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Finished!: CT-133 Mako One- an unexpected project


FG2Si

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I've paused on the Sea Fury for a bit, most likely I won't finish it in time for the end of the GB. I was planning to get back to the VF-1 Wolfpack Tomcat and get that finished. Then I saw this kit sticking out of the pile.

 

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I built one previously as an RCAF Sliver Star so had some familiarity with the kit. 

 

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Anyways, I always wanted to do one in the Mako One paint scheme. For the longest time, I could only find decals in smaller scales. Then I found Above and Below did them in 1/32. 

 

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So after opening the kit up to play with sorting the intakes- in my opinion, the most challenging part of the kit I ended up getting a bit carried away. 

Edited by FG2Si
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Starting with the intakes, I ignored the instructions and did them as separate right and left  assemblies. First, I glued the short trunking to the rear half. 

 

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Then, this was glued to the outer section. 

 

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You have to do lots of test fitting and some trimming of the parts but if you do, you can get a decent fit. 

 

While those dried, I glued the fuselage halves together. This let me clean up the cockpit and nose gear bay openings and made sure that when I glued those in place, they would be centred.  

 

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I glued it in sections as I found a slight warp/mismatch at the front. 

 

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All fixed and aligned properly. Or at least more so than it was originally.

 

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The cockpit on the CT-133 was mostly black so I used NATO black and did some post shading with straight black. 

 

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Then I painted the dials and buttons using a Gundam marker. 

 

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The kit includes PE panels for the IP but oddly, the rear one is too wide to fit so using a file, I carefully narrowed it down.  

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With the fuselage halves joined together, I had to do the next bit in the right order or I would be in trouble. First up was some nose weight stuck in the uh, nose. 

 

Then I fitted and glued in the nose gear bay. 

 

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Again, a bit of sanding and fettling was needed. 

Then it was time for the cockpit. I had to use a couple clamps to hold it securely in place while the glue set.

 

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Now the fun began. I installed the intakes and used a combination of Tamiya cement and CA for this. The wing root section of the fuselage that the intakes join to needs thinning out. Also the back corners of the cockpit tub need sanding so the intake trunks will clear it. For some reason, both front lower sections snapped off so I had to do some repairs as well. Thankfully the kit plastic was soft enough that the cement did a great job melting the broken bits back together. 

 

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The rear fuselage section needs a spreader bar so that it better conforms to the shape of the lower wing. 

 

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With that in place, the wing went on next. 

 

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That's where I am now. Still can't believe how fast this one is going together since I only started it on Tuesday.

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It looks like you’re having a lot of fun with this one Carl, and showing some excellent problem solving techniques! But I see your bench is still as chaotic as ever……how do you find anything in all that muddle?! 😂

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Thanks Max. I really am enjoying this build. It's not something that's straightforward and yet it's been fun. 

 

As for the bench, I somehow manage to find what I need. I think it's mostly due to my putting things down in roughly the same spot all the time so I'm having to look around too much. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Time for an update. The upper wings went on. No issues there thankfully so just a bit of seam filling along the leading edge. I made the tip tanks as well. The plane gets so much larger with those on. 

 

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After some additional seam filling, I started on the paint. I've used a white grey for the underside as that's closer to the actual colour than a straight white. 

 

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I found a few missed seams and did some touch-ups and then a second coat. 

 

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I got more paintwork done today. I masked off the lower side of the plane. 

 

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I then sprayed the blue upper colour on. 

 

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With the masking tapes removed, I found a couple small areas that will need a quick touch up. 

 

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It's a funny looking thing without the wingtip pods. The wings look all wrong, like they belong to another plane. Not that I'm suggesting that you've made a terrible mistake! :oops:

Looking forwards to seeing it with the decals, the shark mouth looks fun.

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On 12/9/2023 at 11:07 AM, Ned said:

It's a funny looking thing without the wingtip pods. The wings look all wrong, like they belong to another plane. Not that I'm suggesting that you've made a terrible mistake! :oops:

Looking forwards to seeing it with the decals, the shark mouth looks fun.

 

It does look different without them. I still need to add them so not all is lost. 

 

As for the shake mouth, I put the first one on. The decals are from Above and Below and this is the first time I've used them. They're printed on a continuous sheet so need to be cut out. I've also painted the leading edges of all the flying surfaces in silver grey. 

 

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Edited by FG2Si
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More progress, although not a huge amount. 

 

The wheels are painted. 

 

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As is the landing gear bits. 

 

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Carefully gluing it all together. None of the doors have mounting points so the fit was a bit vague. Hopefully they're in the ballpark. 

 

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A quick check right side up. 

 

PXL_20231212_223423590-L.jpg

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8 hours ago, Ned said:

Looking great! The chaos in the background adds to it :)

Actually I cleaned up my bench. Slightly. 

 

If you want chaos, this is my other bench. The one I'm supposed to be working on. :D

 

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Don't know how our cat finds that a comfortable place to hang out. 

 

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41 minutes ago, Paul J said:

Looking smart. Just a pointer, the RCAF CT-133 had a vent on port side rear fuselage ahead of the tail planes. 

Thanks, I know there's a vent and I'm trying to decide if I should try and add it now. I added it on my earlier CT-133 build so don't know why I didn't do it earlier. 

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I've got more of the decal work done. 

 

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Still have a few more they're all on. Biggest hurdle had been the lack of clear placement instructions   I've been using the Leading Edge Models decal placement guide as a reference so at least I have that or I'd be leaving off a lot of the stencils. 

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  • FG2Si changed the title to Finished!: CT-133 Mako One- an unexpected project

Well, I've managed to finish it just before the deadline. 

 

The tip tanks were masked and painted today. 

 

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I then slipped the.into place. 

 

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With those done, the build is complete. I'll try to get better pics shortly but otherwise I'm happy I finally got to build this version. 

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