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Finnish Fouga Magister


zebra

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I'm joining in with a Finnish Fouga Magister using the Kinetic 1/48 kit and Kuivalainen decals. I'm going for a quick(ish) build as I'm going to get pretty busy once the In The Navy and Lancaster GBs are going at the same time!

 

Actually started this last Saturday but only just got round to posting. Here's the box and unopened bags of sprue (there are 2 kits in here):

1/48 Magister

 

And here's where I'm up to. I've kept things simple in the cockpit - just a bit of dry brushing to bring out some of the detail. The jet pipes and intakes have compressor and turbine faces in them, but they really aren't visible. So far so good, although it looks like getting the fuselage together might require some adjustment of the cockpit parts.

 

1/48 Magister

 

cheers

Julian

 

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Nice to see a Finnish Magister being built, Julian. This will be great to see and I hope the kit proves to be a fairly easy and quick build. 

Cheers and best of luck.. Dave 

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Nice kit, but needs a lot of dryfitting, sanding and checking for references. All in all, it's a very complete kit, all material is available for any version you can dream off... but you need to make the puzzle yourself...

 

Here's mine in a Belgian Livrey, maybe you can get some tips...

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welcome along Julian and with something I wasn't expecting and really lovely.

 

I have to agree i do like the Magister too, I built the old Airfix when it came out.

 

It does look like a nice model and you get 2 in the one box as well.....a Finish an Israeli one. :D

 

Good luck with the build, I will be following with interest as I could be tempted..........., look forward to seeing her in the gallery.

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Thanks everyone. @Silenoz I just had a look at your build - looks like you had some of the same fit issues I've been encountering. First up, the fuselage didn't want to go together - this was caused by the cockpit alignment, probably my fault, solved by grinding the step the cockpit sits on from the other side of the fuselage. There were also some pretty big gaps around the intakes at this stage but I decided to leave filling them until the fuselage was together.

 

Next the nose. Two problems here - first the plug at the back protruded too far so there was a big gap between the nose and the fuselage. Grinding down the plug with the dremel fixed that. That left the nose profile - its cross section was different from the cross section of the fuselage where it attaches, and the fuselage was at least 1mm wider at its widest point. I'm convinced I had the fuselage assembled correctly so this seems to be down to the kit design. Here's how it looked before I fixed it:

 

Magister WIP

 

Quite a lot of sanding later, plus some filling of some other gaps, and here's how it looks now:

 

Magister WIP

 

So far, I don't think there's been a single part that fit properly first time. No, that's unfair - the seats went in ok! Also, well done to Kinetic for a particularly half-hearted effort at the instructions - so far several part numbers have been wrong, some parts are shown without part numbers at all, and the placement of some of the parts is vague, to say the least. So far so frustrating - it's a shame that a kit that looks like it should be a nice build falls so short. Not the first time I've had this experience with Kinetic - still can't resist buying their kits though! Still, I seem to be winning.

 

cheers

Julian

 

 

 

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11 hours ago, zebra said:

it's a shame that a kit that looks like it should be a nice build falls so short.

You can add their Mirage III to this list.. I spent a good week on it and almost threw away the hobby. It also left me quite depressed and not in my usual jovial fun loving dad spirits., I just had to pack it away. I hope you can get over these issues and win over this kit. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

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36 minutes ago, Rabbit Leader said:

You can add their Mirage III to this list.. I spent a good week on it and almost threw away the hobby. It also left me quite depressed and not in my usual jovial fun loving dad spirits., I just had to pack it away. I hope you can get over these issues and win over this kit. 

 

Cheers.. Dave 

I’ve only got two of those in the stash! Glad I only paid $30 for one of them. They aren’t moving up the to do list in a hurry. But I really, really hope the F-104 is better than this.

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oh dear that didn't look very nice at all!!!

 

It wouldn't be the first (and definitely not the last) time that there has been serious fit issues with these multi-version kits.

 

Hopefully there arn't any further issues as she's a lovely wee plane.

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Slow progress, but mainly because I've been working on other things (mainly re-learning CAD so as to do some 3D printing). Main updates are that I've added a couple of panels to the top of the fuselage (neither fit, plastic card shims did the trick) and got the wings on (wings went together surprisingly well, and there was only a small gap at the root). Going to try and progress this a bit quicker from here on - I want this done, or as close as possible, before the In The Navy GB starts.

 

Magister WIP

 

cheers

Julian

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she's coming along nicely though as it sounds not quite so simply!

 

I like the grey(?) beast behind her! :D

 

I'm in the same boat, I need to finish my build (or close to it, before in the Navy GB starts!!!!

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I'm enjoying this as while I'm mainly a 1/72 builder, I do fancy a few things in 1/48 and a Fouga Magister is one of them, as I would do it as a " Patrouille de France" machine. Reading  the pitfalls with this build, how does the Kinetic kit fair against the AMP and FM 1/48th Fouga Magister kits?  Has anyone got one of these? 

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On 2/4/2020 at 8:01 AM, trickyrich said:

I like the grey(?) beast behind her!

White actually! It's waiting for some red paint, it's going to be in US Coast Guard colours - this was from the film, fictional etc GB but kind of lost momentum. It'll get finished, probably in this year's KUTA.

 

12 hours ago, AMB said:

how does the Kinetic kit fair against the AMP and FM 1/48th Fouga Magister kits

I don't have either of them but I think the AMK kit is said to be the best of the three.

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A bit more progress - canopy and clear lens on the nose, and flaps and ailerons. Also assembled the tailplanes - these need a little filler on the leading edges. None of the clear parts fit without a bit of fettling! Also, the instructions miss out the assembly of the tailplanes altogether.

 

I wouldn't say I'm struggling with this kit, it's far from unbuildable, all these minor fit problems and the sloppy instructions are just irritating. It's not a kit I'd recommend if you need to get your mojo back.

 

Magister WIP

 

cheers

Julian

 

 

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I keep forgetting to photograph this one. Since my last post I've completed the airframe and got some paint on. The silver is Tamiya AS-12 and the dayglo orange is Lifecolor - horrible stuff which clogged up my airbrush! On to the decals tomorrow.

 

Magister WIP

 

thanks for looking

Julian

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yeah I've done that before, and probably most everyone else, get so excited/engrossed in your build and forget to take photos......or dear leader is very bad at that!!!

 

Gee she looks nice!! That silver finish looks spotless! You may have had trouble with the Day-Glo but from here it looks perfect!! :thumbsup:

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Tidy paintwork Julian. To get such a smooth silver finish on a kit that needed major surgery is testimony to the quality of your work.

Now, please tell me about those Hunter T.7 bits in the background...

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