aharris57 Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 For my second proper build I've moved on from the 1:48 Italeri Hawker Hunter to 1:72 Comet raced from KP. I thought I would share the build in case it is of use to anyone. I have to say it is rather daunting for the inexperienced like me. The quality of the fit is a big shock if you're used to mainstream kits. Plenty of filler needed. Tamiya it is not! In particular the props are going to be a problem. There are big sink marks on all four spinners (two sets of two alternatives) from which all detail will be obliterated when filled. The the blades need to be glued at the right pitch to the props with just a little moulded dimple to show where they go. The alignment of those is going to be a pain. I wonder if I should get an Airfix dh88 kit just for the props? Or if there are some aftermarket ones intended for something else that might do the trick? The good bits of the kit are that it includes a cockpit and the decal sheet looks excellent, although the Union Jack for the fin is very slightly out of register. I'll be doing "Black Magic". The panel lines and surface detail is nice too, if limited, as it is a moulded plywood aircraft so pretty smooth in reality. How much of that detail survives my filling and sanding efforts remains to be seen! So far the cockpit internals have been built. Everything is very black as per the real thing, so I might try some tan seatbelts to liven things up. Canopy will be closed as I love the streamlined shape of these planes, so I doubt there will be much to see anyway. Next job is the the wing attachment. In theory this should be done after the fuselage halves have been joined, but I have a plan ... 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted September 26, 2021 Share Posted September 26, 2021 I’m game, count me in. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted September 26, 2021 Author Share Posted September 26, 2021 (edited) OK, so wings. There are no lugs or dowels to locate anything on this model, except two little blobs on the tailplane. The wing roots are a poor fit against the fuse, so I intend to glue the wings to the fuselage halves as best I can, drill though the wing roots and chop up some spare Hunter rockets which happen to be the right diameter to make dowels. Then glue the dowels into the wings from inside. Here's a wing root: Fuselage drilled, rockets ready for cannibalisation ... Fuselage temporarily taped together and set upright on the cutting mat. I joined the wings tightly with masking tape underneath, then lifted them with bits of clothes peg until I had the required dihedral. Still looks excessive, but if I actually closed the gaps up fully at the roots the dihedral would be about twice that! Also it's not equal as the gap on the port wing is much bigger than starboard. Now plenty of liquid poly cement into that gap ... Edited September 26, 2021 by aharris57 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted September 26, 2021 Author Share Posted September 26, 2021 That went better than I anticipated. Wings glued ... Fuselage separated and wing roots drilled through ... Chopped up bits of rocket rack shoved in the holes with plenty of glue. Cockpit also on show. I did say it was very black! Needs something to liven it up a bit ... Lastly here's the box art, which is rather lovely. The rudder and elevator mass balances are not included in the kit, and neither is the very prominent pitot tube on the port wing. I shall have to decide if I am brave enough to have a crack at scratch building those. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 Not much progress to report this week. I've put a little time into dry brushing the cockpit interior and the instrument panels, although there really isn't a lot of detail to pick out. Having done that I've deviated from the instructions again, inserting the interior and gluing the fuselage halves together prior to adding the cross-beam between the seats and the instrument panels. As they are not very strong I'll do them later in the build when I don't need to handle the model so roughly. They can go in from above. Photos below of the fuselage join. There's going to be plenty of filling. I think I'll put the nosecone on next, then sort the centreline seam and wing root gaps before I attach the nacelles and tail plane. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 I struggled with this and felt it to be a bit of a filler queen (guaranteed to blow your mind) and was pretty disappointed for a new tool kit TBH but it does seem to be accurate and builds up ok. Well worth checking the canopy fit as I recall it would benefit from the sides being filed a bit to create less of a gap - it looks the part when its done though... 57272100_10156210456755976_5715721363457572864_o by Ben Brown, on Flickr TT 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 1, 2021 Author Share Posted October 1, 2021 Cheers @TEXANTOMCAT, that looks great. I see you went for a flying pose without prop blades. That would solve an issue for me as I'm not looking forward to trying to attach those! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEXANTOMCAT Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 Thank you 🙂That was my thinking too! Unless you can grab some spare props from the spares box or the Airfix kit🙂👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lewis95 Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 I do believe that out there somewhere in the Internet Wilderness, there's aftermarket props with a twist. They are acrylic/clear plastic discs designed to look like props in flight. May be worth a venture if you go for an inflight look? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jochen Barett Posted October 1, 2021 Share Posted October 1, 2021 4 hours ago, TEXANTOMCAT said: I struggled with this and felt it to be a bit of a filler queen (guaranteed to blow your mind) +++ You aint seen nothin yet! I met an Airfix kit, it took my heart (and all my filler!) away Think I saw it comin', but I wanted it that way. I think that any DH88 is good lovin' And so I took what I could get, mm Ooh, ooh, she looked at me with big brown eyes And said You ain't seen nothin' yet 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 3, 2021 Author Share Posted October 3, 2021 (edited) Large amounts of filler have been applied and sanded back. As predicted quite a lot of panel lines have disappeared, so I'll be practicing my re-scribing skills shortly. Nose cone on and trial fit of the half-masked canopy. Something vaguely Comet-shaped is emerging ... However, the canopy fit is up to the standard of the rest of the parts ... I've been gently whittling away the cockpit coaming with a scalpel to try to get the front to sit down but it is a delicate job. Anyone have any thoughts on decent gap filling canopy glue? This is a lot more effort than it should be! Edited October 3, 2021 by aharris57 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Graham Boak Posted October 3, 2021 Share Posted October 3, 2021 Any of the PVA based adhesives/modelling aids will do - Microscale Krystal Klear is my long-standing favourite but there are others on the market. They dry clear, fill the gap and can then be painted over. The only problem is that they do shrink a little, so after they have set add another drop or a smidgeon of your favourite filler. Theoretically ordinary household PVA adhesive will do, but I find it a bit thick to use. