1/48 AMT F7F-3 Tigercat

[oortiz10]

Hello all, I've posted my first BM WIP and thought I'd share its benchmate, the AMT Tigercat. I like to build more than one subject at a time. That gives me a chance to work on a second kit while paint and glue dry on the first. You know what they say about idle hands...

 

Anyway, this is only the second time I've used a resin conversion of this magnitude before. I've grafted a fillet-less tail onto a Tamiya P-51, but that was easy. Oh, I've used resin wheels and seats, but this is a whole new experience for me. I'm using Wolfpack's wingfold on this sucker. To say I was a little intimidated before I got started would be an understatement. Anyway, I decided to jump in and work on the 'pit and nosewheel gear before committing to the surgery. 

 

Must say, there is some nicely molded detail on this kit...

 

 

 

Next, I attacked the wingfold area. I didn't want to get too far along with everything, only to screw up the most important part later. May as well start with the tough stuff and get it out of the way, eh?

 

So, I turned this...

 

 

 

Into this...

 

 

 

Which became this...

 

 

 

 

 

A little clean up to do yet, but these came out better than I expected!

 

After a little success with the wings, I got the fuselage closed up and cleaned up.

 

 

 

 

The next step will be to clean up the inner wing assemblies. You know, the usual fill, sand, rescribe. For now, that's where my Tigercat stands.

 

This will be my 2nd WIP on BM. I'm looking forward to your feedback. Thanks for looking, and all comments, questions, and/or criticisms are welcome.

 

Cheers!

-O

Edited January 31, 2022 by oortiz10
spelling

[k5054nz]

Watching with great interest, O!

[oortiz10]

Hey gang, I have a little progress on my Tigercat to share, but before I do, I have a confession...I cheated.

 

I cheated on a couple of the less visible seams. At the bottom of the nacelles, the joint runs through the exhaust channels (for lack of a better term). 

 

 

The two sides are angled and meet at an interior angle that I thought might be hard to fill and sand. So, I tried using some filler and a diluent, but I kept wiping away too much filler when I tried to smooth things out. As an option, I decided to use tape.

 

Yes. Tape.

 

I used some of the "Scotch" type because of its lack of texture. I laid a piece on then carefully trimmed it to fit the area.

 

 

I was careful to burnish the edges and the areas up to the seam but did not press the tape into the angle's apex. Once covered with primer, it looks OK.

 

 

Luckily the areas will be mostly covered by the engines' cowl rings, so not terribly visible. Again, this is on the underside of the nacelle. I'm OK with it...

 

Speaking of primer, I was able to get all of the major sub-assemblies primered.

 

 

 

 

There are a few places that still need a little love. Nothing major, just a kiss here and there. All in all, I'm happy with where things are at. It's starting to look like an airplane!

 

Again, comments, questions, and/or criticisms are welcome. 

 

Thanks for looking!

-O

[Jackson Duvalier]

I like your tape trick, but I suspect a thin sheet of plastic card might be more archival.  🙂

[oortiz10]

D'OH! I didn't even think of that! Hmm...I can still make the change. Would be easy too. Peel the tape and use it as a template. I just might do that...

 

Thanks!

-O

[dnl42]

Ooh! I have this kit in the stash. 

 

And dang, you're fast!

Are you going to replace the props too? Obscureco has some nice replacements.

 

[oortiz10]

Hey dln42, it seems that we're neighbors! Howdy!

 

Fast? Nah. I've been home "sick" for the past 3 days. I've had nothing but time...

 

I didn't even know about the props. I'm both glad and not that you pointed out the error and its fix. My modeling budget is pretty tight, and I've already spent more on this kit (aftermarket stuff) than I have on any other kit. Maybe I could just cut off the hub and mount it to the other side? 

[Alan P]

What do you mean, cheat?! 😂 This is my favourite trick for filling nasty gaps. I use Tamiya masking tape and it's never let me down!

