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1:72 Monogram Grumman F7F-3 Tigercat


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Looking great....

 

re: sanding that bulkhead.

 

Sandpaper on glass as you said - then double sided sticky tape on another piece of glass - or a thick piece of plasticard/acrylic or a piece of brass - anything flat and thick/stiff.

 

cut off some of the excess flat bits of the resin near the bulkhead (reduces the amount of work you need to do and also less stuff to clog the sandpaper).

 

put your fingers all over the sticky tape until it's not quite so tacky then press the glass and tape onto the good side of the resin bulkhead to hold it.

Now you should be able to hold the glass/plastic/brass easily to sand it against your sandpaper/glass combo.

 

Added benefit is that you can keep the flat plate of glass/plastic/brass nice and horizontal and therefore avoid sanding off more on one side than the other.

 

Badger

 

Yeah, what he said! Why didn't I think of that? Give it a try tonight...

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Hi Bill,

 

The F6F Hellcat/ F4U Corsair wheel is too small in diameter and the wheel casting is a different shape.

 

A much better substitution could be made using wheels from the Hasegawa AD Skyraider, or if you have one lying about, see how the wheel hubs look in the Revell Germany or Tamiya P-47 Thunderbolt series (the wheel type without the flush cover). These could be potentially expensive solutions.

 

Also take a look at the wheels in the Italeri P-47N.

 

I think you can get aftermarket resin wheels for the Skyraider and Avenger; those would be much more accurate.

 

I think somewhere among all of those options you will come up with a better solution.

 

-d-

Edited by David H
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Hi Bill,

 

   hope the sanding worked OK.

 

What are the round stacked stands in the first picture of this thread? They look ideal for my workbench so wondered who makes them and where I can get hold of some.

I assume they rotate?

 

Thanks

 

TFB

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David - thanks for the info on the wheels. I will look for the options you've suggested. I think I'm stuck with the nose wheel from the kit, but it shouldn't be too bad as it has the flush covers which I see on all of the in-service pictures of the Tigercat. The modern Tigercat restorations and air racers seem to have a different hub (or at least have the flush cover removed).

 

Edit: All of the in-service pictures of the Tigercat that I have which show the main wheels, show a diamond tread pattern. Haven't found resin wheels yet that match this - they all have straight grooves. Arghhh.

 

Badger - the storage rack that you saw in the first photo does indeed rotate. It's one of the best purchases I've made, as it organizes things well and takes up less space. You can buy it from MicroMark at this link.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Thanks, Jessica. This is basically what I tried to do, but the whole thing is just so darn skinny that there is not much I can hold onto. I try to hold onto the bulkhead, which is the thickest part on the resin, but it keeps slipping away. I'll try again, as well as trying the thin razor saw trick. This is the first time I've seen resin parts on a wafer like this, but at least I'll learn some new techniques no matter what I do!

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

I am sure that it all has worked out for you...since you are a Navy Bird from New York....right??? ( smile)

 

Anyway, your builds always turn out so well. You have rather nice craftmanship Bill.

 

Take care.

 

Karen

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Thanks, everyone! I appreciate the kind remarks and the tips! I'll have some nice new photos to post this weekend, as some good progress has been made.

 

By the way, Petr from AZ/Admiral Models has posted on the 72nd Aircraft site that they are preparing tooling for a new Tigercat kit. Wouldn't you know it, every time I start a big project like this, some model manufacturer decides to do a new tool kit. First it was my 72nd Lightning kitbash which was followed by the Airfix announcement. Now this. Makes me think those guys are watching my posts for ideas! LOL

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. I wonder who will tackle a new 1:72 Sea Vixen after reading my MPM build...  :)

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Stunning work love the engines. Built one myself some years ago using Aires cockpit and Aeroclub engines and propellers.

I shall follow this with interest.

 

Roger.

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Hi mates,

 

Time for some updates. I've focused on the cockpit, the engines, and I've started the port nacelle. First up, I cleaned up the resin tub and sidewalls, sprayed on my trusty Gunze H58 Interior Green, followed by some shadowing and highlighting. That left the parts looking like this:

 

100_3097

 

After a lot of detail painting and a final wash, eye squinting, and head scratching, the assembled pit doesn't look too bad. Hopefully the pictures show my sorry attempt at painting all those little switches, handles, wires, and cables. Man, this is tiny stuff!

 

100_3103

 

100_3101

 

100_3102

 

I haven't started the instrument panel yet, but it's one of those styles with a photoetch panel and a film piece for the instruments. To that, Aires also provides photoetch rudder pedals, which I think will look quite nice if I fold them up correctly!

 

For the engine nacelles, I had to do some surgery, cutting off the front section entirely. To that, I glued on the resin part that I at first didn't know how to remove from the resin pour block. (Thanks for all the tips! I finally removed it as you can see.) In order to prepare the inside of the nacelles for the photoetch wheel wells, I also had to remove all the attachment points for the landing gear. I guess we'll figure out how to put the gear on later! So here is what I'm starting with:

 

100_3099

 

The photoetch ceiling for the wheel well is too large for the opening. After folding as instructed, the piece is considerably too long. I thought I must have done something wrong, but everything else looks correct (per the instruction sheet), and when I measure the remaining parts to "mathematically" build up the framework and the engine mounts, it certainly appears that the engine will be in the right place. So what gives? You can see how much I had to cut off here:

 

100_3098

 

I added the rest of the cylinder heads to both engines, plus the rear portion of the crankcase. I painted the front cover Gunze H339 Engine Grey, but I think that's too dark, especially when compared to photos. I will most likely re-paint that with a lighter grey. If you look close you can see that I've added two of the push-rod tubes. The correct length is approximately 3.75mm, talk about squinting. Let's see, that's two per cylinder head, nine heads per bank, two banks, and two engines! That's 72 of those little buggers! I shall, no doubt, finally go completely insane.  :)

 

100_3100

 

OK, that's enough typing, time to go back and re-scribe some more. I'm almost done with that, thank God!  :)

 

Cheers for now,

Bill

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If I don't like any of the props, I could always do this...

