1:72 Emhar McDonnell F3H-2N Demon

[Navy Bird]

15 hours ago, billn53 said:

Ah! The Indy 500. Been there twice.  I hope you have seats out of the sun, or if you don’t, that it isn’t as hot as when I was there. 🥵

 

Paddock Penthouse (upper deck), four rows from the rail. We'll be in the sun for the first half of the race. Weather is currently predicted at 85 F and partly sunny, little chance of rain. Keeping fingers crossed on that last one.

 

8 hours ago, Fritag said:

Nope.   It’s just one plain ugly and clumsy looking aircraft

 

Ugly? She's just a little chubby. Back in the day, before all those Big Macs, she was pretty slim:

 

 

Plus, it had that extra pointy thing up front.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Shalako]

57 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Ugly? She's just a little chubby. Back in the day, before all those Big Macs, she was pretty slim:

 

Plus, it had that extra pointy thing up front.

 

Cheers,

Bill

Theoretically speaking, do you think you can make the prototype Demon, using the Emhar kit?

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

3 hours ago, Shalako said:

Theoretically speaking, do you think you can make the prototype Demon, using the Emhar kit?

 

I've seen people make the F3H-1 from one of the F3H-2 kits, but I think the prototype is more different still. @Tailspin Turtle has a nice blog posting that highlights the differences:

 

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2010/11/f3h-demon.html

 

Cheers,

Bill

[TheRealMrEd]

21 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

 

I've seen people make the F3H-1 from one of the F3H-2 kits, but I think the prototype is more different still. @Tailspin Turtle has a nice blog posting that highlights the differences:

 

https://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2010/11/f3h-demon.html

 

Cheers,

Bill

Having built an F3H-1 from the Emhar kit, I can say that the prototype could be done, but that it would be a tough slog.  The depth of the front fuselage being one major problem...

 

 

F3H-1N Built Thread HERE

 

Ed

[Navy Bird]

2 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

Having built an F3H-1 from the Emhar kit, I can say that the prototype could be done, but that it would be a tough slog.  The depth of the front fuselage being one major problem...

 

Nice job on the -1. Glossy Sea Blue is my favourite colour (well, actually it's tied with Extra Dark Sea Grey). Tommy's blog has some great drawings that show the overall shape differences between the prototype, the -1, and the -2 family.

 

Back in the glorious 50s, a company called Hobby-Time made a plastic "flying model" (I don't know what that actually means) of the F3H-1 in 1:45 scale. The artwork on the box looks more like the prototype due to the longer nose and slimmer fuselage. I've never seen the kit, so who knows? One of the reasons why I go along with Memsahib when she's making the rounds of the garage sales each weekend is because someday I'll find some of these old kits. Someday. Maybe. When you can make ice cubes from the waters of the Styx.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

I found some photoetch that I can use for the "corrugated" look inside the air brake wells:

 

 

Perfect? Nah. But it will look better than nothing. It does not depict the pattern correctly, but it evokes the "mood."   

 

You may also have noticed that I've begun priming some areas. There is a lot of work yet to do with the panel lines and some of the seams. The panel lines are so inconsistent (and most likely not accurate) - I'm not sure how much I want to fuss with them as I may just make it worse. We'll see.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

So, I started thinking about the windscreen. You may recall that my vacuform piece has a rather severe dimple right in the middle of one of the panes, so it's unusable. Therefore I decided to proceed with the kit windscreen. First, it had to be sanded down as it had a nice seam line on each side where Emhar did their best to make the omega cross-section. The windscreen is pretty thick, and the outer surface a bit uneven, do I sanded it down pretty good all over. Then I proceeded to finish it off with ten or so grades of Micro Mesh prior to a Future bath. I guess it's OK, but I'm not real excited about it.

