depressed lemur Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 Back in the saddle. Decided that it is about time I built something again, so this is planned for the Cosford show (if I don't give myself a target it will never happen). A couple of years ago I bought myself one of those Kindle thingies because I wanted easy access to books when I am away from home. I ended up with the Fire version for the colour screen and found very quickly that the old Detail and Scale series was being updated for the modern era. The first book in the format I bought was the F-9F Cougar as it was an interesting subject with a variety of colour schemes (especially for the era) as well as being an early swept wing beast for the US Navy. In the section at the back for modellers was a reference to a new 48th scale kit by Kitty Hawk to which the detail and scale had had an input. Well, thought i, when this comes out I must give it a shot. That year, at Telford there it sat on the shelf so was quickly snapped up. Over the next couple of years I did the usual thing of opening the box, marvelling at the plastic in the sealed bags and then putting it back on the shelf. Yes, a closet hoarder has been born. At the last Telford my son spent a small fortune on a ZM kit for me to build, stunned by this I thought I would do the F-9F first as an easy work up. Did I get a duff one? Photos have been taken with my camera as it shows better definition than my old bridge, but the focusing is automatic and close ups might look a bit odd, so apologies in advance. The box Some bits of etch An impressive decal sheet Impressive ejection plugs on just about every piece and some flash on what was a new mould. Some soft moulding This looks better And some fairly ambiguous instructions Yes, there are two ejection seats (Grumman and Martin Baker) but no indication as to which you should use for which scheme. You also get the same vagueness with a choice of instrument panels and cockpit coming options, but no clear indication of what you should choose. Thank goodness for the D&S book. Having said that, neither IP looks like any of the photos in the book, still, unless I get a pilot or engineering chief no-one is going to know, so I will do what I want. My intention is to make a late scheme so the MB seat is more likely. The cockpit bits have been stuck together and primed The next part is the nose interior. Thanks for looking 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 (edited) I built the two seater version a while ago, and it builds up into a nice model. There are a few "features" to watch out for due to the modular nature of the kit, but nothing too dramatic to sort. You look like you have made a great start Edited February 12, 2019 by Yeoman1942 add comment 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yeoman1942 Posted February 12, 2019 Share Posted February 12, 2019 https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/forum/52-work-in-progress-aircraft/ Link to my WIP if it is any help Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted February 14, 2019 Share Posted February 14, 2019 On 13/02/2019 at 00:25, depressed lemur said: A couple of years ago I bought myself one of those Kindle thingies because I wanted easy access to books when I am away from home. Same thing, their old displays were so innovative and very pleasant to the eyes. On 13/02/2019 at 00:25, depressed lemur said: I ended up with the Fire version for the colour screen and found very quickly that the old Detail and Scale series was being updated for the modern era. Yes, indeed, I love these books too. On 13/02/2019 at 00:25, depressed lemur said: In the section at the back for modellers was a reference to a new 48th scale kit by Kitty Hawk to which the detail and scale had had an input. I think you have a lot of fun with this kit - the KH models are the best nowadays, in my opinion. Nice progress so far, the results are excellent! 👍 Cheers! 🙃 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted February 17, 2019 Author Share Posted February 17, 2019 Moving slowly on, I managed to get a couple of hours of peace and quiet so his in my den to bash some plastic together. Carrying on from where I left off I tried to tidy up the cockpit. Not fancying the decals provided I dug out the old hairy stick and came up with this. I also added some paint to the undercarriage bay and decided to try weathering it. Didn't go well Looks like something took a number 2 in there. I will have to try to get this back on track. The other bit in the area is the camera bay. Went together rather well, but again, KH have the wrong colour call outs. Still, reference to detail and scale and internet pics shows it should be black so black it is. Thanks for looking 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Managed to get back into the workbench to move this thing forward. Last time I had managed to make a right pigs ear of the air brake bay, so tried a simple approach of misting white paint back over. Turned out ok, not perfect but you ain't gonna see it, so fair do's. Moving further forward I decided to finish the nose bay of the recon version. It looks suitably busy, but when compared to photos of the real thing the floor of the bay is about 4mm too high at the nose. Even with the covers in place it still looks odd to me. On the plus side, I still can change to the gun nose and add a gunfight to the cockpit. Decisions decisions decisions. Ok, let's move to the middle bit. Simple enough few parts , and it looks like the undercarriage can be left off until later. Means there is less for me to knock off. Even further back is the tail section. Again, not many parts . Some very nice detail in the exhaust pipe. I am used to making sub assemblies, generally for things like wheel bays, cockpit, engines etc. But this is a first. Yep, 4 sub assemblies for the fuselage and I still have to think about wings. More work to come, thanks for looking. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 On 18/02/2019 at 01:37, depressed lemur said: Went together rather well, but again, KH have the wrong colour call outs. Yes, you’ll always need a check twice their instructions - other kits has the same issues. Nice progress so far! As for me, the Kitty Hawk’s surface details is superb in comparison to other manufacturers. Cheers! 😎 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 The journey continues. I realise that I have been a bit poor in my updates, unfortunately I have been up and down the country for the last few weeks so I have been doing what I can but not had a chance to keep this updated. Taking the fuselage in very small steps it turned out to be possible to achieve this without having to add any filler or to sand it within an inch of its life. I turned my attention to the wings, these went together well, but I don't understand why they have to put such a chunk of pe on the upper surface. It sits flush so doesn't bring anything to the party. Looking at pictures of the spoilers deflected show that this cannot be easily done with what is here, so bits for the sake of bits? Moving on I gave a bunch of coats of black, grey and finally white to reach this. Ok, there is also half a roll of Tamiya tape and a bunch of tissue. A bit of red paint brightens things up before I take off the masking. Fingers crossed. I realise that the Cosford show is on this weekend, so I wonder if I can get it ready to hide under the wing of the Lincoln. Thanks for looking. