zebra Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 This GB is nearly at the half way mark and I haven't joined in yet - time to do something about that. I had various options but felt drawn to the Kitty Hawk F-101B kit and the RF-101B option. I feel the need to build something big and this fits the bill. There's also a bit of nostalgia involved - I remember building the Matchbox Voodoo as an RF-101B when I must have been about 8 or 9. Here's the KH kit. I've also got an Eduard zoom set for the cockpit and Eduard steel seatbelts. Apart from these and a couple of simple corrections it'll be more or less OOB. A lot has been said about the fit of this kit so there will be a lot of test fitting but hopefully not too much cursing along the way! cheers Julian 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beazer Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 Do you feel it needs the zoom set? I have this kit and just was wondering as I haven’t even opened the box yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 27, 2019 Share Posted April 27, 2019 welcome along and wow this is some serious kit!! I do like the Voodoo and it's great to see one in the build, plus you're throwing some extras at her as well....very nice. I don't know anything about this model at all so it'll be interesting to follow. Kitty Hawk can be a bit like Trumpeter, a bit hit or miss with their releases (the Su-17 is a good example), so it'll be very interesting to see how it builds up. Could be a model that tempts me, especially in SEA scheme. Good luck with the build, I for one will be following with interest, and look forward to seeing her in the gallery. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted April 28, 2019 Author Share Posted April 28, 2019 Thanks @trickyrich @Beazer I bought the zoom set after my experience of the cockpit details in the KH Cougar - really didn’t like the PE plus decals appproach and thought Eduard painted PE would have worked better. I’ll see how I go with it on the Voodoo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 nah the Zoom set is the way to go, or Yahu if that have a set. I've used the Yahu ones before absolutely stunning! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mirageiv Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 (edited) Great choice, I look forward to your build! I saw one at the Midland Air Museum a few years back and was shocked how big it was, really impressive bit of heavy metal! David Edited April 28, 2019 by mirageiv 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 4, 2019 Share Posted May 4, 2019 Oh yes, there’s no WIP for the two-holer Voodoo yet - so you’re the first, Julian! 👍 On 27/04/2019 at 17:11, trickyrich said: Kitty Hawk can be a bit like Trumpeter, a bit hit or miss with their releases (the Su-17 is a good example), so it'll be very interesting to see how it builds up. Kitty Hawk made a great kits, with a soul. There’s some disadvantages exists, but overall build process is very interesting. Good luck Julian! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 5, 2019 Author Share Posted May 5, 2019 I've made a start. I'm aware there may be fit issues if you follow the instructions, so I was keen to see how the fuselage builds up. It comes in three sections: The forward fuselage is conventionally split vertically, then there's a centre section which is split horizontally, and a tail section which is also split horizontally. So I started by assembling the centre section, which includes the intakes and engine faces. The instructions would have you fit the keel section at the rear first, but that's asking for trouble with the other part of the rear section, so I started with the top part and then added the keel. This seems to have worked pretty well - there's a very slight step which I should be able to deal with easily enough. I've dry-fitted the forward fuselage - there's a small step on one side which I think is due to the plastic on that side being slightly thicker. I'll see if shaving some plastic off sorts that out. Here's how it looks with the forward fuselage taped on. It's going to be big! cheers Julian 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 20 minutes ago, zebra said: I've made a start. Good start, Julian! 👍 21 minutes ago, zebra said: The instructions would have you fit the keel section at the rear first, but that's asking for trouble with the other part of the rear section, so I started with the top part and then added the keel. This seems to have worked pretty well - there's a very slight step which I should be able to deal with easily enough. Yes, the instructions are bit vague in some situations (especially the painting), I hope this article may be helpful for you: Dry fit & review: Gary pieces together KittyHawk's 1:48 McDonnell F-101B / RF-101B. 22 minutes ago, zebra said: It's going to be big! Indeed! A true gem in any collection. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 it is a real pity a lot of manufactures these days go the modular route for fuselages, I know it's to save costs......though these model are expensive to start with, but they all seem to have fuselage joining issues! It may cost a little bit more but it'll make modelling a little bit easier and they'll get less poor reviews! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 (edited) 25 minutes ago, trickyrich said: it is a real pity a lot of manufactures these days go the modular route for fuselages, I know it's to save costs......though these model are expensive to start with, but they all seem to have fuselage joining issues! Yes, Rich - it’s save the costs, and it’ll we more acceptable if these kits haven’t any other issues. Even if the other sprues are the common, the others don’t have improved parts, etc. Anyway, it’s a very interesting to shape up the modular fuselage into a big bird! P.S. Julian shows us the great fit, especially for the tail section. 👍 Edited May 5, 2019 by Nikolay Polyakov 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 5, 2019 Share Posted May 5, 2019 that and it's the only decent one available in this scale, so we (I) really should be grateful for that. A Nam RF-101C would be very tempting! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 6, 2019 Share Posted May 6, 2019 On 05/05/2019 at 16:38, trickyrich said: A Nam RF-101C would be very tempting! So, we have one on the bench: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 18, 2019 Author Share Posted May 18, 2019 Got back to the RF-101B today. First got the cockpit more or less finished. The Eduard PE was a great time saver but I'm not really convinced by the colours, which are quite different from the colour I used for the tub. Not to worry, cockpit is going to be closed anyway. The front wheel well is attached but I departed from the instructions a bit here as they tell you to install the undercarriage before assembling the fuselage. