Lindberg 1/48 XFY-1 Pogo

[Colin W]

Well I have moved the SR53 on to the painting stage so I'll kick off the next project. Having posted the options in the Chat, the overwhelming preference was the...

 

 

Pogo. Its a kit I have wanted for a while but never found at the right price. Last entry into the stash and first one out. Oh well.

 

Here are the parts from the box.

 

 

Anyone remember when Airfix instructions looked like this?

 

 

I'm not sure what the real cockpit looks like but the blobby shaped body and bent piece of plastic will not suffice.

I fouund a picture of the interior and a good cutaway on the interweb so have chosen a few bits from the spares box to make the cockpit. The tub is an Italeri Tornado (which were replaced with Neomega) and the seat is from an F-84 which is the right era. The flat plastic around the cockpit will have to go....

 

 

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Good to see you update the interior on this. 

[dnl42]

This will be interesting. I've wondered what this thing looked like. 

[Col.]

Good to see you've gone with this mad thing Colin

[arfa1983]

I guess with the benefit of hindsight it's easy to see why this concept never really took off. 

 

🥁

 

Really looking forward to seeing this one come together though  

[Colin W]

A lot of parts cleaning up done. Interior made for the air intake under (?) the nose and gimball seat made for the pilot.

 

 

[Colin W]

Well a lot more progress since the last update.

Whenever I have the opportunity I build the cockpit last or as late as possible just for variety. This kit gave me the opportunity to put the wings on first. I actually filled the seams from the inside. hows that for a first?

Looks like a pigmy goldfish at this stage.

 

I have fitted the F-86 seat into a gimball arrangement in the Tornado front cockpit. I fitted an instrument panel but it was too far from the pilot so I removed it and made another from a Tornado so it fits the tub. Nothing fits the kit!

I also added a section of tube to blank off the fuselage and provide a jet exhaust for the turboprop. I figured this would pass under the pronounced cockpit giving the profile its distinctive hump. Also it would then be in line with the popeller thrust and alleviate latteral movement. I painted the internal rear fuselage with silver and the cockpit in black. I left the seat in grey to make it more visible and this was the 'normal' colour. Looking at the picture of the cockpit I concluded that the control column was mounted to the seat to allow the pilot to maintain control during the transition from vertical to horizontal flight? Based on this I made the seat movable and fitted the rudder pedals and control column to the seat base. Not sure how accurate theseideas are but it adds interest to the build. 

 

Interior showing the exhaust pipe and the cockpit with the seat in horizontal flight position. Note how the exhaust tapers to the rear to increase the thrust. Both are stuck in place with Milliput.

 

 

There were a lot of mould seams on the propellers but these have been sanded (filed) off but make a boring picture so more of them later.

It's interesting that these more complex builds feature steel rules and try squares much more than 'normal' kits.

[Andwil]

I’m really having trouble visualising how the gimbal seat works.  When in the horizontal flight position, as per your model, the pilot has a normal view through the canopy.  If it swivels to remain “level” with the aircraft in the vertical position, how does the pilot see?  Would he, or she, then be staring at the cockpit floor?

 

AW

[Colin W]

11 hours ago, Andwil said:

I’m really having trouble visualising how the gimbal seat works.  

I found an article where the pilot noted the hardest part was landing as 'the seat rotated forwards and he had to look over his shoulder'. There are a few pictures showing the seat in its forward position when the plane is standing on its tail. I don't know how the 'gimball' works but I made a simple pivot on the seat so it tilts forwards. The F86 seat contains integral foot rests and I made a bracket to secure the control column to the seat as well. I reckon the last thing the pilot would want to do would be let go of the stick during the transiton. Here's the model as per the previous picture, on its tail with the seat tilted forwards. 

 

 

A close up of the seat in the forwards position. The cockpit is not finished!

 

 

 

[Col.]

Clever work creating some interior detail for this project Colin. It's also the first time I've known of seams being filled from the inside out  

[Colin W]

Not much modelling over the last few weeks due to Telford but I did join the fuselage halves and start painting the propeller. Watching a video of the first flight I realised the curved part of the 'lower' fin was a retro fit. As most of the pictures are from the early flights I decided to build it with this fin missing.

Ive also given it a good sanding to remove the raised panel lines and excessive rivets.

 

 

Starting to look the part.

[Col.]

Looking the part indeed and one model you wan't have to work weight into avoid becoming a 'tail-sitter'

[Colin W]

Im still working on the Pogo with a lot of polishing required for the natural metal finish.

Props now done and yes , they actually work to contra rotate!

Working on the boarding ladder now while the 4th application of filler dries!

 

 

[Colin W]

Base coat of Al now applied. Overall Mr Colour 104 with a mix of Alclad dark Al and Duralumin. Anti glare panel is #125 and the fin is #2  gloss black .

 

 

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

I see you made the same mistake as I did a couple of months back. The wheels are designed to be positioned before closing up the wing and fuselage halves. They have a collar to retain them and allow them to swivel. I ended up cutting the legs down in order to insert them afterwards.

[Colin W]

1 hour ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

The wheels are designed to be positioned before closing up the wing and fuselage halves.

 

Yes but..... it dosen't work. The legs are not heavy enough to fall free and I didn't want to make them loose or they would sit on an angle so decided to miss them out and add at the end. These 'working featues' are OK but usually there is a compromise. The jury is out on the props, I'll see how the finished item looks. 

[bentwaters81tfw]

I used some silicone lubricant on the props, they turn quite well.

[Colin W]

I lost track a bit with this over the weekend and went from base paint to finished without any intermediate pictures.

So here is the finished Pogo.

I used a piece of flat glass to ensure all the 4 wheels are in contaact. I also aligned them as it looked odd when they were random. Note the different positions of the seat for horizontal and vertical flight.

 

 

 

More pictures in the gallery.

Im off to the Pegasus Kestrel for more VTOL fun.

 

 

[Col.]

Nice work Colin. This one has turned out great

[dnl42]

This quite good!

 

Far better than I expected given the kit's vintage.