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Revell / Monogram P-61 1/48


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Hello to everyone, I've been thinking a lot and finally decided to start this new project, I am building the Revell / Monogram P-61 a true classic! the kit its dated 1974 The mold it's 46 years old!

 

IMG_20200331_161258

 

 

Alright, I will post here what I have done so far. I first started by riveting and full scribing the panel lines.

 

IMG_20200401_154106

I will leave the Revell mark molded under the horizontal stabilizer as a reminder of what kit this is

 

IMG_20200401_170620

 Before and after of the wings

 

IMG_20200402_010553

I didn't relized how big this kit really is :o

Edited by René Martínez
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The next thing to do is detail the cockpit. Monogram has always provided nice detailed interiors for a great price, but I think it can be improved up to today standards.

First thing I did was thin down the cockpit side walls as they come in separate pieces and hollow out the centers where it has no details, I also made some fuselage ribs that will go under the side panels I modified.

PicsArt_04-02-06.43.46

 

PicsArt_04-03-07.35.12

Ready for primer!!! all cables were copper wires and the seatbelts were with ducktape.

 

PicsArt_04-04-07.20.54 PicsArt_04-05-05.24.39

 And everything is finally painted, monogram / revell actually did a great job with this kit, even if its lack of some details, with some effort, we can make this old model look good.

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Great work so far! I’m sure you’ve read reviews on the kit, so you should know what to look out for, especially related to the canopy glass. Based on what you’ve shown so far though, I’m going to say you shouldn’t have any problem tackling it.

 

 Thanks for sharing!

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26 minutes ago, RadMax8 said:

Great work so far! I’m sure you’ve read reviews on the kit, so you should know what to look out for, especially related to the canopy glass. Based on what you’ve shown so far though, I’m going to say you shouldn’t have any problem tackling it.

 

 Thanks for sharing!

Thank you! 

Well, to be honest I haven't found a lot of useful reviews about this kit, I test fitted the canopies on the back and they seem to fit pretty nicely, but I'm kinda worried about the front, I don't have any idea how can I get it to fit properly, there are gaps everywhere, I'm just trying to concentrate on other parts of the kit for now.

For example the main wheel Wells on the booms, they are just empty cylinders!

 

 

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René, maybe I should have said other builds, as when a kit is as old and rereleased as this one is, quality changes from one run to the next!

 

I have seen people use strip styrene to negotiate the front canopy gap as well as a healthy dose of sanding. Good luck!

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Great old school modelling skills on display here. I have a soft spot for 1:48 Monogram stuff, well researched, solid engineering (pre-CAD era) good detail

which lend itself to super detailling. 

 

Keep this up! 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Well, I haven't been updating this thread because I've not been working a lot with the model, I didnt know what I was getting into, it happens to need more work than I anticipated.

 

Anyway, here's what I have done so far, I finally finished the scratch work for the wing intakes, I made a little surgery because I want to display the aircraft with the left cowling open showing the engine

PicsArt_04-29-02.04.35

 

Edited by René Martínez
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Also the main wheel well was lack of detail, the booms were empty cylinders with the struts showing up. A friend of mine had some stash pieces from another p-61 he never finished, so y took advantage of the circular pieces which covers the back for the left engine to be displayed open, and the piece for the option to remove the top turret. I had to reshape those pieces because the area isn't perfectly round. 

 

It's not the best work I have done, but this is better than nothing, I couldn't find good references about the construction of the wheel wells, so I took some artistic liberties.

PicsArt_04-29-02.11.07

 

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Here's where the true challenge began...

The clear parts are a pain in the bottom, they don't fit well, they leave a lot of gaps, I am clueless how I will approach the front clear part, nothing seems to fit nicely... I used plasticard to fill the gaps and kinda reshape the fuselage so the clear parts fit better and remove that ugly step with the fuselage.

PicsArt_04-29-02.14.43

 

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On 4/11/2020 at 4:06 PM, RadMax8 said:

René, maybe I should have said other builds, as when a kit is as old and rereleased as this one is, quality changes from one run to the next!

 

I have seen people use strip styrene to negotiate the front canopy gap as well as a healthy dose of sanding. Good luck!

To be honest, I saw some people who say that the firsts monogram releases had fewer issues, as you said, the quality of the mold changes over the years with "new" kits. 

The clear parts are getting pretty tricky, but thanks for the advice, I've been using styrene strips to correct the back clear parts.

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Good work on the scribing and rivetting! That looks superb.

 

Beware! Hopefully you have filled the entire nose with lead, as this is a tail sitter...

It looks like you have taken the same route I did with having to shim up the glazing with plastic card. It's not the closest of fitting canopy glazing ever provided by a manufacturer.:(

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5 hours ago, hairystick said:

Good work on the scribing and rivetting! That looks superb.

 

Beware! Hopefully you have filled the entire nose with lead, as this is a tail sitter...

It looks like you have taken the same route I did with having to shim up the glazing with plastic card. It's not the closest of fitting canopy glazing ever provided by a manufacturer.:(

Thank you! 

Totally agree, it's not the best fitting canopy ever, but it's going to look ok I hope.

Also, is this weight enough? 

I think I added too much, but whatever is better than a clear stick coming out from the butt 😂

 

IMG_20200430_221537

 

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20 minutes ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Really enjoying your progress--great work!  Best, Erwin

Thank you Erwin, I'm glad you're liking it.

I will be posting more updates on the upcoming days.

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Your patience and skill is on full display! Nicely done. 
 

And yes, a clear stick up the but is enough to ruin anyone’s day, and also a model haha. 

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6 hours ago, René Martínez said:

Also, is this weight enough? 

I think I added too much, but whatever is better than a clear stick coming out from the butt 😂

I can't quite see where or how much you have used?

 

I put the longer of the two radar noses on and filled that part completely with small pieces of lead so that it was totally full. It was just enough!

Edited by hairystick
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7 hours ago, hairystick said:

I can't quite see where or how much you have used?

 

I put the longer of the two radar noses on and filled that part completely with small pieces of lead so that it was totally full. It was just enough!

I used 3 of these fishing weights, 12g each, so... 36g in the nose.

I didn't used any of the radar pieces in order to get it to fit properly, and a lot to CA glue to stick them in place.

IMG_20200501_124123

 

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4 hours ago, René Martínez said:

I used 3 of these fishing weights, 12g each, so... 36g in the nose.

I didn't used any of the radar pieces in order to get it to fit properly, and a lot to CA glue to stick them in place.

You should be into the "ball-park" with that amount. It is a big heavy beast!

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Your work getting the cockpit enclosures to fit is most impressive and a true guide for me as to how to handle getting them to fit when I build my model. I'd heard the kit clear pieces were an issue and that deterred me from even starting it.

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Front canopy filled with Mr.surfacer 1000 to soften the transition with the fuselage

I had to use some CA glue in order to get it to fit in right position, with normal cement deforms a bit

 

I will be masking the clear parts tomorrow!

 

IMG_20200501_123651

 

Edited by René Martínez
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I really really don't like the process of masking the canopy, but it's necessary.

 

In the end the transition to the fuselage didn't look as clean as I might wanted, the excess of CA glue is pretty difficult to sand down flat, I hope that after the black Paint is applied the mistakes are not going to look so obvious.

PicsArt_05-01-10.20.43

 

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