georgeusa Posted August 9, 2013 Share Posted August 9, 2013 (edited) I answered a question concerning a 1/32 mosquito kit and it got me to thinking about the 1/24 Airfix kit I purchased when it first came out. I started the build (use the term started loosely, I glued 4 pieces together) and then for some reason it got consigned to the WIP stash and has just sat for about 3 years. I opened the box and I had forgotten just how massive this kit is and how many parts it has. So, it got moved up to the build stage and here goes. The above shows how massive a kit this is. The Tamiya 1/48 mosquito (a fine little kit all its own) is next to the fuselage and top wing to show the scale. I am approaching this build quite differently than from my normal pattern. Like, reading the directions. Normally, I build sub-assemblies and/or paint all of the parts while still on the sprues. With this one being so large and the parts count so high, I think if I try to break it up into sub-assemblies I will end up with parts scattered all throughout my office. So I am building a page at a time and painting the sections built up as I go forward. The first 4 pages are just part of the cockpit assembly. Here are the pictures of the build so far. I have been quite pleased with the fit of parts and the level of detail out of the box. This photo illustrates my one big gripe with this kit, the injection marks. You can see the ones I left in the seat and how prominent they are. Now shockingly, these will be covered by the pilot figure so I didn't bother to fill them. But the little buggers turn up all over the parts. It was if the designers were on a mission from God to develop locations that are the most difficult to fill and are in places that will show the most. How can a kit this well thought out and this expensive have so many, highly observable injection marks? I am using a variety of methods to determine which works best. For the cockpit, I am using old fashioned typewriter correction fluid that sorta self levels and reduces the need for sanding. The downside is the smell and how long it takes to dry. Also, it is tricky to fill just enough fluid to fill the spot, but not so much as to create a bump. The next method I'll try is punching out disks from plastic sheets and filling that way. Well, ranted enough about the main shortcoming in this kit. On with the show though: Love the detail so far. the decals for the canisters and fire extinguisher were a joy for my ham fisted, fat little fingers to put on, but does it look nice once on. I had bought the Airscale instruments for this kit, but once I dry fit the kit panel versus the work for the Airscale sheet, it didn't seem to justify the slight increase in detail. The kit assembly for the instrument panel looks quite nice as it is. All I had to do was a bit of painting and weathering and it came out pretty decent for my limited skills. I have an old Airfix Hurricane and Spitfire in the stash, my see if any of the Airscale suff will help them instead. Well so far, that's what a day and night's work has accomplished. Have the weekend coming up. Want to finish the F2-A build as I have almost all the decals on, but this one is taking my attention away and I want to keep plugging through the booklet. I think I have gone through only 29 out of 249 steps. Edited August 13, 2013 by georgeusa 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahunaminor Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Nice work George! From one ham fisted modeller to another congrats! The canister decals certainly add a certain "panache". I like the style of commentary on the build. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted August 10, 2013 Share Posted August 10, 2013 Having got this kit in my stash of to do`s, I will follow it closely. And you are right about the dreaded ejector pin marks. It`s a monster of a kit, I hope that you have the space on your bench once the wings and fuselage come together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 10, 2013 Author Share Posted August 10, 2013 I am putting this monster together at work, so there is always the conference table available. In fact, that is where I took the comparison photo with the completed 1/48 model. Now, I am trying to figure out where on earth I am going to put this beast once it is finished. I normally put in book shelves or wall shelves, but I don't have one big enough. May have to build a special wall shelf just for this model. Uh oh, need to build it for 2 models. I forgot I ordered the 1/32 B-17 also. Will have a further update later this weekend. Have to finish an F-2a first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 I started on the pilot figure to be places in the aircraft to hide the pin holes and I wanted to experiment with a figure. Got him started with paint and wanted to see what he looked like the the cockpit so far. Probably the instructions should have mentioned that if you are using a seated pilot figure, build him first and then set his butt in the seat and build the cockpit around him. Otherwise (WARNING CHEAP HUMOR AND IN POOR TASTE TO FOLLOW), you will have to Baderize him to make him fit. I warned you didn't I. Frustrated now, in trying to figure out what needs to be removed to place him in with the least amount of damage and rebuild. