dhdove Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 (edited) Hi all Next up in my US Navy Cold War series is this Kinetic offering. It was a good build tho the instructions supplied are a little vague with regard to options offered and the decalling information misses some decals completely so some research is required. Despite filling the nose with weight and also the front of the engine nacelles this kit was still a taildragger! So I cheated and extended the rear bumper wheel leg and used that to hold the tail up, not accurate I know but effective! I managed to completely destroy the large wing walk decal when I tried to apply it so I hand painted the wing walk with Tamiya German Grey XF-63. Otherwise the kit decals were fine. I scratch built a searchlight from Milliput as nothing is provided in the kit! Overall it builds up into a great representation of this wonderful looking aircraft. Mad boom, radomes, searchlight, sonobuoy dispensers, rocket pods, torpedoes, what's not to like 👍 Next up, F3H-2M Demon by HobbyBoss. Thanks for looking. TonyS Edited July 24, 2015 by dhdove 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Actually, extending the tail bumper wheel is completely accurate. IRL Trackers are also tail-standers, and that's why the tail bumper is so substantial; they used them all the time. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martian Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Actually, extending the tail bumper wheel is completely accurate. IRL Trackers are also tail-standers, and that's why the tail bumper is so substantial; they used them all the time. Nice build! it makes me even more determined to get mine finished eventually. Thanks Jessica, you are a star! I had been worrying about getting enough weight into my build, especially as I have cut a lot of panels open. Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhdove Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 (edited) Jessica That's great news! Thank you. Martin, looks like you won't need to add any nose weight at all, why bother since the tail bumper wheel assy. is quite substantial and easily supports the rear end. Thanks both for your kind comments. Just one or two other points.... I added Tamiya tape seat belts to busy up the cockpit a bit. I wanted to see more of the ventral radome so built it in the extended position. I was worried it would ground out when on its wheels but this wasn't the case. Quite a few of the parts weren't a great fit and needed some dry fitting and fettling before glue, this kit isn't up to Tamiya fit standards. It seems that this kit and the other Kinetic Tracker (S-2E/S-2G) share the same sprues, I had loads of bits left! The only difference I suspect being the instructions and decals. Why do I feel a bit cheated when manufacturers do this?............😕 Otherwise a fun build and really captures the essence of the original, 8/10 from me. I especially like the way that the huge props are represented when completed. TonyS Edited July 24, 2015 by dhdove Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jessica Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 There are a few other small detail differences between an S2-A and an S-2E. The most noticeable are the squared-off wingtips compared to the extended ones on the -E, and the rear of the engine nacelles, which on the -E extend up above the wing's upper surface. To be completely accurate, the -E fuselage should be a scale foot longer, which I think Kinetic achieved by substituting the fuselage halves. The longer fuselage allowed for shorter tailplanes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dhdove Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 There are a few other small detail differences between an S2-A and an S-2E. The most noticeable are the squared-off wingtips compared to the extended ones on the -E, and the rear of the engine nacelles, which on the -E extend up above the wing's upper surface. To be completely accurate, the -E fuselage should be a scale foot longer, which I think Kinetic achieved by substituting the fuselage halves. The longer fuselage allowed for shorter tailplanes. Thanks for that, Hope I used the right parts....... TonyS Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Nice Navy bird! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knight_Flyer Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Very good to see one built to a nice standard. Was tempted to add one to the stash after seeing the adverts and had to pass as I need to stay within 1/72. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Edmundson Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 What's going on there on the outer wing where the slots should be???? Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phildagreek Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Very nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F-32 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Great work. For anyone else building the kit, www.s2tracker.com is a good reference site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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