Icarus Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Hi all. With the completion of the "splinter scheme" Belgian AF Alpha Jet earlier in this GB, and business travel to Moscow still not looking like it will get going again any time soon, I actually think I might be able to attempt a second build for this GB. I am going to attempt to build this "slightly worse for wear" Jaguar T.2 If you look closely at the first picture, you can see what appear to be 4 extra aerials on the rear dorsal spine of the box illustration. These actually represent the parts of the box where sprue components were forced through, due to crushing of the box in transit. I have spent much of the last 6 months trying to get this refunded by the Chinese seller, but no avail. The main victim of this trauma was the middle canopy, which arrived shattered into several bits. As Kittyhawk appears to have no aftermarket care, I have not been able to replace this item, so have had to try and glue the bits together as best I can. The result is shown below: I am hoping that the vibrancy of the ETPS "Raspberry Ripple" scheme, plus the fact that the canopies will be mounted open, will help to distract from the obvious flaws in this transparency. We shall see... Thanks for looking, Icarus 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Wow, sorry to hear about the postage issue. Good lluck with the main part of the build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arthur Miggins Posted June 10, 2021 Share Posted June 10, 2021 Mine has a broken canopy too. Not started it yet so will be watching your build for tips Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted June 11, 2021 Share Posted June 11, 2021 Welcome back, bummer about that canopy. Is there any aftermarket available? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 Thanks Brad - not that I can find.... Anyway, did a bit of work on this last night and this morning. I am not really going to follow the Kittyhawk instructions, especially as they insist on building the nose and main fuselage components as complete subassemblies, before bringing them together at the end. Ignoring the obvious risks of misalignment, that would make painting the "Raspberry Ripple" scheme a bit of a nightmare. Anyway, initial gluing of the rather nice PE to the cockpit components: And post painting this morning. As usual I have slightly over-emphasised the red and yellow details, as otherwise they will get lost in the gloom of the dark cockpits: Hoping to have the cockpits built up this evening, before starting on my own version of the fuselage construction. Thanks for looking, Icarus 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted June 14, 2021 Author Share Posted June 14, 2021 (edited) So, after starting to glue this kit, it is immediately obvious that the engineering design is excellent, but the execution leaves a bit more to be desired. There are multiple significant stubs tabs on the plastic, often at mating surfaces, and the soft and often warped plastic components are a real nightmare. However, the engraved detail is exquisite. So an example of the "good"... (built entirely from kit components, including supplied PE instruments, consoles and seat belts) Followed by an example of the "challenging". Even with all that compression, the front fuselage halves are barely approximated. The even more warped upper rear fuselage frame will need to be glued together later.. One thing's for sure - my original plan to build the fuselage halves then combine them to try and avoid gaps has gone out of the window! Oh well - if it was easy everyone would do it, as my old flying instructor used to say. Stay safe and thank you for looking, Icarus Edited June 17, 2021 by Icarus Typos 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 5, 2021 Author Share Posted July 5, 2021 Good evening. With the "Less then a Tenner" Fw-190 completed, I now have some time to work on this build. This is where I am this evening: As you can see, I have attached the canopies (the main ones temporarily) with white glue, then masked them with vinyl and decorator's tape. This has had the happy coincidence of covering up all the cracks in the crushed middle canopy. Unfortunately, this isn't a permanent solution! As you can also see, I have attached both the front and rear fuselage "modules" much earlier than the instructions suggest. I have scratched my head for some time, trying to work out why Kitty Hawk suggest doing this right at the end. I cannot see any reason not to do it now, and of course this will help enormously with the painting of the flamboyant scheme. We shall see if I live to regret this. Sadly, the same wasn't possible for the main undercarriage. I could not find a way of attaching this securely later in the build, so they have had to be added at the scheduled time. I did, however, find a work around for the front u/c, so at least these won't be snapped "in transit" during the build... Thank you for looking, Icarus 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted July 8, 2021 Share Posted July 8, 2021 Certainly a challenging build, with no little help from the seller! Those cockpits looks really good, so you are definitely overcoming. As to the canopy, a nice way to conceal the damage would be a 'tarp' draped over the top, even if it's open. Or a flag, say the Union Jack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 Now, what a clever idea - a Union Jack flag. I will have a think. Or possibly a ETPS based flag... