Metallic Details Vultee P-66 Vanguard in Chinese service

[Tim R-T-C]

 

Metallic Details might be a familiar name to aftermarket enthusiasts, appropriately given their name, this Dnepropetrovsk based company is best known for etch detail sets as well as resin and 3d printed parts. Last year they also started producing some 3d printed aircraft kits in 1/144 scale - these are full kit boxings, in that they include a multi-part model, along with photoetch, vacform canopies and a proper decal sheet, it is simply that the main kit parts are 3d printed pieces and not made by injection moulding or cast resin. This setup does presumably allow for much smaller production runs than the average kit, hence the obscurity of many of the MM releases which also include the Cervia C.30 autogyro and Grumman F3F.

 

I have already built one of the MM P-66s in a 1941 USAAC scheme - https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235134605-p-66-vultee-vanguard-metallic-details-california-1941/

 

The P-66 is a curious bird, an attempt to cash in on the expected demand for fighters from the UK and allies during the early days of the war, it was not particularly successful and although the RAF aquired some examples, they ended up heading to support the Chinese forces against Japan rather than going across the Atlantic (although one did carry faux-RAF markings, which I hope to model later). I have decided that the Chinese roundelled example would be a good addition to my CBI collection so that is what I will be modelling here.

 

 

Feels weird to have the main fuselage appear as just a single component, but removing the myriad of support pieces is certainly no cake-walk and required a lot of clean-up. Didn't really save any work-load overall over a basic injection kit.

 

 

The vents around the cowling are etched parts and very fiddly to bend to shape - fitting tolerance is very tight too making this a rather difficult job. Surprised these parts were not just represented on the fuselage print, although I guess it does give the possibility to present these flaps open - although not without some careful adaptation.

 

 

Edited December 3, 2024 by Tim R-T-C

[Milan Mynar]

It is nice looking  3D printed kit.

[JOCKNEY]

Blooming Nora that looks like a complete kit in one part !

 

However, cracker on and let's get this one finished 

 

Cheers Pat 

[Tim R-T-C]

 

This project still fights on, despite getting put on the back burner for a while. Paint applied and the Chinese scheme markings too. Some of the MD decal sets on these 3d printed kits are of variable quality, but these were well printed and went down fine.

[JOCKNEY]

Looks terrific,  delighted you've decided to finish this one.

 

Cheers Pat