Creepy Pete Posted July 1 Share Posted July 1 Hi, I've had this Tigercat kit in the stash for many year. This seems like a good opportunity to start building it. It's the first Italeri rebox of the mid 1990's AMT Ertl kit, which is not a bad thing. Mostly... The details are very nice, with decent panellines. The dreaded vinyl tires have been replaced with normal plastic ones. I did order some aftermarket resin props for it, from Ultracast, as the kit ones are reversed. I also got metal landing gear legs from Aerocraft Models, which I think should be a bit stronger than those fragile plastic ones. For the rest it will be OOB, and I will try to do it as an all black one from VMF(N)-513 in Korea in 1952. I started a few days ago, with a coat of black primer, and then some MRP Interior Green where needed. Next up is painting all the cockpit details and putting it together. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted July 3 Share Posted July 3 Nice preliminary work Pete. This will look nice when finished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted July 4 Share Posted July 4 Love the powerful Tigercat! Did one several years ago, but didn't put enough modulation/shading into the paint. Good model though! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted July 14 Author Share Posted July 14 Got the cockpits pretty much done. The fit inside the fuselage was surprisingly vague, but not impossible. So now it's time to close up the fuselage. Obviously a lot of nose weight is needed. So far, I cut about 30 grams of lead, but I think I'll add some more. Anyone with experience with this kit got an idea? Oh, and I also got a prop for it from Ultracast. That's right, one propeller. For some reason I wasn't paying attention and thought it came as a pair. They don't. So now I've ordered 2 more... 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted July 20 Author Share Posted July 20 The fuselage has been closed, and the wings are on. Pretty decent fit overall, and the wing to fuselage fit is even excellent. Next up are the nacelles, and the tailplanes. This thing is huge! 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Didn't add enough weight into mine and ended up with a thin metal 'prop' under the main body. Good looking progress! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted July 26 Share Posted July 26 NIce work so far. I have the same kit buried in the stash. But it might be a while before I get to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted July 28 Author Share Posted July 28 The nacelles were a little trickier to add. That little gap at the top will be hidden by a cowling piece eventually. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted August 17 Author Share Posted August 17 I have been focusing on another build recently, but that one is finished, so back to this one. Almost ready for primer and paint. I added the engines, which are pretty decent. I drilled out some bigger holes in the fronts for the Ultracast props. I dryfitted the cowlings and they are a perfect fit. The clear parts have all been masked, and the windscreen has been glued in place. The canopy of the pilot sat a bit too low, so I added some strips of styrene to the cockpit walls to raise it a little. Should be fine now. The rear canopy needs some minor work to fit properly. Since there is a bubble in the clear part on it, I used some liquid masking stuff on it. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted August 30 Author Share Posted August 30 Almost done! I gave it a black primer coat, and then some Japanese WW2 cowling colour, with some Revell Aqua anthracite here and there. I used the kit decals, which didn't want to play nicely actually. Quite a bit of silvering had to be adressed. Next up is some light weathering and wear and tear. Not too much, as it appears that they were actually quite well maintained in Korea. 10 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted August 31 Share Posted August 31 WOW hat is one mean looking Tiger. It looks fast just sitting there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Creepy Pete Posted September 3 Author Share Posted September 3 (edited) Well, calling it done. It did fight me a bit in the end. I noticed some rattling after the last post, and it turned out one of the engines came loose inside the cowling. I tried pouring some glue inside it, but this didn't work. Eventually I drilled a hole through it and the firewall behind it, and used a nail to get it back in place. The other thing that came loose was the instrument panel in the front cockpit. All the lead inside the nose started to move around, and it knocked it loose. Unfortunatly that will not be repaired, as I am not willing to risk cracking the canopy when prying it open. I used VMS matt varnish, and that made the light wash that I did before it totally dissapear. I decided to experiment with some oils then. I have never done this before, and it was a bit of a learning curve. I mixed some of that Abteilung stuff with some enamel thinners. It's a bit too much in places, but I like how it works, so I might do it again on future builds. Some chipping was done with a bit of sponge and Revell Aqua aluminium. The exhaust stains were done with some pastels. The landing gear is from Aerocraft Models. It's proper strong bronze, not that soft white metal stuff. You do need to use some of the kit parts on it as well, and they don't quite match up, but at least this is much stronger this way. EDIT: I only just now noticed the Aerocraft stuff also comes with some 3D printed parts, so I didn't have to cut some of the plastic of the kit parts. More pics in the gallery. Thanks for looking, Pete Edited September 3 by Creepy Pete 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted September 4 Share Posted September 4 That’s a looker Pete, very well done indeed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LorenSharp Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 THat Tigercat looks meaner than you know what. Thanks for letting us tag along on your build. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thom216 Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Congrats on a great looking Tiger'! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corsairfoxfouruncle Posted September 5 Share Posted September 5 Beautiful and Purrty cat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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