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Its good to see someone thats not scared to add some nice weathering to a cockpit, I'm liking what I see. Talking of large scale kits, I was in my local ish model shop yesterday and they had a 1/18 scale Dauntless in stock by a company called Merit, part of Trumpeter I believe, where is it going to end! Tim. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 11, 2013 Author Share Posted August 11, 2013 Never heard of Merit. Not seen any of these kits in the States. That is why I like traveling abroad. I can always find new kits, that have to be hidden until I go through customs, and then get busted by SWMBO who wonders when I wandered off to purchase it (usually them plural). Have you any experience with Merit? I have never understood why the outside of the plane is weathered, but the interior is not. Even if made of wood, wood picks up the oils from your body and anything else that you happened to tramp in with on your clothes and boots. Mechanics usually do not clean up prior to entering the cockpit to do maintenance. At least not in the war I was in. May have been different in WWII, but I doubt it. Most of the times the pit in planes and helicopters were far dirtier than the outside. Sometimes the outside got swabbed down to help with aerodynamics. The inside usually just got a bucket of water thrown in to wash off the blood left behind as it made the next passengers a bit nervous. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted August 11, 2013 Share Posted August 11, 2013 Hi George, thats the first time I've seen a Merit kit so I can't comment on what they are like, I should have taken a peek inside the box, which was huge! Probably around 3' long and around 10'' deep! It would certainly be hard to smuggle it past anyone. They also had a 88mm flak gun in the same scale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chaotic Mike Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 I am putting this monster together at work, so there is always the conference table available. In fact, that is where I took the comparison photo with the completed 1/48 model. Now, I am trying to figure out where on earth I am going to put this beast once it is finished. I normally put in book shelves or wall shelves, but I don't have one big enough. May have to build a special wall shelf just for this model. Uh oh, need to build it for 2 models. I forgot I ordered the 1/32 B-17 also. Will have a further update later this weekend. Have to finish an F-2a first. I hung mine on the wall of my modelling shed. Quite a good technique if you are comfortable with the risk of the attachment points failing... Mike Ps great pit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fostersdave Posted August 12, 2013 Share Posted August 12, 2013 nice to see another kit built with sausage fingers in mind! lovely build so far,keep up the good work dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 Had to redo the original pictures posted. Sorry, am new at this and somehow I managed to make all the prior posted pictures vanish. Reposted them in I hope the correct order. fostersdave, My fingers seem to grow larger in inverse proportion to how small the next part is. And with, photo-etched, I no longer possess fingers but have grown non malleable stumps. That, and my magnavisor seems to be on the fritz as it doesn't seem to magnify as much as it used to. I know that is the problem, not me growing older. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 13, 2013 Author Share Posted August 13, 2013 Okay, two questions that have nothing to do with this topic but generally Britmodeller. (That's funny, spell check in Britmodeller doesn't recognize Britmodeller. Oops ADHD kicking in.) First question. I've noticed the buttons for "Like This" and just realized that, if clicked, results in a notification that someone for whatever warped reason liked a comment you made and it appears in your profile section. My question is if you have made multiple comments, how do you know which one was liked? Pretty basic huh,? Second question, when responding to someone's posts, is it proper etiquette to quote their post and then respond, or is there something else involved? So far, I have just listed their name in a subsequent post and responded to their prior post. Just an uninformed novice not wanting to step on toes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 Chaotic Mike, Hanging on the wall is not so bad an idea. When I read through the instructions for the new HK 1/32 B-17, it appears on of the manufacturer's solutions for display was a dedicated system to attach to the model so it could be hung from the wall. Looks like you are just ahead of your time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 Okay update as to progress. I am approaching this build by building in sequence a page of instructions at a time. So more work on the interior. Ran into this problem with one of the bulkheads. Was warped in two different planes. Since it has to be joined with another part at 90 degree angles, thought it best to see if I could straighten it. Here are the results after a few dousings in almost boiling water with some bending and twisting back into shape based upon the accuracy of the mark 1 eyeball. I think it will now work. Still plagued by injection marks. Yechhhh!! Went ahead and put the bulkhead combo together, painted and started the initial weathering process. And both sides with one with just the base coat on