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted July 10, 2021 Share Posted July 10, 2021 I've had my eye on this kit for a while so interested to see how you get on> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 So, first of all a dry test fit of the sub assemblies prior to starting painting, and with the nose painted black... Note the painting guide doesn't point out the black antiglare shield for the nose . Then with the initial layer of Tamiya white primer... Now, I have seen a lot of criticism of this kit online, but to be honest I don't agree. Sure, there appear to be a few labelling inaccuracies in the instructions, but nothing that a bit of common sense can't sort out. The only real problem with this kit has come from the shipping agent and the infamous "crazy paving" canopy. Now that Kitty Hawk has ceased trading, I will miss their output of esoteric but highly buildable subjects. Get them whilst you can I say... Thanks for looking, Icarus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stever219 Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 It’s good to see you making progress with this: somewhere in the loft I have an Airfix Jaguar with the Paragon two-seater conversion. One minor point though; have you hung the small main undercarriage doors from the fuselage side? I’ve just done a quick ‘n’ dirty web trawl and they seem to be hung from the inboard edges of the rear part of the bay. Good ol’ Kitty Hawk instructions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
12jaguar Posted July 12, 2021 Share Posted July 12, 2021 (edited) Hi just to confirm that the small doors hinge at the bottom i.e inboard of the main gear legs. Having made the single seat KH Jag, IMHO it's a bit of a curates egg, good in parts but they missed the boat in others. The wing leading edge profile is fictional at best and if you fit the pylons they don't match RAF Jags in any shape or form. Shouldn't be a problem for an ETPS Jag but the weapon load is not an RAF one. Good luck though, she's coming on a treat John Edited July 12, 2021 by 12jaguar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 Thank you 12jaguar - the u/c doors are just white glued in place at the moment, to aid with masking. I do agree photo references are crucial with Kitty Hawk builds - they never quite got their instruction QC process sorted... Anyway, this is the state of play this morning, with the initial layer of red down. At least a couple more thin layers needed for adequate colour density before I mask this off for the Oxford Blue layer. Thank you for looking, Icarus 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy Posted July 14, 2021 Share Posted July 14, 2021 Hey looking good and I’ve missed this one. I used to be on the line back in 85 when they were making the BBC series. Good luck and keep going. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 14, 2021 Author Share Posted July 14, 2021 So this is this evening, with the Oxford Blue down, and masking off. Clearly a few touch ups to be done along some of the panel lines, but nothing too drastic, which is a relief given how much of a b*gger this was to mask! Thanks for looking, Icarus 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted July 15, 2021 Share Posted July 15, 2021 Great paint work! You seem to have mastered the KH Jag! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 15, 2021 Author Share Posted July 15, 2021 (edited) Evening all. Now a bit clearer (day time) and with initial stages of touch up. Clearly covering red with white paint will be a slow process... Once this is done, I need to remove the masking over the metal exhaust heat shields, then start actually permanently glueing some of the bits together! Thanks for looking, Icarus Edited July 15, 2021 by Icarus 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted July 28, 2021 Author Share Posted July 28, 2021 (edited) So, slow progress with this to be honest. Work is manic. However, I have finally had time to put the decals on, and last night I added some very minimal weathering with oils. From photo references these a/c were kept pretty pristine. I have also added some of the dangly bits. Next steps are to add the wheels and the rest of the delicate bits (and the somewhat inaccurate pylons, that seem to be on the reference photos), then a final coat of satin before finally removing the canopy masks. As previously discussed, I will need to fashion some sort of cover to go over the cracked middle canopy, then we should be done. Thanks for looking, Icarus Edited July 28, 2021 by Icarus 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted August 2, 2021 Author Share Posted August 2, 2021 A bit further in this - at least it now has wheels to sit on. This has been a bit of a struggle to be honest, mainly because I keep getting distracted. Anyway, here we are this evening: Will try and get this finished this week - not much left now! Thanks for looking, Icarus 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 A bit further in this - at least it now has wheels to sit on. This has been a bit of a struggle to be honest, mainly because I keep getting distracted. Anyway, here we are this evening: Will try and get this finished this week - not much left now! Thanks for looking, Icarus 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Icarus Posted August 6, 2021 Author Share Posted August 6, 2021 So, after knuckling down this is finally finished. Thankfully the cracked canopy is not too distracting. I will upload some better photos into the gallery later. but this is the state of play this morning. Thank you for all of the helpful suggestions during this somewhat challenging build. Now off to the Bristol GB! Icarus 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad Posted August 6, 2021 Share Posted August 6, 2021 Very nice mate, it looks quite striking in those colours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin W Posted August 7, 2021 Share Posted August 7, 2021 Splendid job. G Looks great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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