The AMT Tigercat is a very nice kit, it fits together really well. The wing folds are an excellent addition and you're doing a great job so far 👍

[franky boy]

Great work @oortiz10 and as said above very speedy. I hope you’re recovering now. I have the same project sat on the shelf of doom at the moment waiting patiently for me to regain interest. The Wolfpack wingfold is very nice. 

 

3 hours ago, Alan P said:

What do you mean, cheat?! 😂 This is my favourite trick for filling nasty gaps. I use Tamiya masking tape and it's never let me down!

The AMT Tigercat is a very nice kit, it fits together really well. The wing folds are an excellent addition and you're doing a great job so far 👍

 

Alan, that’s a good solution to an annoying problem. Do you use anything such as pva glue under the masking tap?

 

 Thanks 

 

James

[BleedingBlue]

Looking great so far.  This was the last kit I built before making the plunge into air brushing and water-based acrylic paints.  I found main landing gear to be quite fiddly to get put together.  Yours is looking better than mine turned out. 

 

Also, that tape option for seams is a great one, I will use it in the future.

Edited January 6, 2022 by BleedingBlue

[Alan P]

3 hours ago, franky boy said:

Alan, that’s a good solution to an annoying problem. Do you use anything such as pva glue under the masking tape?

No, never had to. Some of my builds using this technique are more than a decade old and still fine!

[oortiz10]

OK gang, I've made some more progress on my Tigercat. Once I had all the major subassemblies together, it was time to spray some paint. Before I could do that though, I needed to get the canopy squared away. That's where I ran into my first major problem of the build.

 

As I was sawing the canopy from its sprue, I had a minor mishap. The canopy tore away from the sprue and lost a big chuck of a corner as a result.

 

 

 

To fix it, I glued a small strip of styrene to the inside of the canopy. This would act as a backing for some filler.

 

 

 

Some careful masking and filling with Tamiya White putty...

 

 

 

Led me to an acceptable end.

 

 

 

But that wasn't the only problem with the transparencies. The parts themselves are too narrow for the cockpit opening. I had to use a spreader to keep the canopy at the correct width while the glue dried.

 

 

 

Once the canopy was set, the windscreen was a little easier. I was able to press down on the windscreen to spread it to the correct width while its glue dried. 

After that, it was time to paint!

 

 

 

I used various blues over the Mr. Surfacer primer to help break up the ultimate Sea Blue finish.

 

 

 

I still need to go back with a (very) thin coat of the Sea Blue to tie things together, but I'm happy with the results. I was looking for a blotchy weathered look, and I think I got pretty close.

 

 

 

That's where things with the Tigercat stand as of now. I have to go back to work tomorrow, so there might not be any progress made until next weekend. As soon as I can post some more progress, I will. 

 

That's it for now. Stay tuned for more. Your questions, comments, and/or criticisms are welcome. 

 

Thanks for lookin'!

-O

 

By the way, dnl42, I think I'm going to break down and buy those props. Thanks for the info!

Edited January 31, 2022 by oortiz10
spelling

[dnl42]

Looks great!

Nice save on the canopy! 

[oortiz10]

Hey BritMod, I'm back with a small update on my Tigercat. First, I'd like thank everyone for the pats on the back. I'm really enjoying this build.

 

OK, so here's what I've done since my last post. Nothing has been assembled because I decided to paint on the 'cat's markings. I used my Silhoutte cutter and made some custom masks. I was afraid the kit's decals wouldn't work as well as I want. So, I decided to try my hand at painting them on. I think they turned out pretty well.

 

 

 

 

 

Next I'm going to work on the engines. Once those are done, I think I can start putting the big pieces together.

 

Feel free to drop you two cents in the bucket. I appreciate you stopping by and taking a look.

 

Cheers!

-O

[ArnoldAmbrose]

On 1/6/2022 at 8:31 AM, oortiz10 said:

I have a confession...I cheated.    

As an option, I decided to use tape.

 

Yes. Tape.

