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This year I made a resolution to complete as many models as I can from my pile of started kits and after much thinking I selected this oldie:

 

P_20170404_214453.jpg

 

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Probably I purchased it in the late 90s, it's one of the last kits released by Pegasus, and after an immediate start it was put back in the box for better days. Actually I don't even remember why I lost my enthusiasm and didn't get beyond cleaning the plastic parts and applying Squadron White Putty here and there...

 

On checking the fit I may have found one of the reasons:

 

P_20170404_214933.jpg

 

The fuselage has many asimmetries but I won't fix anything: it's not worth the effort considering the better shape of the later Valom kit.

That's all for now.

Bye

Fabio

Edited by Whirly
restored image links
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Back to this build, I need to hurry up otherwise I'll fail the due date! 

@Greggles: challenging is the right word, after having made some more progress there's still much fighting to do!

 

Given the "erratic" engraved lines that are anyway too deep I elected to fill everything on the wings and work only on the different metal shades to highlight the panels on the flying surfaces.

 

P_20170427_224525.jpg

 

The asimmetric exhaust was completely carved out, I will replace it with a thin plasticard sheet once the fuselages are glued up.

 

P_20170427_230413.jpg

 

The cockpit parts are quite depressing: just four walls with chequered engravings (?), a floor, a fantasy instrument panel, an equally unlikely metal seat and some rear canopy details. I'm searching for alternatives.

 

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I assembled the side intakes: fit is terrible as expected. Nothing that can't be cured with some filler and elbow grease. Pity they are completely wrong, the real ones are much squarer.

 

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Since the fuselage sections may not be simmetric, I preferred to assemble the wings first to obtain the correct dihedral. I also inserted some pins in the wing root to reinforce the flimsy joints and filled the gaps with fine stretched sprue.

 

P_20170522_225602.jpg

 

While studying the cruciform tail to determine the best assembly method I noticed these small fillets at the fin roots:

 

P_20170522_231330.jpg

 

Started work on the fins and located a candidate for cockpit replacement: should be an Italeri B-57 bathtub.

That's it for now, hope to post more updates soon.

 

P_20170522_231134.jpg

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Just remember that somebody, somewhere thought the real thing was a good idea.

The kit is just history repeating.

 

Colin

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Agree with you Colin! Citing from Bill Gunston's excellent feature in Wings of fame vol.16: 

The ‘Tailsitters’ or ‘Pogosticks’, as these two designs were collectively known, did not do a lot of flying – in fact the XFV never  took-off vertically – but flew long enough to probably save the US Navy a large sum of money,  earmarked for a concept that was fundamentally flawed and a product of the technological ‘euphoria’ of the 1950s, when anything seemed possible.

As for the kit... well, I built other Pegasus ones before but this is quite strange: for example I was expecting a very soft plastic and when I removed the exhaust plate I was faced with one of the hardest and brittlest material I ever dealt with...

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  • 2 weeks later...

You're doing a great job Fabio :clap:!

 

The kit is clearly fighting all the way, but you're winning. 

 

Nice detail observation on the wing fillets. I hope the Italeri cockpit will fit. The original doesn't look too bad, but this looks more convincing.

 

I hope you have time to do a bit more on it, this would look great in the gallery. It really does look like something from a cool 1950's science fiction film; I love it's style.

 

Best regards 

TonyT

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Hello, I'm back after a very long stop due to unpredictable changes in my job schedule and more than expected family commitments. Now I should have some free time and the extra week is a real boon: I had already considered this build a failure within the original deadline but I hope to make substantial progress before next monday.

A sincere thank you to TonyTiger66 and SleeperService for their encouragement and appreciative words, I will try to be up to your expectation!  :wink:

 

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First, I closed the fuselage after locating the modified B-57 front cockpit. I will deal with the details later since the aperture is wide open and I plan much work on the airframe.

Next I located the correct position for the wingtip tanks (more or less) and pencilled some marks before drilling out holes for some reinforcing metal pins: 

 

P_20170717_192319.jpg

 

Here  you can see both tanks in place and the moderate filling on the fuselage junction

 

P_20170717_192323.jpg

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Just a note about the tanks position: Pegasus have you install them with a "convergent" attitude which seems a mistake inferred by the wide angle images of the real aircraft. You can see quite the same effect in my posted image below but I actually trimmed the wingtips to obtain perfectly parallel surfaces: leaving them as they are seemed to me very nonsense from an aerodynamical standpoint.

 

 

P_20170717_193021.jpg

 

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More work on the underside: the exhaust plate was replaced with a thin and concave plasticard scrap, then I attached the exhaust lip. Very little of this area can be seen in the available images and I will trust the dark metal shade prevailing to hide any mistake B)

 

P_20170717_192329.jpg

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The front ventral intake was installed: I'd have liked to hollow out the aperture but I feared a disaster given the brittle palstic and narrow surface so I left it as it is.

 

P_20170717_192334.jpg

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Now came the trickiest part, installing the cruciform tail. This involves a threefold risk since you can fail to align the "tailpanes" longitudinally, miss their squareness when seen from the front or behind and, worst of all, have the airframe lean on one side when placed on its tail!

I proceeded with a mixed approach of hi-tech instruments and Mk1 eyeball to locate the first tailplane, then it was a matter of checking, re-cheking and checking again before adding the other three with metal pins, superglue and Tamiya extra-thin cement to obtain the strongest possible bond.

 

P_20170717_215052.jpg

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I told you that this plastic is brittle? Well, this is what happened when I tried to correct the tailplane squareness after superglue had started to cure...   :poop:

 

P_20170717_223054.jpg

 

Ok, no real disaster, only some additional filling and rescribing to do and this how the repair came out:

 

P_20170717_234824.jpg

 

You can see also that I installed a brass rod going right through the fuselage to support the massive front spinner.

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Despite all my best intentions I made little progress before the deadline: here it is in its current state with all joints finished and standing on the outrigger wheels:

 

P_20170721_091422.jpg

 

I'm really sorry for this failure but would like to keep working on until completion, is this allowed in the current thread or it's better to open a new one in the WIP section?

My biggest congratulations to all the succeeding builders and to the moderators for their unlimited support, it has been a real pleasure!

 

Best regards

Fabio

 

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