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get it in later, so I'm leaving it off until assembly is finished. Next I've assembled the fuselage. I realised the slight step I found on test-fitting was caused by the location pins at the rear of the forward fuselage, which seem to misalign things, so I left them off. Then I glued most of the forward fuselage together but left the parts behind the cockpit - I decided I'd be able to ensure the best possible fit with the centre section if I prioritised that rather than gluing the forward section together and risking a poor fit. Lo and behold the best fit I could get with the centre section resulted in a small (but easily filled) gap at the back of the front section, so I think that was the right decision. Here's the fully assembled fuselage. I'm moving on to the wings next - have cut them out and cleaned them up, and painted the wheel wells, so should get the wings on tomorrow. Thanks for looking Julian 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 20 minutes ago, zebra said: The Eduard PE was a great time saver but I'm not really convinced by the colours, which are quite different from the colour I used for the tub. I have this PE set too, but decided to use the provided PE parts along with the decals for the future build. 21 minutes ago, zebra said: I'm pretty confident I'll be able to get it in later, so I'm leaving it off until assembly is finished. Indeed, there’s no problem to install the nose gear leg later. 22 minutes ago, zebra said: Here's the fully assembled fuselage. I'm moving on to the wings next - have cut them out and cleaned them up, and painted the wheel wells, so should get the wings on tomorrow. Looks good. I’m looking forward for your updates, Julian! 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky boy Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 Nice work so far Julian I hadn’t realised what a big aircraft this is/was until seeing it next to your Hunter above. James 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickyrich Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 that cockpit/s are really nicely done!! Are you going to have the canopies open? 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 18, 2019 Share Posted May 18, 2019 Good progress getting through the fit issues and producing such a smooth fuselage assembly. The Voodoo certainly was a big bird! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 19, 2019 Author Share Posted May 19, 2019 19 hours ago, trickyrich said: that cockpit/s are really nicely done!! Are you going to have the canopies open? Thanks Rich. Haven't decided whether the canopy will be open yet. Will keep my options open for now. One thing putting me off is that the instrument panels are for an F-101B, not an RF-101B. But I might decide not to worry about that in the end! 17 hours ago, Col. said: Good progress getting through the fit issues and producing such a smooth fuselage assembly. The Voodoo certainly was a big bird! Thanks Col. This is turning out to be quite a nice fitting kit, provided I think things through. And yes it's big! Quite a lot of progress today. First job was to assemble the wings. They went together pretty well - a little filler needed, but not a lot. The instructions call for the undercarriage to be installed before assembling the wing - there's one strut which is attached to a rib and needs to be installed before the wings are closed up, but the main leg can stay off for now. The other deviation from the instructions was that they call for the intake splitter plate to be attached before attaching the wings to the fuselage - I decided I wanted to be able to adjust it after attaching the wings, so left the splitter plate off for now. Whilst the filler was drying on the wings I dealt with the weapons bay under the fuselage. The RF-101B had the weapons bay removed and faired over but the kit doesn't include the fairing. So I attached the kit part, filed off the details, and faired it in with plastic card and superglue. Here's how it looks - it's slightly asymmetrical because I'd attached the kit part slightly off, but I think it's going to look fine once it's been painted: Once that was done I cleaned up the wings and attached them. The splitter plates needed some slight fettling to get a decent fit. A bit of perfect plastic putty was needed around the splitter plates and in a couple of spots at the wing roots, but it was generally a good fit. So I now have a basically complete airframe, which seems to have happened quite quickly, and I can move on to attaching all the smaller parts. I reckon I'll be able to start painting next weekend. thanks for looking Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 19, 2019 Share Posted May 19, 2019 2 hours ago, zebra said: ...I now have a basically complete airframe, which seems to have happened quite quickly... Having read what you've already done to produce that complete airframe I'd say that was a materful understatement! Nice work making the former weapons bay into an accurate representation of the RF area. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 Unexpectedly got a bit of modelling time over the last couple of days so pressed on with the Voodoo. All fairly straightforward, a few bits didn't fit quite as well as they could have but nothing serious. Not far off painting now - need to do a little cleaning up, also need to scratch build a couple of radar warning antennae that were omitted from the nose, then it's masking and painting. Here's how it looks - tailplanes aren't glued on, I'll paint them separately. I'm enjoying this one a lot more than I expected. So much so that I'm neglecting the Hunter (which I'm enjoying slightly less than I expected to be honest). thanks for looking Julian 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Col. Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 The Voodoo looks good(oo) but sorry to hear the Hunter is proving a disappointment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zebra Posted May 21, 2019 Author Share Posted May 21, 2019 6 minutes ago, Col. said: sorry to hear the Hunter is proving a disappointment It's a pretty good kit, it just isn't lighting my fire to be honest. I'm also a bit disappointed with a few aspects of the kit - it goes together very nicely but there are a few places where I'd have expected a bit more detail - such as the guns, which are just divots in the nose - how hard would it have been to at least make it look like there's a gun barrel there? Meanwhile I expected the Voodoo to be challenging and hasn't been all that hard. There's something very satisfying about having thought it through and made it all work pretty smoothly. I can see myself building another KH Voodoo. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 6 hours ago, zebra said: I'm enjoying this one a lot more than I expected. So much so that I'm neglecting the Hunter (which I'm enjoying slightly less than I expected to be honest). It’s very enjoyable kit, Julian - you’re absolutely right! 5 hours ago, zebra said: I'm also a bit disappointed with a few aspects of the kit - it goes together very nicely but there are a few places where I'd have expected a bit more detail - such as the guns, which are just divots in the nose - how hard would it have been to at least make it look like there's a gun barrel there? There’s no guns on the -B Voodoos. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
helios16v Posted May 21, 2019 Share Posted May 21, 2019 1 minute ago, Nikolay Polyakov said: There’s no guns on the -B Voodoos. He was referring to the Hunter that he also has on the bench. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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