at 102,100ft/31,120m, and a record that still remains for this type of aircraft! This is a typical Collect-Aire model (well better moulded than some releases!!) with some lovely details parts, the wheels suffer a wee bit form excessive resin flash but they’re easy to sort out. The white metal bits are some of the nicest I’ve seen. She comes with 2 vacform canopies (opps forgot photo) and a resin one which requires clear acrylic windows to be fitted (supplied. The decals are nice but I probably won’t use most of the as I planned to do her in her White Ablative scheme which she set all her records in. I won’t unfortunately be able to start her until the end of May due to work commitments but I intend to take some time off after that so I should be able to get her done.
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