 

Next, I started thinking about how to fix the front edge of the windscreen, where it does not meet the fuselage at the correct angle. Then I remembered this photo:

 

 

The black portion at the front edge of the windscreen, right below the pitot, is what I need to add to the kit canopy. I could try to do this with putty, but I opted for some 0.005 inch thick sheet styrene, better known as plastic paper. I cut out a nice half moon shape, rolled it around a toothpick to give it some curvature, and superglued it to the windscreen. I deliberately made it oversize so I could sand it into the final shape. And here is what I ended up with:

 

 

This might just work. You can also see the lame excuse for a NACA intake I added to the top of the forward fuselage.

 

Looking from the front, where there is horrible distortion due to looking through the entire length of the windscreen, you can see that I have a bit of the omega cross-section. Man, I wish someone made a proper aftermarket windscreen/canopy for this beastie but of course that won't happen until after I'm finished.   

 

 

I like how the wing fences came out - the small ones are Airwaves photoetch re-shaped, and the long ones are 0.010 inch thick styrene (after sanding off the monstrosities that were moulded as part of the wing.

 

 

Now I'm off to tweak the seams and do something about the panel lines. Maybe I should just fill them all in!    

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. My grandson Carter got to fly a C-130 at the airshow last Saturday. He now knows that forward on the yoke means the cows get bigger.

 

 

He's really got the aviation bug - not sure where that came from. Thank God he was too young for the delayed enlistment program at the USAF recruiting stand at the show. At least they gave him a lollipop. The C-130 is awaiting restoration for display, she's not in very good shape.  

[StephenCJ]

8 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

He now knows that forward on the yoke means the cows get bigger.

So does the ground with a crunch and no lunch

[giemme]

Brilliant fix for the windscreen, grandpa Bill!    And I too like the wing fences

 

Ciao

[Thom216]

Nice bit o mods to the windscreen, and the airbeak housing.

And nice job on the 'lil demon' too, as he already looks like a handfull!😁

[Navy Bird]

8 hours ago, StephenCJ said:

So does the ground with a crunch and no lunch

 

I saw a bumper sticker the other day that said "Bouncing Sucks." A skydiver, I suppose.    

 

7 hours ago, giemme said:

Brilliant fix for the windscreen, grandpa Bill!    And I too like the wing fences

 

Thanks Giorgio. For a lousy kit, this one might turn out alright. Both Emhar and Sword missed an opportunity - but then I have no clue how big of a market there is for Demon models. Lots of modellers have never even heard of this aircraft. I'll just plod along and see what I can come up with.

 

1 hour ago, Thom216 said:

And nice job on the 'lil demon' too, as he already looks like a handfull!😁

 

He's a typical 6-year old. When he's by himself he's very well-behaved. With other kids, not so much - a bit of a hellion. But we love him anyway. Besides, he likes to build models, that makes him almost unique amongst other 6-year olds.  

 

Back to work...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Terry1954]

Nice work on the Demon Bill. The canopy is looking good. Such a difficult shape to mould I would imagine.

 

The shot of Carter in the C-130 cockpit brought back some great memories for me. Summer Air Cadet camp 1969 at RAF Fairford where two of the new RAF C-130 squadrons were based for a short time. We were given quite a lot of airtime in the C-130's that week, and yours truly also had some airborne cockpit time. What struck me most was the amazing view from this glasshouse, and how quiet it was up in the cockpit, compared to the short trip down the steps back in the hold - that place was noisy noisy! Mind you, when it came to noise, also stationed at Fairford that time was one of the Concorde prototypes, which was test flying the whole week we were there. Watching (and hearing) that takeoff while stood on the grass near the main runway was something else!

 

Carter looks so happy ........ I know I would too!

 

Terry

[AdrianMF]

Lovely work on the canopy. Good to see the nippers taking an interest in their granddad's hobby too. 

 

That black and white photo is just gorgeous!

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Navy Bird]

2 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

...What struck me most was the amazing view from this glasshouse, and how quiet it was up in the cockpit, ...

Carter looks so happy ........ I know I would too!

