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One of many problems with the KH 1/48 Jaguar GR3.


DrumBum

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hi all,

 

I am closing in on stashing the Kitty Hawk 1/48 Jaguar back into the darkest corners of my cupboard never to be seen again.

 

But, I am making one last attempt to overcome some of the problems with this poor fitting kit before giving up. 

 

The biggest obstacle I see is the main landing gear. I have installed the legs and they appreared to seat correctly into their mounting points however the tounges that hold the trucks are not parallel which will result in the wheels being way out of alignment.

 

I am wondering if there is a fix that can overcome this issue that someone could suggest?

 

cheers and thanks in advance,

 

Paul

 

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You might want to think about getting the moderators to move this to the modern military aircraft section. Unless I'm much mistaken the Jaguar GR3 never saw airline service. :)

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I'm not familiar with the kit, but looking at the instructions online, along with builds in progress, only one thing comes to mind - have you put the small lower sections onto the correct leg? It all just seems a bit twisted in the wrong direction to me. 

 

One other thing, on reflection - how much slop is there at that joint between the upper and lower leg sections? Maybe they're out of whack due to inaccurate alignment? If that IS the problem, cutting them off (or breaking, if the joint looks like it will give) then drilling, pinning and regluing is the fix. And being undercarriage, pinning is recommended. 

 

Our illustrious leader built the kit way back when, here

 

The photos may be of use - if not, there'll be lots of other builds available, I imagine. 

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On 7/31/2021 at 3:36 PM, Skodadriver said:

You might want to think about getting the moderators to move this to the modern military aircraft section. Unless I'm much mistaken the Jaguar GR3 never saw airline service. :)

correct, although it would have been awesome......my mistake.

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On 7/31/2021 at 3:37 PM, Rob G said:

I'm not familiar with the kit, but looking at the instructions online, along with builds in progress, only one thing comes to mind - have you put the small lower sections onto the correct leg? It all just seems a bit twisted in the wrong direction to me. 

 

One other thing, on reflection - how much slop is there at that joint between the upper and lower leg sections? Maybe they're out of whack due to inaccurate alignment? If that IS the problem, cutting them off (or breaking, if the joint looks like it will give) then drilling, pinning and regluing is the fix. And being undercarriage, pinning is recommended. 

 

Our illustrious leader built the kit way back when, here

 

The photos may be of use - if not, there'll be lots of other builds available, I imagine. 

yes I was going to cut and pin them as per your suggestion but I have decided with plan B. I have reduced the size of the knuckles that fit into the tounges to permit them to rotate into alignment. Will be a tricky thing to get it to work but fingers crossed. I suspect this thing will be back on the shelf of shame soon anyway, cockpit is giving me grief now!!!!!! Awful kit.,

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I've built many Jaguar models ( stangely enough ) but have always steered clear of the KH - it's just got too many issues for me

Edited by JagRigger
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Mine ended up with a slight tracking issue, but not too bad at all. The Airfix is a bit of a bugger too to be fair with the main gear, maybe more so than the KH.
I'd maybe suggest a mismatching of parts has happened, could be wrong but it was mentioned earlier and is very easy to do with the daft instructions and their mistakes, but my KH Jag is nowhere near as far out as yours is going by the photo.

 

All that said and despite how I found the issues, it wasn't that hugely bad of a build for me. Challenging at times, sure, but a bit of sanding here n there and it worked. Biggest hurdle was that underside fuselage join due to warps. The rest can be worked with a bit of patience and a lot less filler than the Airfix too. Maybe I'm weird, but I think it gets far worse press than it actually deserves. Would be nice if Hasegawa or Tamiya got in on the game though, don't get me wrong.

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On 8/2/2021 at 3:51 PM, RMP2 said:

Mine ended up with a slight tracking issue, but not too bad at all. The Airfix is a bit of a bugger too to be fair with the main gear, maybe more so than the KH.
I'd maybe suggest a mismatching of parts has happened, could be wrong but it was mentioned earlier and is very easy to do with the daft instructions and their mistakes, but my KH Jag is nowhere near as far out as yours is going by the photo.

 

All that said and despite how I found the issues, it wasn't that hugely bad of a build for me. Challenging at times, sure, but a bit of sanding here n there and it worked. Biggest hurdle was that underside fuselage join due to warps. The rest can be worked with a bit of patience and a lot less filler than the Airfix too. Maybe I'm weird, but I think it gets far worse press than it actually deserves. Would be nice if Hasegawa or Tamiya got in on the game though, don't get me wrong.

Yes I have a bit of warping also and a poor fit around the cockpit/fuselage join but thus far its all workable. If my technique to attach the bogeys to the legs works then it should be a reasonable model. Apparently the decals can be rather problematic and prone to tearing? 

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37 minutes ago, Max Headroom said:

I have one on a very slow build. I have a pair of legs from an old ESCI model and am seriously considering using those instead.

 

Trevor

im not familiar with the ESCI legs but if installed carefully, the KH ones should work. I found it very difficult to get the upper and lower legs to align and have created my own problem as a result. If I did it again I would install the upper legs first and complete the kit and towards the end install the lowers in some sort of jig to ensure the bogeys were inline. 

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22 hours ago, DrumBum said:

Yes I have a bit of warping also and a poor fit around the cockpit/fuselage join but thus far its all workable. If my technique to attach the bogeys to the legs works then it should be a reasonable model. Apparently the decals can be rather problematic and prone to tearing? 

 

I'm pretty sure I stuck the lower leg bits on as late as possible, seems to sort of work.

The decals are rather wrong and incomplete. I think it's xtradecal who do a fair few sets, look for the ones with the large "no walk" sections

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On 8/6/2021 at 8:15 AM, RMP2 said:

 

I'm pretty sure I stuck the lower leg bits on as late as possible, seems to sort of work.

The decals are rather wrong and incomplete. I think it's xtradecal who do a fair few sets, look for the ones with the large "no walk" sections

will do although im finding decals for the jag lacking in availability. 

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On 8/9/2021 at 6:13 PM, DrumBum said:

will do although im finding decals for the jag lacking in availability. 

 

I see what you mean regards the decal availability.

Maybe worth setting up a Wanted Ad on here - one of the Airfix boxings came with the Ecuador options and included a second set of the large "no walk" sections decals, someone might have those spare if nothing else

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It was a long, long time ago, but I don't remember having issues with the gear, other than the tyre size, which I corrected by using some Paragon replacements, IIRC.

 

complete8.jpg

 

Don't know whether that pic is of any use? :shrug:

 

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23 hours ago, Mike said:

It was a long, long time ago, but I don't remember having issues with the gear, other than the tyre size, which I corrected by using some Paragon replacements, IIRC.

 

complete8.jpg

 

Don't know whether that pic is of any use? :shrug:

 

Great looking build. Are the bogeys parallel to the ground when it sits on its feet? also, are the kit wheels too small or large? cheers and thanks.

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26 minutes ago, DrumBum said:

Great looking build. Are the bogeys parallel to the ground when it sits on its feet? also, are the kit wheels too small or large? cheers and thanks.

Thanks :)

 

They fitted just perfectly, and the wheels are too large compared to the real thing.  A bit balloon-y.  I happened to have some spare Paragon wheels from an Airfix build I never completed, so I used them as they were the right size, and a lot more detailed thanks to @Neil and his hard work.  I also pinched the scratch-built APU from the old build :)

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