 

I used some of the "Scotch" type because of its lack of texture. I laid a piece on then carefully trimmed it to fit the area.

Gidday 'O', you used a material available to you to overcome a problem with the kit. What's the "cheating" bit? Others use card, filler etc.

I've always liked the Tigercat although I've never built a kit of one - I'm mainly a ship modeler. I did however scratchbuild a very small one (1/600 scale) during the blitzenbuild GB on Boxing Day. It didn't have quite the detail of your model though. Yours is very good. Regards, Jeff.

[oortiz10]

Howdy fellow plastic mashers, I'm back with an update on my Tigercat.

 

Since I left you last, I was able to get the major assemblies...um...assembled. The fit on this kit is pretty good. I only needed small amounts of PPP on the upper part of the main wing joints. Before things went together, though, there were a couple of small things that needed some attention.

 

First, I realized that I had made two mistakes with the unit markings I sprayed on the wings. I forgot to "stencil" the "G", and I made an mistake on one of the 4s. Some quick masking was able to square that away.

 

 

I was got the engines painted and the nacelle assemblies glued up.

 

 

After a gloss coat, the unit markings were applied to the nacelles and the branch markings to the lower rear fuselage. Those were the only decals I used. I was worried about how they'd turn out because they were very thick and slathered in glue. They're not as "smooth" as I would've liked, but they're good enough. I tried cutting masks for them, but I couldn't get my cutter to cut them cleanly at the size I needed.

 

Anyway, after the gloss coat, I washed with with a light gray then flat coated it all. I even made an attempt at spraying on some exhaust stains.

 

Here's where things stand:

 

 

 

For these two, the wing tips are just dry-fitted for the sake of snapping the pictures.

 

 

 

I'm moving my attention to cleaning up the metal landing gear parts so I can get this lady standing on her own legs. Still loads to do...

 

Please feel free to drop you two cents into the bucket. Comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome.

 

Thanks for lookin'!

-O

 

Edited January 31, 2022 by oortiz10
spelling

[Marklo]

At first I thought the blue looked way too patchy but as the build is coming together it’s looking pretty good, well used obviously a work horse, but not too over the top, I’d imagine it’ll need some chipping in high traffic areas as well to complete the effect.

[oortiz10]

Hey Marklo, thanks for the feedback. Yes, I agree that it was too patchy to start with. That was my plan. I left it that way because I knew I was going to go back with some thinned Sea Blue after things were assembled to tie everything together. My goal was to get a used and weather-beaten look after the final coat. The wash helped with the fading and tying the various blues together. In person the paint does not look as blotchy. It's an effect of the camera, lighting, and exposure. In person you can see the tonal variation, but it does not look as stark as it does in the photos. I'm pleased with where the finish is now. I do intend to go back and add a bit more wear-and-tear in the form of some scratches and chips, although I'll admit I'm a little worried about overdoing it with more weathering. I may take a less-is-more approach with it. Still, I appreciate the comments. Thanks for looking!

 

Cheers,

-O

[dov]

Wonderful,  this a/c I like most. Had no chance to fly it.

Great build!!!!!

 

Happy modelling 

[oortiz10]

Hey gang, just a couple of photos showing the latest progress on my Tigercat. I have been able to get the gear and wing folds installed. Despite adding as much weight as I could cram into the forward fuselage, this thing is STILL a tail sitter. I guess I'll be building the included barrel and crate to get it onto its nose gear. Anyway, here's where things stand. The end is not too far. Hopefully, next time I post I will be sharing photos of my completed build.

 

 

 

Again, comments, questions, and criticisms welcome. 

 

Thanks for looking!

 

Cheers,

-O

[ArnoldAmbrose]

Gidday O, that thin nose with the wheel leg at the tip doesn't leave you much space for weight. Depending on your intended display I don't suppose a thin column of clear styrene or similar propping it up at the tail would help?

     It's a beautiful model what you've done. Regards, Jeff.