 

grum1219F7F-2NdeadstklndCorkyMeyerS.jpg

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Bill, I'm truly sorry but doing a Tigercat in that situation is purely "WRONG"  No matter how much a person has problems with a certain part of this particular aircraft, you just can't build it this way.

 

Cheers,  :) :)

 

P.S.  Mods please don't remove the photograph, its intended use is to emphasize the nature of not wrecking a great classic Grumman Cat - Thank You!  :)

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That photo, by the way, is of a dead stick landing by Corky Meyer, who went on to be Grumman's chief test pilot all the way through to the jet age (although I'm not sure if he ever flew the Tomcat). I believe that the Tigercat was the first Grumman plane that he flew, so from inauspicious beginnings great things can emerge!

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

Edit: Corky joined Grumman in 1942 and quickly became the project pilot for the F6F Hellcat, so that was probably the first Grumman aircraft he flew. The last plane he was the project pilot for was the F11F Tiger, but he was VP of Engineering at Grumman beginning in 1967, so I'm guessing he probably managed a flight or two in the F-14!  Corky passed away in 2011 at the age of 91. He wrote an autobiography called "Flight Journal - Dodging Disasters - Just in Time." I'll bet that's a fun read!

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Hi mates,

 

Quick comment - I'm not going to use the photoetch wheel wells. They don't fit, they're not particularly accurate, and they don't look good. I assembled one, even painted it zinc chromate green, but I don't like it. To put it in the vernacular of the peasantry, it stinks.

 

I understand that Starfighter Decals is working on a new set of resin wheel wells for the Monogram Tigercat, but they may not be available until April 2013 which is too late for my schedule. So it looks like I'll be reviewing each and every post on this site made by Nobby so I can get some good ideas for scratchbuilding!

 

It's a disease I tell ya... :):):)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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Never waste valuable time, detailing an area that nobody else will see. Cockpits, engines, landing gear struts... People will see all that stuff.

But wheel wells? When was the last time you saw a plane parked on a mirror? When its parked upside down, its usually only once.

That's what i say!

-d-

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On 1/23/2013 at 14:33, David H said:

Never waste valuable time, detailing an area that nobody else will see. Cockpits, engines, landing gear struts... People will see all that stuff.

But wheel wells? When was the last time you saw a plane parked on a mirror? When its parked upside down, its usually only once.

That's what i say!

-d-

 

I understand your reasoning. The Monogram kit has absolutely nothing where the wheel wells should be, it's just a space enclosed by the bottom of the wing and the sides of the nacelle. This space is a rather large opening that will be looked into if and when the model is entered in a contest. So I won't be detailing the wheel well, I will be creating the wheel well. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hone my skills with plastic card and instill a sense of personal satisfaction if I do a good job! How cool is that? :)

 

Cheers,

Bill

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On 1/23/2013 at 15:19, Work In Progress said:

I have a copy, and it is certainly worth looking out.

 

Thanks, I will certainly do that. Another good one that I read eons ago was "Always Another Dawn" by Scott Crossfield. I had a beat-up old paperback that I think I got from my older brother before he went off to fly Jolly Greens out of Da Nang. I have no idea what happened to that book...

 

Cheers,

Bill

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I understand your reasoning. The Monogram kit has absolutely nothing where the wheel wells should be, it's just a space enclosed by the bottom of the wing and the sides of the nacelle. This space is a rather large opening that will be looked into if and when the model is entered in a contest. So I won't be detailing the wheel well, I will be creating the wheel well. Plus, it gives me an excuse to hone my skills with plastic card and instill a sense of personal satisfaction if I do a good job! How cool is that? :)

Cheers,

Bill

I know what you mean Bill, adding parts like these can be frustrating and takes ages, but gives a huge satisfaction when it's done ! Looking forward to seeing what you'll do here, I might use the same techniques when I'll finally start my Tigercat

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Nice work so far mate.

I remember when AMT/ERTL back in the late 90s, released this kit in 1/48 and a lot of our fellow scale modellers were rushing to buy it!!

Looking forward to see it finished.

Cheers

Sernak

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The world needs a new tool, modern 1:72 kit of the Tigercat. I've heard rumours that Legato/AZ are planning one, I hope that's true, and that it's in their HQT range.

 

I just missed an old Aoshima 1:72 F7F-1 Tigercat on eBay this week. It was still factory sealed! Would have been nice to have a model of that version, as it has quite a few differences from the F7F-3 that I'm modelling.

 

Cheers,

Bill

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This detailing stuff, you do do it rather nicely Bill, well done so far

I bet you will make a better wheel well (each side too) :) than the etch if it doesnt look right

I always say if it looks right, that's good enough

I will be along for the ride too, awesome beastie the Tigercat

bill

Edited by perdu
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Just thought I'd say that this all seems to be going extremely well. I think the Monogram Tigercat really looks the part and is well worth a bit of detailing. It'll look a treat when you've finished. Good luck with the wheel wells, and I reckon you can't do better than adopt some of the techniques that Nobby is giving us advanced tutorial on. Proper modelling...

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