Construction - F3H-2/F-3B Demon
Cockpit is ready, harness from Tamiya tape + some leftover PE is out of sight.
The plastic does not hold well with Mr Cement S, but Revell Contacts seems to do the trick. Pieces need to be fixed together for a while, otherwise they easily come apart again.
The fuselage was a few mm smaller than the front part (containing the cockpit and wheel well) that had to be fit inside it. Thus, yet again the whole fuselage came apart and needed to be reglued. Luckily the engine stayed in, if that came out, it would be an extra hour of work.
There are some details, here the PE in intakes
The manual doesn't mention it, so I realized too late this could become a tail-sitter. After experimenting with struts where the landing gear will be and confirming, tried to close holes around the cockpit and pour some "liquid weight" or what the tiny pebbles are called. It didn't work, it all got out and would be visible in the cockpit or fall out through the tail. Had to pick in up the razor saw and find another way.
It came back together reasonably well, but will need some filling and sanding. And I won't be able to avoid rescribing.
Filling and sanding is going along, but as it's quite boring, decided to take a stab at the wings. While there are some super glue traces, where they shouldn't be, I think it looks pretty good!
Coming all together - there are some spots that could have been sanded better, but I think it's time to accept and move on.
Primed and pre-shaded.
Now with proper color, getting ready for decals.
Loved the decals - maybe a bit thick, but Mr Mark Softer/Setter worked wonders, they didn't tear and were a pleasure to work with. More like this, please!
Weathering the bottom
All attached, I think I'm ok calling this one done. Shame about the cockpit that doesn't fit and I wish the engine nozzle looked a bit better, but I'm glad I've finished my first short run .
Kommentarer
37 24 August 2021, 08:43
Palo MI think this is a shortrun and the first one I've ever built. The plastic is more in difficult to work with, e.g. Mr Cement S does not hold it together. Fit of some pieces is bad - there are large gaps or pieces just don't have enough space.
There were also a few sink marks, but they were easy to fix.
Also, don't expect any guiding holes/pins.
29 August 2021, 17:06
Palo MWelcome, Oleg and Maciej. Still filling and sanding the fuselage, both in the front near the cockpit, as well as the line along the fuselage. I'm also replacing the tail, as there are two versions in the kit and the other one seems more correct for the version I'm building. Next photos once filling and sanding is done.
3 September 2021, 19:40
Slavo HazuchaAn F-3 is the first step en route to the F-4 😉
PE seem to help a lot - you could clean up the affected areas with a brush & debonder - I bought a bottle, mainly for separating me from various surfaces/materials, which it does, but it also helps removing CA excess quite nicely...
5 September 2021, 20:14
Palo MYeah, debonder is coming up. There are some parts where I'm using the CA glue as filler so have to be careful.
5 September 2021, 20:45
Maxim MalparteHave one in my stash, following.
PS. About the de-bonder, I would use them very cautiously if I were you. The one I've been using sometimes also melts the kit plastic.
6 September 2021, 05:25
Palo MSeems to come together after all, with the exception of the cockpit. Unfortunately, even after trying to gently bend and sand the pieces, there is just no way to make the cockpit closed, a big gap stays.
3 October 2021, 19:19
Maxim MalparteI'm not going to have the canopy closed but still surprised by the large gap. Clean work till now, though.
4 October 2021, 16:41
Palo MI'm impressed with the decals - they are a bit thick, but are easy to apply and react well to magic potions to follow panel lines etc.
26 October 2021, 11:58
Palo MAnd finished. Proper photos still coming, but was fun to build my first short-run. I expected worse, Sword was a very nice surprise. Shame about the ill-fitting cockpit, everything else went great.
(And don't expect to use the thin Mr cement, it doesn't work)
13 November 2021, 19:36
James CIt looks great despite the issues you had. Nice paintwork, and great choice of markings 👍
14 November 2021, 00:41
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