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 Two weeks have passed and progress is glacial. I've put the tailplanes on and assembled the nacelles with the main undercarriage legs. I think I can do the reset of the undercarriage through the nacelles after I've sprayed it and decalled. It will be too fragile for handling when I'm still filling, sanding, etc. Canopy still to be attached once I've finished masking it. I test fitted the nacelles and the result was not great ... see below. I'll try to reduce the height of the fairings that are moulded into the wings. They are about 1mm proud of the nacelles. Model will be 50% plastic and 50% Tamiya white putty at this rate! 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichieW Posted October 16, 2021 Share Posted October 16, 2021 It looks like a lot of work is needed to get a good result from this kit. It will be well worth the effort though, the DH88 is such a beautiful aircraft. I chatted to a pilot at Old Warden who had flown the Shuttleworth Collection example. He described it as a 'hairy chested beast to fly.' Richie 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 22 minutes ago, RichieW said: It looks like a lot of work is needed to get a good result from this kit. It will be well worth the effort though, the DH88 is such a beautiful aircraft. I chatted to a pilot at Old Warden who had flown the Shuttleworth Collection example. He described it as a 'hairy chested beast to fly.' Richie Yes, it does have a bit of a reputation. Amy Johnson hated hers! I saw an early post-restoration flight at the Shuttleworth Collection and they held off making a decision to go for it until the very end of the evening display for absolutely zero wind conditions. Hard to fly and hard to build, although I'm probably making it look harder than it is. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrzeM Posted October 17, 2021 Share Posted October 17, 2021 (edited) Looks like really demanding build but the result is lovely. The Comet is a wonderful machine. Speaking about filling the canopy - untill you fill the area below the glasses, there is no need to use transparent filler. In fact the area you need to re-create is a part of the fuselage side below the canopy framing, so fill it freely with the normal filler (not CA, as the CA may fog the transparencies). Good luck with this build. If you want to build another 1/72 Comet, try the excellent resin SBS kit. Not cheap but really the first class! SBS Comet Red and Green SBS Comet Black Edited October 19, 2021 by GrzeM 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 30, 2021 Author Share Posted October 30, 2021 Good grief, actually did some building today. Dry fitting showed that the nacelles were moulded so they were perpendicular to the wings with no allowance for wing dihedral. As they also sat too low relative to the wing leading edge I was able to file down the inboard edge of each nacelle so that they are perpendicular to the ground. Cemented in place now. The alignment of everything is better, but I'm going to lose so much surface detail cleaning up the filler in the joints! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 (edited) Today I decided to build the props. I had been looking for replacements as I wasn't convinced I would be able to get a decent result with the separate blades and spinner. Having failed to find anything suitable I decided to go with the kit props anyway. I cut the blades from the sprue leaving about 1.5mm of additional plastic on each, then gently filed each one down to a 0.5mm diameter circular cross-section. Then I drilled through both hubs where the "dimples" are to give a positive location for the blades. Went fine on the first one, second one is a little off centre, and one of the blades went too deeply into the spinner, so it's a bit short. Still, better than nothing I guess. If you squint it's beginning to look like an aeroplane. Edited October 31, 2021 by aharris57 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
invidia Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Well done for having a go with this kit, I tried, and after alot of putty and naughty words I gave up. Watch out for decal sheet, mine was out of register and the union flags where awful. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alt-92 Posted October 31, 2021 Share Posted October 31, 2021 Thanks for pointing out the nacelle gotcha. I have two of these to complement the antique Airfix one I did a while ago. Seems like just as much work, but a better base to depart from 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted October 31, 2021 Author Share Posted October 31, 2021 40 minutes ago, invidia said: Well done for having a go with this kit, I tried, and after alot of putty and naughty words I gave up. Watch out for decal sheet, mine was out of register and the union flags where awful. Yes, the Union flags could be better, but I'm past the point of caring! Aim now is completion out of the box having come this far. The gold decals look good. I'll practice with the spares for Grosvenor House on a gash kit as I don't want my decal setting solution to harm them. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aharris57 Posted November 7, 2021 Author Share Posted November 7, 2021 (edited) Nearly ready for paint. The canopy is on and I've attached the exhaust pipes. These are so small I found it impossible to clean up the massive sprue gates before attachment, and once on the model I couldn't do much with them either. Just the tail skid left to attach before priming. Two q's if I may: 1) How can I mask the undercarriage bays; 2) What's best to remove rubbing down dust before painting? Cheers. Cheeky little edit to regain visibility. And another. Will this show up? Edited November 10, 2021 by aharris57 typos 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now