and the other with the first wash. That's it for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winenut Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 That kit is seriously big! I pretty much stick to 1:72 as the larger scale scares the bejeezers out of me. Will watch this one with interest ....good luck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 18, 2013 Author Share Posted August 18, 2013 'nother update. Have finished up the insides and are about to join the fuselage halves together. Then, it pretty much looks like a wonderful sanding/filling session to get rid of what is going to be a nasty seam. Or, it could be the thing is so large it just seems nasty. Here are the updates. There are a couple of injection marks I didn't fill or sand off. After a test fit of the cockpit and pilot figure, they will not be seen. Any comments welcome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 Looking sweet George, I do like the way you weather the cockpit. As for responding to someone's post whether to thank them for a comment they've made or to answer a question I myself normally quote their post unless my next post follows theirs. Tim. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michaelvk Posted August 18, 2013 Share Posted August 18, 2013 I'm very tempted to get one of these, and this isn't helping to abstain. Very nice work! It's nice to see the aircraft was equipped with a spice rack and bottle of wine.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kahunaminor Posted August 19, 2013 Share Posted August 19, 2013 Nice progress George. It's also good to see you have included some shots of your fingers for scale ham fistedness! Regards, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 19, 2013 Author Share Posted August 19, 2013 Kahunaminor, Yeah, those fingers are not exactly delicate and they are definetly not ideal for PE. I have the Master barrells for the 20mm and .303 and was looking at the instructions and wondering how I am going to roll the PE to make some of the shapes. The barrels are very nice though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 Update. While waiting for some paint to dry on the Huey, thought I would get back to this beast. Worked on it last night and made pitiful progress due to the amount and really awkward places injection marks are placed on this kit. On the radiator flaps, there are 3 marks, 2 large and one small that are located on the most prominent and visible section of the flap. I just don't get it. Other than all of these injection marks that must be filled/sanded, the kit is engineered extremely well and the fit of parts is excellent. Here are the pics. Buttoned up the fuselage and sanded the seams. The 1/48 Tamiya kit is there for size reference. I have no idea where I am putting this model once completed. Here are shots of the interior of what is left showing. Once I attach the wing and other assembly parts, will have to do a bit of fine tuning on the little left showing as far as some seams go. Radiator screens. Note all of the injector marks showing on the back side. Sixteen of those same size injector marks on the back side of the radiator screens were present in this bay. I don't get it . They were a joy to fill and sand though and still keep the interior detail. Well, have to go to work to support my plastic addiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spookytooth Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Still looking good though. I have got that beast to build,as and when I have the confidence too!! Will look out for updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tank152 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I'm not a fan of anything Airfix, everything always seems half hearted with their kits and refined is not a word I'd use in the same sentence as Airfix! Anyway you're knocking it into shape well, your paint work is impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted August 30, 2013 Author Share Posted August 30, 2013 Tank, I am building the Airfix 1/24 Harrier at the same time as this and a 1/24 Huey (hmm, seem stuck on one scale right now). There is a huge difference in how things are designed to go together and the fit between the Mosquito and Harrier. If I were to use the Harrier as the basis to judge Airfix, I would agree with your assesment. The Harrier's fit of parts is haphazard and I am forever sanding mold lines on every part before I can put it together. It seems as if I am doing double work on the Harrier, sanding before I put together and then have to sand and fill after I put together because of the seams and ill fit. With the Mosquito, the design is good, the fit of parts is good and the execution is good. My one huge, and it is huge, complaint about this model is the rampant injection marks put in the most awkward places to fix but most prominent places that will show. If it weren't for these marks, this kit would be a joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete in Lincs Posted August 30, 2013 Share Posted August 30, 2013 George. With the size of this kit in mind. It sounds like a good excuse to hang it from the ceiling! It's out of the way. It won't get 'accidently' damaged while dusting This will free up shelf space for other smaller kits. Enjoying this one. Cheers Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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