Choppa Nutta
I have this set, handy to have but easy to bend if you are too vigorous,
seem to be lasting ok though

Ollie Boy
What can I use as a handle for this? The manual says to use 74040 knife as handle, but I can't find it anywhere.

Sarunas D
Maybe 74020 is a good alternative

Martin Oostrom
Tamiya's website site refers to 74111
https://tamiyausa.com/shop/tools/photo-etched-craft-saw/none/
https://tamiyausa.com/shop/tools/handy-craft-saw-ii/

That's this one: Handy Craft Saw II (Tamiya 74111, No)

Andrea Morris
Any exacto style handle will do. Be gentle!

Urban Gardini
@Ollie just use any X-acto type handle

Urban Gardini
I've used them in the past but don't use them anymore, my go to saw is the JLC razor saw and that one is by far superior in my mind.

Ollie Boy
Thanks, I will try my x-acto handle

Rui S
Nice work

Sarunas D
Roland, thanks for joining.

In certain ways this kit is really good - the overall fuselage shape is accurate, the armament is correct for the Bombcat version. Another great feature is the swing-wing mechanism, strengthened by metal parts and screws - once top and bottom of fuselage is assembled you have a sturdy and reliable swing mechanics. And metal landing gear parts to support this large jet. And nice decals.

However, there are other serious issues with the kit, like decals for cockpit instruments, raised panel lines on almost all surfaces, fictitious panel lines at the front of the fuselage. The fit of major sub-assemblies is really bad. It requires a lot of dry fitting, and filling and sanding afterwards. Many details are lost to sanding, so the fuselage really needs a full rescribe in order to look good. I already started rescribing the part between the vertical tails.

This kit is for those who want to do some "dirty" work and improve their skills. I have a quality that I'd better work on a crap kit and complete it as best and as clean as possible. Considering a modeller enjoys this kind of build, it's still hard to recommend the kit - the kit and Eduard cockpit PE (decals for instruments in the kit) cost about 200$ with shipping costs. So in conclusion, I'd build one of these for sports and improvement, but after that I'd just get Trumpeter versions - Tamiya is simply asking too much $$$ for the level of quality that's in the box.

Thanks for the group build link. I'll go check it out. It's almost the middle of the year, not sure if I'll finish the kit this year

Roland Gunslinger
Ok, That sounds conflicting. I've never seen this kit but the raised panel lines and the high price deterred me to buy the big Tamiya kit.
I'm starting the Trumpeter D for the GB, though it sound's like the Trumpeter kit has lots of issues, too. We will see

Ben Schumacher
Nice work so far! Still, the Tamiya kit is the only accurate one on the market - at least shape wise. And it's so much easier to add a few groove lines than correcting the massive shape issues of the Trumpeter kit...

Sarunas D
Ben, thanks for your reply. Yeah, the Tamiya kit is better shape-wise. I just wish they would update their moulds to at least have detail in the cockpit and engraved panel lines everywhere.

Ben Schumacher
The best would be if they'd upscale their excellent 1/48th scale kit - the problem is they are still literally printing money with the o.d kits whose moulds are paid since an eternity...

Alexander
Looking good so far, curious how it will look when finished, especially with all the issues you already mentioned. I guess you're probably not finished with all the fit problems, hopefully the landing gear will fit fine and not be skewed . Even being a 2003 kit, I would have expected something considerably better from Tamiya.

Sarunas D
Ben, that's true. I think they definately can upscale their 48th scale kit!
Alexander, thanks. Well it won't be as precise and detailed as Masa Narita's build of the kit into a F-14D, lol! Most of the kit is actually 40 years old, only weapons and exhausts were updated!
This kit is again on hold so I down burnout myself, lol. I'm doing a few simple kits to keep my skills fresh. But when I return I'll finish rescribing it!

Alexander
Oh yeah, just checked the history of the kit, well..
But yeah, I assume there is only so much sanity one can have when dealing with problems of this caliber. Better being grounded for a while than having only one flight, lol.

Murad ÖZER
looks like the camo consists of these 4 colors:
FS34097
FS34108
FS30372
FS16440

Murad ÖZER
a search on scm for fs 34097 comes up with these equivalents:

SCM Search: FS34097

Murad ÖZER
to my eyes on both the fs color callout and real life pictures it surely looks like your usual airforce olive drab but with a noticeable green tint instead of the darkish/brownish one to be honest.

Sarunas D
You're right about the green tint. I looked at every MM green enamel color that my local shop has and decided to go with MM 2029 Green FS34258 - it looks closest to the color in the manual.

Thomas K.
looks good!