AndyC Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Hi all I'm going to do the Italeri F/A-18E Super Hornet...bought off eBay for few quid and it included an Eduard etch too! Box shot Parts still in delivery bubble wrap! Here is the etch... I'm not sure about kit accuracy but I'm not a great stickler for that anyway. Not sure what scheme to do her in - I may have a hunt at Salisbury tomorrow for a suitable AM decal sheet 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted May 31, 2013 Share Posted May 31, 2013 Hi Andy look forward to your Build Cheers Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOUSTON Posted June 1, 2013 Share Posted June 1, 2013 Andy, Nice buy. I am looking forward to your build.. Best of luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted June 1, 2013 Author Share Posted June 1, 2013 Thanks HOUSTON and Les - after this morning, I am going to be building the VFA-27 'Royal Maces' CAG-bird - should be nice and bright! Decals were £3 at Salisbury! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted July 7, 2013 Author Share Posted July 7, 2013 I thought I'd better get on with this! I primed the etch and then started cutting fitting it to the cockpit. First, butcher the kit seat sides Etch folded and ready to be CA's in place IP completed and ready for painting. I decided (stupidly as it turned out) not to use the decal provided by Eduard Bits now painted but belts not fitted to seat Fitted the decking to the rear of the cockpit - fit was poor and needed filling and sanding Seat belts fitted All glued and fitted in place. The Eduard etch instruction call for the front of the coaming to be sawn off and replaced with etch nut I chickened out of some tricky looking bending and forming (matching the etch to the curved contours!) and went with the thick plastic. Great theory which is of course complete pants as the cockpit tub PLUS IP would not fit! Now I know why Eduard wanted me to replace it. I got the Dremel out and burred off enough plastic for the IP to fit but not before part of it flew off and got eaten by the carpet monster! If it wasn't hot enough already, my temperature rose a few degrees! To be fair its mostly hidden away. In the background of the last pic is the underside of the nose which has been glued ready for sanding and includes the nose-wheel well. Two fishing sinkers were glued in. The nose cone has since been attached and is ready for attaching to the other piece. Thanks for looking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DaveJL Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Good work so far Andy. Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nimrod54 Posted July 10, 2013 Share Posted July 10, 2013 Great stuff Andy, the etch looks really good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted July 11, 2013 Share Posted July 11, 2013 Nice build Andy pit looks good Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted July 23, 2013 Author Share Posted July 23, 2013 Thanks Dave, John and Les! I've been sanding and swearing away in the heat on the intake assemblies. They need a lot of work and filler and its awkward to get at but at least the kit's engineering means I can do it whilst they are away from the fuselage They still need more work and I will have another go at them although I'm starting to think about scratch-built covers! There is an annoying gap at the rear of the starboard intake (which I think is me gluing the fillet too far forward. I may try and prise it off and re-fix - otherwise I'll need a fillet of card in there. Here they are dry-fitted to the underside of the a/c... I then fitted the underside of the leading edge extensions - fit is OK starboard but very poor to port These were then liberally filled and sanded and as you can see the port one has had to have a second lot of filler applied I have now glued the intakes to the lower half and filled and sanded the join. It will take another round but I'm getting there. Thanks for looking - more updates soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted August 21, 2013 Author Share Posted August 21, 2013 Sorry mods and all other GB'ers...I'm out of this one! Picked up the model tonight, then promptly dropped it and its split into about eight pieces. All salvageable but not for a deadline in 2 weeks. I'm just fed up with the kit as the fit is poor and it's taken a lot of sanding to get where I was, so I'm a bit de-motivated! It's been re-boxed and may see the light of day again in the next KUTA GB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yankymodeler Posted August 22, 2013 Share Posted August 22, 2013 Very sorry to hear that Andy. I fear doing the same thing every time I pick mine up, and echo your thoughts about the fit. Have a nice glass of wine and move onto your next project! Eric aka The Yankymodeler Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted August 22, 2013 Author Share Posted August 22, 2013 Thanks Eric - my first GB failure but it's a bit of a dog! Already starting the USN GB! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arniec Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Sorry to hear that Andy. I have never seen so much green putty on a new(iche) model before. This isn't a very good model?! See You in the USN GB. Cheers, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Hi Arnold - no it's not! I hate missing GB deadlines. The kit is OK shape wise and I thought the engineering of it was going to be pretty good when I started it, but I was wrong. On reflection it needs a LOT of dry fitting as the instructions aren't clear. The engineering of the kit means that the joints are weak - I've never had a kit do that before (every major component just separated from its mate) when dropped (and this was just on carpet) which shows that the joints were a little dodgy in the first place. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wellzy Posted August 23, 2013 Share Posted August 23, 2013 Sorry to lose your build was looking good Les Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyC Posted August 23, 2013 Author Share Posted August 23, 2013 Yeah, sorry Les - as I said, she will probably make an appearance in KUTA VI! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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