 

Yes indeed, an expansive view from the flight deck. First time I had ever been up there myself (many times in the cargo bay) so it was a new experience. I didn't get to play with the yoke though. Carter and one of his friends were having a ball with the synchronization of the two yokes. You are right - he is always crazy happy at airshows - you should have seen him jumping around during the F-22 flight demo. And, of course, now that he's "all grown up," he was quite proud to listen to the reheat without his ear protectors.

 

1 hour ago, AdrianMF said:

That black and white photo is just gorgeous!

 

That is a great shot. I stumbled across that one on the net somewhere. It's interesting because the Demon does not have a refueling probe installed. So what exactly is flying so close to it in order to get that photo? I'm guessing something with a door on the port fuselage - looks that way. Awfully close though.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

Where was I? Oh, right, changing little Dexter's nappies. He hasn't been bitten by the aviation bug yet, but he is a scrambler. Man, that little dude is quick on all fours! Lock up everything of value. It is interesting how at just a year old, he prefers certain toys over others. For now, he grabs the cars before the airplanes. I'll break him of that.

 

On the Demon front, I added the upper circuit breaker/switch panels to the cockpit. These also help to fill in what is, quite frankly, a large gap in the front fuselage sides that would be visible through the intakes.

 

 

As you can also see, I've been refining the seams and re-scribing the panel lines that go across the seams. I'm also going to sand her down again, hoping that some of the primer will help fill the panel lines. Oh, yeah, I added the dividers/vanes into the intakes. These are simply strips of 0.010" styrene, and I have no idea how far they extend into the intake. I made the strips long enough to disappear into the darkness. I also tried to make the vane perpendicular to the outer cowling. The kit had the vanes parallel to the ground (for moulding reasons I'm sure) and they were crazy thick.

 

 

I measured the location of the vanes from photos and tried to duplicate. This head-on shot highlights what I think is another error in the kit. The width of the intake opening on the actual aircraft might be slightly larger at the bottom - at least it looks that way from photos. Or, it could just be the angle and perspective of the photos. In any event, it is what it is at this point.

 

Getting dangerously close to paint. I'm not looking forward to masking the Corogard on the leading edge of the wings - not with all those wing fences. Ugh.

 

Cheers,

Bill

 

PS. Just got my tickets for Roxy Music. I wonder what it will be like to see a bunch of 75 year-old men hobbling around while Ferry croaks out Love Is The Drug. It's a strange world, indeed.

[billn53]

Looking good!!!

[Terry1954]

The head on view looks very good!

 

57 minutes ago, Navy Bird said:

Just got my tickets for Roxy Music.

 

I'm totally jealous now!

 

I had all their stuff and still do. I recall listening to "Virginia Plane" whilst seeing how fast my new Mitsubishi Starion Turbo would take me very early one Saturday morning on an empty motorway (back in the 80's) on my way to work. Two things remain in my mind. It went VERY fast, and I LOVE that song!

 

Terry

[giemme]

I concur with @Terry1954, that head-on shot is just beautiful!

 

Roxy Music, uh? You have a great taste!

 

Ciao 

[Navy Bird]

36 minutes ago, Terry1954 said:

I recall listening to "Virginia Plane" whilst seeing how fast my new Mitsubishi Starion Turbo would take me very early one Saturday morning on an empty motorway (back in the 80's) on my way to work. Two things remain in my mind. It went VERY fast, and I LOVE that song!

 

"Teenage rebel of the week!"

 

16 minutes ago, giemme said:

Roxy Music, uh? You have a great taste!

 

I suppose. Could just be that I don't care for Rick Astley.    

 

I seem to recall seeing Roxy back in the early 70s together with Mott the Hoople, but my brain is in a bit of a fog. Could have been separate shows. In any event - got to love the fashions.

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Navy Bird]

Well, that was fun. You know that feeling you get when your model unexpectedly leaves your hands and is heading for the floor? Yeah, that feeling. It's fleeting, but terrifying. Then there's another feeling when the model hits the floor, and you just can't close your eyes. It's like a train wreck. This is quickly followed by several carefully chosen Anglo-Saxon words that my mum taught me not to say. Some of these words begin with G, F, and S.    

