Fury Two - Kitty Hawk FJ-2

[Sabrejet]

Finally got round to this, just as the -3/3M is due out. Ah well. I did a review of the kit when it came out (late 2018?) and it's one of KH's better offerings. There are however a couple of areas which I've looked at in the intervening months, and I'll be addressing those as I go along.

 

 

I bought the various Eduard sets when they were issued, not realising that FE1076 is also included in set 49-1076. It will come in for an FJ-3.

 

 

Then, to address one of the kit's shortcomings - its decal sheet - I have the two recently-released Caracal sets. I'm not sure which scheme to go for yet, but there are plenty on the two sets, including XFJ-2/2Bs, so I shall be getting an Eduard/Hasegawa F-86F kit so I can use one of those.

 

 

Two of the other shortcomings of the kit - the intake lip shape; and the lack of detail on the cockpit turtledeck - will be addressed with two of Hyperscale's excellent FJ-2 resin sets.

 

 

In fact both sets give you a lot more than they would lead you to believe: The "Airframe Update Set" has this lot in it:

 

 

 

 

And the "Cockpit Update Set" comprises these, beautifully-cast items:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are still a few other areas which need to be looked at in the kit, and I'll cover each as I get to it. I suspect I won't use all of the aftermarket parts, but that seamless intake is a must, since it also corrects the intake lip area. That part of the kit is too short and stubby. So there it is. More soon!

[Sabrejet]

I am not going to have the aft fuselage removed, and so I've decided to glue the two halves fwd/aft together before gluing the left/right halves. The idea is to get a good fwd/aft join and then worry about the left/right joint separately. The thinking being that it should be easier to clean-up/fill the lengthwise join than the mid-fuselage break line. So first step is to glue a strip of plastic card around the recess in the forward fuselage halves so that I have a better alignment point.

 

 

 

Next step is to prepare the fuselage halves for the Hyperscale intake. This is as the kit supplies them:

 

 

Hyperscale gives very clear instructions on the bits to be removed:

 

 

 

And this is the LH fuselage half prepared, with the RH for comparison:

 

 

And then a comparison of KH and Hyperscale intakes:

 

 

 

 

 

I hadn't realised how stubby KH had made the intake lip, but the corrected Hyperscale version compares very well with an NAA drawing of this area:

 

 

More fuselage prep and then on to the Hyperscale cockpit mods!

[Sabrejet]

This is the cockpit tub as KH supplies it: not bad in fact, but the turtledeck aft of the seat is completely devoid of detail.

 

 

And this is the Hypersonic replacement part:

 

 

So the tub needs to be trimmed:

 

 

And the Hypersonic part removed from its casting block. No effort at all.

 

 

Then using the side consoles for alignment, join the two bits up. Simples!

 

 

 

Then a quick check fit: the Hypersonic parts require no trimming at all.

 

 

 

And though the intake does need a bit more casting block removal and plastic trimming (as shown above), it's pretty much a drop-in and gives you a seamless intake trunking:

 

 

 

Next step Eduard panel prep and paint!

[Courageous]

Always a pleasure watching a Sabrejet build of a Sabre/Fury. The corrections/enhancements look rather nice and fitting well. Nice going.

 

Stuart

[Biggles87]

Anything F-86 related is good for me, so I’ll tag along if I may.

 

John

[Sabrejet]

First bits of Eduard PE added:

 

 

Kit side console and main panel detail is nice, but I'm going the lazy route on this one, so it will have to come off.

 

 

 

 

And this is the radio compass loop antenna/base from Hypersonic.

 

 

Loop antenna will be replaced with a clear dome. The kit part (which locates in the wrong place) is in two halves, so I will be making a replacement.

 

 

And this is the Hypersonic seat (right), compared to the kit version. There was a lot of baseless speculation on another forum regarding the kit seat being too small, but as you can see, the kit parts are fine in terms of size and will be more than acceptable for most.

 

 

 

And then this is the Hypersonic replacement for the aft canopy decking:

 

 

So these are the side consoles, shaved in preparation for the Eduard PE parts, and the PE rudder pedal replacements added:

 

 

 

Then a check fit again:

 

 

 

Then final bit is the 2-piece pre-painted instrument panel.

 

 

 

Paint next then!

[Nikolay Polyakov]

11 minutes ago, Sabrejet said:

There was a lot of baseless speculation on another forum regarding the kit seat being too small, but as you can see, the kit parts are fine in terms of size and will be more than acceptable for most.

Looks like the kit seat is a base for the Hypersonic one (with some excellent details added to).

 

Excellent progress on the kit, @Sabrejet! 👏 I’m looking forward for the KH kits builds here.

