1/57th (we think!) Pegasus Aerial Hunter Killer Machine - Build Review

[Nigel Heath]

I started today by conducting a test fit of the two main halves, it all seems to fit pretty well:

I then glued on the cross shaped piece on the underside, again plenty of clamping was required:

A decent selection of clamps are definitely required to build this kit.

Here is a final look inside before close up:

I applied a massive amount of superglue to all the location sockets and brought it all together, again working round it with various clamping arrangements including this on the tapered side arms:

I wish I could say I did this on purpose but about 30 seconds after closing up the hull I realised I had left these out:

By then the superglue had done its work and it was too late to undo - what a ding bat. I suppose it eliminates any problems with them getting glued in place.

I had a think about a rescue plan and came up with this. Using a 10mm punch I cut off most of the flanges:

Then using my portable battery drill I lathed them off to get a taper like this:

After a bit of hand finishing I glued them on the engines. My idea sort of worked and they could be clicked in and out quite nicely but without the flanges they were a bit floppy:

My solution to this was to wrap some tapered masking tape around the base of the pivots:

That worked quite well and they now could be posed in any position:

I reckon with a bit of paint build up they will be OK. If I am still not happy they can always be glued on.

These parts were too tight and the location holes needed drilling out with a 2.5mm drill:

Before I fit them I have to fill all the seams. Time to mix up some more Milliput.

Bye for now.

Nigel

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Great progress Nige, you've certainly tidied those engine pods up no end.

[georgeusa]

Good recovery there. I really hate it when I notice a part just sitting alone wondering why it was abandoned by me; querying "why did you not place me with my brothers and sisters; why do you not like me?" (Yes, I know I have some issues. Think my worst case was leaving out the cockpit and not noticing until the decal stage.). I like your solution to the problem. It looks like it worked out as well as the original design would work.

[S5 modeller]

Nice work nigel, you're steaming through this build. Soon be time for paint.

Nice neat electrics too.

Matt.

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks chaps, yes paint is not far off, probably tomorrow I should think.

On the filler operations, this was probably the worst gap to deal with - not the fault of the kit but mine. I wasted some time trying to get the thing apart after realizing my mistake and by then it had set slightly adrift:

Nothing a bit of filler can't sort out I am sure.

There were lots of other gaps that needed filling, this was one of the worst:

This construction feature on the underside also needed a liberal application of filler:

I must have spent several hours going round this thing and making sure I had captured every gap, by which time the Milliput had noticeably stiffened up. The final thing was to fill the stand feature on the underside:

That major task done I was slightly scratting around for other jobs to do but the front lights needed some material sawn off them after my filling of the "tusk" features:

To mask the lamps I decided that liquid masking was the best way and after applying my little 2mm tape release tabs got this:

I also put a little on the tail lamps as the BMF had worn away in places.

Until the filler sets I am now a bit stuck for things to do so might have to sign off for the evening.

Bye,

Nigel

[Nigel Heath]

As well as filling areas with Milliput there are a lot of seams on this where it is just about impossible to sand and I think the best filler for dealing with these is this white Vallejo acrylic filler:

I just tidy up the filler with various wet Tamiya cotton buds like here for example:

I have now removed all the parts from the sprues and had a bit of a tidy up, consigning the box for recycling and putting the redundant stand in one of my spares boxes:

The kit stand is not so bad but it would be a tricky painting job. I have now firmed up my ideas for my stand and am investigating the feasibility of a rectangular slab of slate and just how easy it would be to mill out a section on the underside for the battery.

I got it all ready for primer by sanding all the Milliput, gluing on a few more parts and giving them a touch of the Vallejo filler where necessary:

Here it is with primer on, as is my standard practice I used Tamiya aerosol on the main body and Alclad's grey on the ancillary parts:

It looks quite nice but, as is the idea, the primer has revealed a lot of areas that need further attention.

[georgeusa]

Glad to see you are winning the war against this kit. It seems as if it should be approached as a limited run kit with a keen eye towards making sure parts are aligned properly and the fit will not be perfect, but must be fiddled with. And, as with limited run kits, sanding and filling are always necessary. Isn't the Vallejo filler a joy to work with on those difficult seams where sanding would be a pain? Anxious to see how the painting proceeds. I am hoping the primer will bond to the kit plastic as I thought you stated in an earlier post it was not regular styrene. Keep up the good work.

[Pete in Lincs]

Slate?

How about faux slate?

Take a slab of MDF (Particle board, George)

Ensure smooth, Prime, Paint black.

When dry use a feather to produce the

white/grey veins. Allow to dry & varnish.

Probably a guide on you tube.

Easier to hollow out the back than slate.

[Will Vale]

Nice work, but it looks like a terrible kit and I certainly won't be buying one.