 

And, as you bend over with your decrepit spine, you survey the damage. Boat tail? Sheered off, but found several scale miles from the scene of the crime. Weight between cockpit and bulkhead? Rattling around, but still contained. The spindly landing gear? Intact. Seams popped open? Nein. Sharp corners chipped off? Luckily, the Emhar kit has no sharp corners.

 

Then there is the final feeling of relief. I think this could have been a lot worse, but Emhar apparently makes models that are built like a brick privy. The boat tail has been reattached and puttied back in. I shot a bit of superglue into one of the holes for the nose gear door and the weight no longer rattles (this was unnecessary as it was unlikely to rattle sitting on a shelf, unless Poseidon the Earth Shaker happens by). As far as I can tell, there is no other damage.    

 

Onward...

 

Cheers,

Bill

[Brandy]

Butterfingers.

Glad to hear there's no major damage though!

 

Ian

[giemme]

5 hours ago, Brandy said:

Glad to hear there's no major damage

Same here (other than the damage to self respect, I suspect ....  - anyway, I think in a way or another I dropped 40% of the models I've built so far, but only a couple managed to reach the floor. More often it was just the table top. Meh! )

 

Ciao

[Terry1954]

Oooh dear. I didn't like reading that first bit, but glad at least no major damage. The worst part is the way time seems to stand still the moment you realise it is dropped. Also, sometimes, an involuntary quick reaction to catch it can cause worse damage. I've sent more than one model flying across a room just because I reacted too hard to catch it!

 

Must be beer time?

 

Terry

[AdrianMF]

5 hours ago, Navy Bird said:

You know that feeling you get when your model unexpectedly leaves your hands and is heading for the floor?

Sorry to hear that Bill! Glad there wasn't too much damage and fixable too.

 

The corollary to that is when you drop something you are working with/on. Without being consciously aware of it, one's legs automatically fly together to try to catch it, unless it's a scalpel, in which case they fly outwards. Our autonomous nervous systems are smarter and faster than we are!

 

Nice work too, hope you get to primer without any more trouble.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[Navy Bird]

9 hours ago, Brandy said:

Butterfingers.

Glad to hear there's no major damage though!

 

You and me both! Oh, for what it's worth, I'm not much of a candy bar man. Pretzels are more my thing. Those big German ones with the butter inside. Yeah, baby, salt and butter. It's what keeps my blood pressure doctor in business.   🥨    🧈

 

8 hours ago, giemme said:

Same here (other than the damage to self respect, I suspect ....  - anyway, I think in a way or another I dropped 40% of the models I've built so far, but only a couple managed to reach the floor. More often it was just the table top. Meh! )

 

Surprisingly, I can only remember dropping a couple of others. Normally, when one of my models hits the floor it's because I threw it at the wall first.   

 

8 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Also, sometimes, an involuntary quick reaction to catch it can cause worse damage. I've sent more than one model flying across a room just because I reacted too hard to catch it!

 

Must be beer time?

 

I recall doing that once. I just got my fingertips to the model and I succeeded in giving it a violent series of somersaults. Pieces flew off before it hit the ground. Centrifugal force I guess...or it was not an Emhar model and therefore not built like a brick privy.    

 

Any time is beer time. What a silly question.    

 

4 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

The corollary to that is when you drop something you are working with/on. Without being consciously aware of it, one's legs automatically fly together to try to catch it, unless it's a scalpel, in which case they fly outwards. Our autonomous nervous systems are smarter and faster than we are!

 

I can vouch for that. I used to bang my knees together in an effort to catch whatever part slipped from my fingers. This doesn't happen anymore, though - since my ten back surgeries, I build models standing up. My workbench is 48 inches tall, so it's pretty easy to do. This makes it all the more surprising that I didn't do more damage to the Demon.

 

*****

 

I leave Saturday for a week at the beach house in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. Better be warm this time! I'll try to get another update before I leave.

 

Cheers,

Bill