[Harry Callahan]

amazing build, i love it.

[David H]

My friend Corey Ransom just finished one in Reserve Markings of White and Orange and it looks wonderful. So the kit definitely has merit.

 

-d-

[Sabrejet]

27 minutes ago, David H said:

My friend Corey Ransom just finished one in Reserve Markings of White and Orange and it looks wonderful. So the kit definitely has merit.

 

-d-

 

Corey in Colorado? Good to hear - I've seen his informed posts on another forum but not his completed model!  

[David H]

Yep. He's our Man!!

 

-d-

[Biggles87]

Pity about losing the raised detail on the side consoles. I often wish that someone would produce some generic switches and knobs to place on the flat PE panels.

John

[Sabrejet]

Bit more then. Paint for the cockpit is Interior Bronze Green, which is an unusual colour at the best of times, and one which is a difficult shade to find for modelling. Luckily MRP came to the rescue:

 

 

It airbrushes nicely over a coat of Mr Color Primer:

 

 

 

Then the various cockpit parts assembled and painted...

 

 

 

Side consoles with Eduard panels;

 

 

 

And the whole lot dry-fitted. I've also made the radio compass loop antenna aft of the seat rails:

 

 

 

Then a quick fit check again. I probably worry too much about fit, but I can guarantee if I didn't do it I'd find issues later. Since I generally don't, I suppose there is a point to it all.

 

 

 

More soon.

[Courageous]

Cockpit is 'lovely jubbly'.

 

Stuart

[Biggles87]

Seconded.

 

John

[heloman1]

Great work soo far, I do like the Fury, a Sabre with attitude...

 

Colin

[Sabrejet]

2 hours ago, heloman1 said:

Great work soo far, I do like the Fury, a Sabre with attitude...

 

Colin

It'll have some attitude too: a bit more than the landing gear gives you OOB!

[heloman1]

7 minutes ago, Sabrejet said:

It'll have some attitude too: a bit more than the landing gear gives you OOB!

I know what you mean, I'm building the KH Seasprite (see elsewhere), it needs a lot of extra detail...

 

Colin

[Sabrejet]

One part of the kit which can be modified is the catapult hook recess (arrow left below), which on most FJ-2s is a tapered recess, versus the type modelled on the kit, which is more representative of the FJ-3 version. Luckily that part is available on the Hypersonic set. Arrow right below shows where the barrier guard is located, and I want to model this extended. It's not included in the kit, so that part will need to be scratch-made.

 

 

And this is a bit more detail of the barrier guard: it has a fairing door attached and so by comparison with the XFJ-2 (where it was exposed when retracted), it presents a flush skin when retracted on the production FJ-2.

 

 

The hinge for the barrier guard is part of a forging attached to the front web of the centre wing box (red below) and also forms on its aft edge, the catapult hook.

 

 

So first of all, Hypersonic directs you to remove the catapult hook kit part from the lower wing centre section. It's a simple drop-in so long as you carefully cut out using the panel line as a guide:

 

 

The Hypersonic part has a nice flange on its rear face, so it's easy to attach:

 

 

 

Next, the catapult hook requires the removal of the centre portion of the main ammunition bay insert, and since the recess extends aft to the catapult hook, a portion of the wing lower centre section needs to be removed too:

 

 

 

Then it can all be check-fitted in the fuselage halves.

 

 

And finally I glued it all together and boxed-in the barrier guard well. I also attached the stbd/RH ammunition door, since I only intend to have the port side/LH door open. It should also serve to align and strengthen this area.

 

 

And that should be enough to allow me to join the fuselage halves.

[Courageous]

Nice.

 

Stuart

[Sabrejet]

Glued stuffff! Time for a bit of filler, sanding sticks and rescribing. Oh joy

 

 

 

 

 

[Sabrejet]

I'm not going to pose the aft fuselage separately, but hopefully these schematics will help those who may: This first one is a stand which allows functional testing of air brakes, arrestor hook etc, with the engine removed.

 

 

And this is the aft fuselage stand, also showing the attachments which are bolted to the fuselage to match up to the stand when it's ready to be removed:

 

 

 

And this is the engine stand (even though KH gives you the wrong engine for an FJ-2 (most won't know )

 

 

 

[Nikolay Polyakov]

Looks great, thank you for explaining things via the pictures! Lovely build, it’s a joy to watch. 👍

[JeffreyK]

Just seen this, very nice work Duncan!  Great job about the barrier guard as well.

Just wondering - I always thought everything aft of the ejection seat rails was painted black in the cockpit (i.e. turtle deck etc.)? But you certainly have more info than me on the subject...

J

 

[Harry Callahan]

Great work so far. Can't wait another update🙂