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 You are making great progress. I'm impressed with you tackling the recon bird. I'm just decaling mine, which is finished in a simpler Sea Blue scheme. The main issue for me was getting the upper fuselage halves(fore and aft) to fit together. Like you I don't understand the brass wing sections. Also the optional parts without any further explanation is frustrating. I believe the Martin Baker seat is for the recce machine or a late build fighter, but I could well be wrong. Put as much weight as you can in the nose it is a confirmed tail sitter. I've put extra weight in the wing tank nose as well and it has made no difference. I'll watch your progress with great interest. I'll post mine when it is finished. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 Hi Silver Fox, thanks for the words. If you are still putting the fuselage together my advice would be to take one joint at a time rather than trying to rush it. It is possible to get it together without filler. The early Cougars had the American seat, later ones got the Martin Baker bang seat, I have not found a definite answer as to which got which. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getting Old Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 looking good so far 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 1 hour ago, depressed lemur said: Hi Silver Fox, thanks for the words. If you are still putting the fuselage together my advice would be to take one joint at a time rather than trying to rush it. It is possible to get it together without filler. The early Cougars had the American seat, later ones got the Martin Baker bang seat, I have not found a definite answer as to which got which. I'm past that stage, its painted and some of the decals are on but they fit where they touch, after my experience with Kittyhawks decals on my F-101A I should have gone for aftermarket but the only sheet I could find was more than I paid for the kit and had 15 or so options., there is no way I'll build another 14 of these. The kit also isn't clear which machines have the splitter plates and which don't, I know the one I'm building is a fairly early aircraft and doesn't and the late reccon machines do, but it is a trap for the unwary. As always find a photo. Enjoy your build. I'm going to do a nice relaxing Revell/Monogram Panther after this. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 Splitter plates seem to have come in about a third of the way through production, but were retrofitted at deep maintenance. As you say, pictures do help. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 Time to take the masking off, and what a chore that was. On the whole she looks ok, but Paint lift on the intake On the tail And also on the flipping metal inserts. I will have to try to sort this out tomorrow, 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getting Old Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 ouch that smarts 😞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 6 minutes ago, Gettig Old said: ouch that smarts 😞 Tell me about it. First thought was bin, but second thought was how can I fix this for Cosford. Hopefully the second thought is the right one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getting Old Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 I'd go with the second thought as well, you can sort this perhaps some low tack masking tape would help? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 I thought it was low tack, I thought wrong. Still, the tail is under a decal, and I can make the splitter look like a repair job. As I will be folding the wings the upper surface won't be too visible. Might still pull this off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getting Old Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 You will, I'm sure 👍The paint is still fresh so you should be able to blend new paint in to match. Good luck 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dnl42 Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 No doubt, 2nd choice! My approach is to feather the edge of the lifted paint and then re-apply primer and while. Make sure to blend both into the white to avoid white-on-white paint demarcations. Um, "Hypothetically, my approach would be to feather..." as this has never, ever happened to me. I've learned to only use Tamiya masking tape and Frisket, and to detack both by applying it to the clean palm of my hand. I also prime with Mr Surfacer 1200 thinned with Mr Leveling Thinner and paint with Mr Color to avoid lifting--which pretty much eliminates lifting except for really aggressive masking, such as might be found in some masking sets. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Silver Fox Posted April 3, 2019 Share Posted April 3, 2019 You can fix this, you have got too far for a flight to the bin. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 What a difference a couple of days makes. I spat my dummy out, sulked, vowed to give up, then thought about it. You guys are right, I can bounce back from this. First up is the paint. I didn't want to risk masking and repainting so dug out the hairy stick and tried feathering in a weak blend of white paint. Not perfect but should pass muster. A bit of varnish this morning leads up to some decalling tonight. I only had time for one side, so this is where I am at the moment. Thanks for looking 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getting Old Posted April 4, 2019 Share Posted April 4, 2019 There you go, looking a lot better. Well done 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
depressed lemur Posted April 8, 2019 Author Share Posted April 8, 2019 Well, I didn't make Cosford with this. It was very close, but I didn't want to rush it and risk ruining it just to meet my own deadline. Tonight I took a bit more time and managed to get quite a bit done. There are still a couple of details to finish, like painting the various aerial and fuel dumps, but this is where I am up to. Seems to be a bit of a tail sitter Until you put the camera cover on I could leave it on top, but that would look silly, so the plan is to prop it open as it just doesn't fill the gap so I can't fix it closed. Thanks for looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Getting Old Posted April 8, 2019 Share Posted April 8, 2019 looking good 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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