burncpt Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Well, not having been back in the hobby long, I bought this kit cheap (5.99) at Modelzone as something to bash out quickly - a friend who needed some tips bought it as well and he'd see how things were going on mine and pick up ideas (as may I)! That was the plan... As it was, the friend hit a London pothole on his bike, had his face rearranged and is in hospital (how bad do I feel for encouraging him into the world of cycling now eh) - and I discovered the kit is a hornet's nest of inaccuracies. I could have built it OOB but having seen a couple of methods of 'fixing' it I thought Rick Barnds' on hyperscale was the best. A first at serious hacking about but I figure it's a small loss if in the (highly likely) event it looks horrible. Firstly, I cut the wing fillets out of the fuselage sides. The plastic is pretty thick and went through a couple of x-acto blades (and a couple of slashes on the fuselage sides because I'm cackhanded). You also lose some of the cockpit detail inside but I wasn't bothered as you'll realistically never see it: I started filling up the lower wing/fuselage join with perfect putty. I haven't got the hang of this stuff yet - any filling tips are welcome! It does dissolve easily in water thankfully though. I found the nose of a bomb which I cut off to build the fuselage forward. At about this point I realised the cockpit won't fit in with both wing fillets attached to the wings, due to the way it flares out at the bottom. I have glued one and will either try and stick the other in after everything else is joined or guess where the cockpit should sit and stick that to the wing? While my brain was melting with this thought I had an attempt at reshaping the seat and adding some very basic detail to the cockpit. I think it looks OK painted up. More soon, and apologies for the crappy photos, proper camera is on the blink! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Oh........ I bought one too for £5.99 and have done the fuselage and stitched it up, the wings are glued and I *was* about to mate the two together..... What's wrong with it? The only obvious thing I noticed was the relationship between the rudder pedals to the seat. The pilot would need to be semi recumbent to use them. I had a quick look in the interweb and there wasn't anything specific mentioned. Nice build so far btw Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted September 1, 2013 Author Share Posted September 1, 2013 I think the reason you may have not turned up any interwebby woes is that it was originally a Hobbycraft mould and the Academy is just a reboxing of the same kit Essentially the wing and lower fuselage are all too high up at the front, so there is a huge step aft of the radiator and the wing has too large an angle of attack. The panel line that should run from aft over the wingroot to meet the engine cowling gets lost in the mix too. If you check some side-on photos or drawings against your kit when it's (dry!) fitted together you'll see why people moaned about it. I am building up the gaps with sheet styrene to bring the front lower (note incredibly un-mathematical method of getting the strips to be progressively shorter each time) but am still at the point of thinking it will look awful when it's together. It's more of an exercise in 'can I make it look reasonable' and giving it a go than actually producing a 100% accurate plane... To be honest it will look pretty much like a P-40B if you leave it anyway, just don't tell anyone... or about the rear windows that have the wrong frames, or about the holes in the wheel well that shouldn't be there etc... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Right then I'll check that out. Still for £5.99...... Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 1, 2013 Share Posted September 1, 2013 Should have bought the new Airfix kit or the Trumpeter kit or even the HobbyBoss Kit. But NOT the Academy kit. It's just bad. My 2 cents, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Should have bought the new Airfix kit or the Trumpeter kit or even the HobbyBoss Kit. But NOT the Academy kit. It's just bad. Chris I've got the new Airfix one too! Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 And the Academy one WAS only £5.99... Airfix have a 48th Tomahawk? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 There might be a confusion of scales here. There is an Academy 1/72nd kit which is more or less a clone of the old Frog kit and suffers from a number of shape and detail problems - I think it was their first kit - then there is the Academy 1/48th kit which is a different beast altogether. I think this is probably the 1/48th kit? Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Yes I (and I'm assuming Trevor) have the 1/48th kit which which is a Hobbycraft kit and also suffers from shape problems. But the Airfix kit is 1/72nd yes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nick Millman Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Yes, the Airfix kit is recent and to 1/72nd scale. Trumpeter also have kits of this aircraft in 1/48th and 1/72nd scales! Hobby Boss do an easy build kit in 1/72 scale and that one has also been marketed as a built-up and pre-painted display model by Easy Model Nick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Yes it's the 1/48 Academy and 1/72 ones I have so will compare and contrast, assuming of course that the latter is ok shape wise! Hobbyboss I understand has a horrific canopy shape which cannot be ignored. Thread highjack over......... Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 my mistake! Sorry. That's why I think everyone should always post the scale of the kits they are posting pics of. Too easy for observers to get confused. Please, everyone, post the scale of your kits! Chris 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 my mistake! Sorry. That's why I think everyone should always post the scale of the kits they are posting pics of. Too easy for observers to get confused. Please, everyone, post the scale of your kits! Chris And there I was thinking I'd get away with pictures of the fuselage on a ruled cutting mat Anyway here is some small progress. First try at home made tape seatbelts. The buckles are a bit out of scale but they certainly add to the otherwise pretty boring cockpit. I went for putting the cockpit in the lower wing assembly after many dry fitting attempts. The odd blob underneath the floor is a bit of sprue glued to the front inan attempt to stop it pivoting round when it was mated to the fuselage. It wasn't totally successful! Hence this odd arrangement! I was worried about how to get the cockpit lined up 'blind' - in the end I shoved various bits of brass tube along the fuselage to press the bulkhead up against the moulded tab. Worked a treat! I have actually got the wings and tailplane glued by now but the filler still looks nasty so will post up some more pictures when (if!) it gets to some sort of acceptable smooth join... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Max Headroom Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 Chris! I've checked my Academy fuselage against the new Airfix offering and I see your point regarding the hotizontal panel line being 'lost'. I like your solution but as this is supposed to be a mojo restorer combined with a canvas for my new £15 Revell spray gun, I think I'll just rescribe the line slightly higher up! Yes it's cheating but hey..... Trevor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
burncpt Posted September 2, 2013 Author Share Posted September 2, 2013 Sounds like a good way out to me I wish the method I'm doing was my solution but it was borrowed from another build - although it was a bit sketchy in the description so I may well have done things differently!! I wish I'd never looked it up now; mine was supposed to be the same - a canvas for improving my terrible painting skills/trying out weathering bits. Ho hum! Looking forward to that Hasegawa P-47 on the shelf... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogsbody Posted September 2, 2013 Share Posted September 2, 2013 (edited) And there I was thinking I'd get away with pictures of the fuselage on a ruled cutting mat Anyway here is some small progress. First try at home made tape seatbelts. The buckles are a bit out of scale but they certainly add to the otherwise pretty boring cockpit. I went for putting the cockpit in the lower wing assembly after many dry fitting attempts. The odd blob underneath the floor is a bit of sprue glued to the front inan attempt to stop it pivoting round when it was mated to the fuselage. It wasn't totally successful! Hence this odd arrangement! I was worried about how to get the cockpit lined up 'blind' - in the end I shoved various bits of brass tube along the fuselage to press the bulkhead up against the moulded tab. Worked a treat! I have actually got the wings and tailplane glued by now but the filler still looks nasty so will post up some more pictures when (if!) it gets to some sort of acceptable smooth join... I must admit to not really looking at your cutting mat. Is it in metric measurement? Mine is in old Imperial inches. Chris Edited September 2, 2013 by dogsbody Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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