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Vacuform MainTarck 1/72 XF-88B VooDoo Finished


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Hi all,

 

Here are the finsihed pics of my Maintrack 1/72 Vacuform XF-88B VooDoo build. It held (maybe still holds) the record for the fasted propeller engine aircraft, once hitting Mach 1.2 in a vertical dive with the jet engines turned off.

 

As far as I know, the Maintrack version is the only way to be to an XF-88B in 1/72  scale, although you could modify an Anigrand XF-88 kit...

 

Build thread  Here: Build Thread

 

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Well -- fudge!  Looks like the star and bar (above) slipped on me and I didn't catch it before the clear coat. As they say "you never see the one that gets you..."!

 

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I tried to do a very slight amount of weathering on the BMF.  I still haven't found the best way to do this, but I keep experimenting. I just didn't want it to be too pristine, but it's a tough problem.

 

Hope you find it interesting,

 

Ed

Edited by TheRealMrEd
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A good looking model. I really like the metal finish. 

I really do miss the Maintrack kits as they managed to produce models that other companies would touch. 

Thanks for sharing it. 

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I'm always impressed with vacform kits having tried to build one once (and only once!).  A really interesting subject too, and a new one to me, from the days of the weird and the wonderful.  Terrific metal finish. 

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Having watched the WIP on this one, its great to see it finished so well. Have recently finished a Vacuform myself and with another on the go, I know what a challenge these can be! I'm impressed with the NMF on this one also.

 

Very nice indeed.

 

Cheers

 

Terry

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Thanks everyone for the kind comments.

 

Yeah, Chris. I especially remember all the great old British experimental and early jets that Maintrack did!

 

Duckwizard, the surface was Alclad II Glossy Black primer, covered overall with Alclad II Polished Aluminum ALC-105, with small bits done with Alclad II Airframe Aluminum ALC-119, and the prop spinner was done with Alclad II ALC-126 HI-Shine Plus Aluminum.

The wings were vary gently scuffed with 12,000 grit polishing cloth, in the direction of airflow, and the fuse was polished  vertically with the same material. As I said, I'm trying to find a way to show use on BMF surfaces, in this case on a frequent flier, based in a desert (wind-borne sand scratches?), as opposed to me B-45A build of a couple of years ago, where I tried to depict some snow and ice (plus maybe some salt) on the BMF surfaces.

B-45A RFI Here

 

And, here's the shot I forgot to include earlier, the 2nd XF-88 #6526 (an Anigrand resin model), vs  XF-88B #6525 (which was actually the FIRST XF-88, later modified into the "B" version:

 

2v2JDdYfnxfzdhW.jpg

 

Thanks again,

 

Ed

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What a fantastic family photo. 

 

That WIP was somehow intimidating and inspirational.  I've purchased my first vac-form recently. So it's always nice to see one wrestled to completion. Gives hope to the rest of us.

Edited by Thud4444
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Thanks, Terry!

 

Thud4444, the biggest problem with vac u form kits is usually that one sands away too much or too little from some of the parts. This one was more complicated in that the rear exhaust nozzles had to be fitted, and the nose had to be cut off.

I tried to show with this build that all these things can be corrected with plastic card.  Trust me, I have at least a dozen (or more) started vac u form kits that are unfinished, some because they were too difficult for my skills at the time, and most have since been replaced by regular plastic kits. The important point is that by trying, I began to learn both TO DO and what NOT TO DO! The experience was worth all of it.  From time to time, I still use some of the tricks developed on vac kits on regular plastic models -- for example, widening the fuse of the Trumpeter F-100 kits using plastic shims.

 

Since some old vac kits can be had for a song these days, everyone should have a go...

 

Ed

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Very nice build. I have a few vacforms under my belt, they can be challenging, but ultimately very satisfying. I have a few Maintrack kids in the stash and plan on doing the Supermarine 545 soon, once I find some mainwheels that bear some resemblance to the real thing instead of ones designed for a steam roller that are in the kit. 

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On 5/26/2018 at 3:55 AM, TheRealMrEd said:

 

Since some old vac kits can be had for a song these days, everyone should have a go...

 

Ed

I don't think that you have been paying much attention to Ebay. Maintrack kits tend to go for silly prices, although others can be picked up more cheaply.

 

Nice work on the XF-88B. Another one wrestled to the ground. I'm jealous!

John

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I never heard about this type before. My first thought was that it must be some what if. However you've made me read about it here for example:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McDonnell_XF-88_Voodoo . In particular to me as to physicist the most interesting is "supersonic propeller" . I thought that it s not existing...Thanks for technical lesson :).

Very nice couple of resin and vacu kits. The NMF on vacu is very difficylt due to quality of surface, so you did a great job on this.

Regards

J-W

 

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Mr T, it certainly helps when building vac u form kits to have a bottomless box of spares!

 

Thanks, John R. As a matter of fact, this very kit was in a bundle of 6 or 7 Maintrack kits I bought years ago on E-bay.  The were several old classic British jets, and this one.  I kept this one, and sold the others on-line, which more than offset the price of this one. They were/are expensive because Maintrack took a shot at a lot of stuff that no one else would touch. They are among the best vac u forms, in my opinion, along with two or three others.

 

JWM, if you liked researching this one, go take a look at the XF-84H. It was the true "bad boy"  among U.S. hybrid prop/jet types. Main problem was that every time they fire that one up, and the prop tips went supersonic, everyone within earshot without protection began puking their guts out! Undoubtedly the precursor to today's --not yet used much, but will be soon -- "non-lethal" crowd control weapons. You might also follow this up by further investigating U.S. Navy installations 3,000 below earth's surface in Pennsylvania, ELF submarine communications systems, and very unhappy whales.  Just sayin'....

 

Ed

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Very nice work on an unusual-looking plane.

You certainly nailed the natural metal finish.

Whatever your weathering techniques are (have not viewed the WIP) it looks very credible to me.

:clap:

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