I'm the opposite, I had no intention to get one of these but I think Nigel's doing such a nice job of it that it's becoming tempting. Sometimes (not always) taming a difficult beast of a kit is just the right kind of modelling. It's also a lot bigger than I thought!

I'm also looking forward to see how the painting goes - I think making the all-over chrome finish interesting is going to require some thought.

If only Tamiya made SciFi kits...

No argument there, it would be amazing but I don't see it happening! At least Bandai and Hasegawa make stuff which fits and has good detail, although the snap-fit aspects of Bandai's kits actually get in the way of building them without seams sometimes.

Cheers,

Will

[Nigel Heath]

I hope my review does not give the impression that this is a bad kit, it is rather good I think. The plastic is ABS which is a relative of the more usual polystyrene and is not that different to work with.

The Vallejo filler is ideal for this model, with its unusual re-entrant features. The main problem with it is it shrinks a lot when it dries, like here in this corner, and sometimes several applications are needed to fill the wider gaps:

The next step is to apply the Alclad Black Gloss Base. I decided to do this outside as it needs really good light to see what's happening and it helps dissipate the fumes:

Unusually for Aberdeen it was not windy today.

This is the sort of finish I got:

Following Alclad's instructions I will give it a buff over with some 6000 grade Micromesh.

It is difficult to get paint into all the recesses this thing has like here:

and here:

But I think this is good enough.

While that was hardening up I designed my base:

I had a discussion with Bryan at The Rugged Company and he suggested having a thin piece of slate on top of some 25mm think MDF. I think I would still prefer solid stone but he is a very helpful chap and offered to make up both options and send me some pictures.

I was a little worried if I had enough Alclad Chrome in stock as I only had two partial bottles. In the end it took about 2/3 of a bottle so was not too bad:

I am now not going to touch it for the next few days - possibly even for a week to let the Alclad fully harden up. The weathering will involve a lot of rubbing I think and I need a really robust base to work on.

I might go and start my 1/48th Dragon Komet (at last).

Signing off for a while.

Nigel

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Very, very nice.....Wasn't at all convinced a chrome finish would be practical on this kit, but that does look very smart indeed.

[hendie]

if you are using slate, a diamond tipped end mill would do the job easily - just ensure the slate is kept WET while machining, otherwise it can start "exploding"

btw - same deal goes for granite or marble in case you were wondering - though slate is much easier to work.

[Nigel Heath]

My thinking for the slate (if I do the job) was to either cut out the battery pocket with my Dremel and one of their very thin but fragile cutting discs or use a stone cutting disc in my mini angle grinder. Looking at the Dremel discs I don't think they would go deep enough so it looks like the angle grinder. Once cut on all four sides the natural bedding of the slate should allow the remaining waste to be levered out. As to doing it wet that would be tricky, I reckon if I went carefully and did not generate too much heat (I guess boiling water in the slate causes it to explode) I could get away with doing it dry. I do have a diamond saw which runs wet and cuts through slate like butter but it is in storage and not really suitable for the job.

[hendie]

if it's only a small area, you could probably get away with pouring water on the area to be cut - the slate will absorb some of the water - and just pour more water over it when you start to see dust

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks hendie, I will try that. Its a good idea to cut down on the dust anyway.

[Vanja #66]

Nigel, if it's drying it doesn't mean you can't give us a few more photos...

[Nigel Heath]

OK Vanja, here are all the parts in the chrome finish:

I clicked in one of the engines and it is quite remarkable how a little bit of paint has tightened things up. I also tested the lights and there is not a trace of light escaping from where it should not be so that is quite pleasing as well.

Nigel

[Sgt.Squarehead]

Shiny!

[JOCKNEY]

Hi Nigel

Cracking job sir and congratulations on you promotion to reviewer.

However, the person that believed you would do an out of the box review must either have been an eternal optimist or not know you at all !

I knew you had an electronics background by the quality of the soldering on the GMC truck of your but this is first class sir.

Did you put a reed relay in to switch it on and off invisibly ?

Cheers Pat

[Nigel Heath]

Thanks Pat, I have lazily not installed a switch at all and will just switch it on and off by removing the battery.

[Vanja #66]

If I was unlucky to end up in front of the real thing, I'd die a happy man.

[Nigel Heath]

I think this model will live or die by the effect achieved by the weathering. I hope I can get it to look right.

[georgeusa]

So far, you are doing great. I really like the finish and the electronics are an added bonus. I do not think a little thing like weathering is going to spell the demise for this kit. Quick question, because of the composition of this plastic, have you used superglue or epoxy to hold parts together?

[Nigel Heath]

I have used mainly EMA Plastic Weld and thin superglue. I did use quite a lot of epoxy to fix in the electronic bits as well but think you could make it (the basic kit) pretty much with just the EMA solvent glue.

[Sgt.Squarehead]

What do you have in mind for the weathering Nige?

I've just invested in an array of MIG Pigments and they do seem to be very versatile.