1/48 KIttyhawk F9F-8T Cougar

I'm sure you'll do fine.  Looks like you're off to a good start.

But the more I read about Kitty Hawk kits, and the more WIPs I see of Kitty Hawk kits the more I think I will just avoid KH if at all possible.

"come unglued"?

do you mean that the plastic is not melting and bonding with plastic cement? sort of like happened with too much tube glue back in the old days?

I would try this kit with CA and Accelerator if that is the case,,,,and I mean the "fumes on a brush method" not baking soda

or if you really want it to bond as it is supposed to, maybe try high quality Lacquer Thinner or MEK, etc.

The only "styrene" I remember running into that wouldn't melt with hobby cement was from Eastern Express a long time ago,,,,,,and LT worked on that plastic.

Rex

Yup, the plastic is not melting and bonding. I've already switched over to CA and have put the cockpit/front fuselage back together. As bad as it looks, it will be okay. I made masters to reinforce some areas. I'm going to make molds tonight and cast them tomorrow. Once that's done, I can continue with assembling the fuselage. I haven't had a kit fight me like this in a long time. That's okay, though. You need a challenge every once in awhile.

if you are going to be at the St Louis show, I will bring you a kit for show and tell, that you can then "take and make",,,,,it is 1/72 but, it will help put things into perspective if you ever feel like a "kit will win" and beat you.

I have to show this kit to someone, because most people just don't believe me when I type about it,,,,and pics don't do it justice, lol.

Don't worry, it can be built US naval, lol.

Rex

Ooh, you're going to be at the St. Louis show? I've been toying with the idea of going. Hanging out and talking NavAir with you makes it even more appealing.

yeah, Anne and I went looking at the "mileage circle" centered at Nashville,,,,,,it turns out that we can drive to St Louis in the Midwest faster than we can get to Little Rock in the south, from here.

I will bring all kinds of "boring goodies" along with me for you to look at. It does look like all the models I bring will be "off topic" Air Force stuff,,,,,but, that is just because of timing.

Darren Roberts

And this project is now a big, hot mess! Everything has now, literally, come unglued. Oh well, I'll press on and overcome.

Are you kidding me???!!! How in Hades did this happen? Yes, I know that you can recover from this by using alternate methods and glues, but really... for as much as they charge for a new tooled kit like this there is no excuse on their part. If thise is how their plastic is, I sure will not be buying ANY of their kits. And that is a true shame, as they have some long neglected subjects coming out....

I'm building their 1:48 F-101 Voodoo right now and I have to say the plastic is really crappy. It's brittle, full of white stress and injector pin marks. Just removing the pieces from the sprue stresses the plastic. There are also a lot of fit issues so far. Kitty Hawk spent a lot of time in engineering a finely detailed aircraft only to negate all that work by using horrible plastic.  For the cost of the kit, it's really sad.

Are you having any problems with the seams staying bonded? I agree whole-heartedly about the them making a beautiful kit only to cancel it out with difficult to work with plastic. Imagine these kits with Hasegawa or Tamiya style plastic.

Darren Roberts

Are you having any problems with the seams staying bonded? I agree whole-heartedly about the them making a beautiful kit only to cancel it out with difficult to work with plastic. Imagine these kits with Hasegawa or Tamiya style plastic.

Bummer! I just bought the KH Jaguar Gr1, and thought the plastic looked "funny" when I pawed thru it. Now I know it's evil waiting to happen. Too bad, 'cause Ive been waiting a long time for a modern kit of the subject, like the rest of you I doubt I'll be wanting any more of Kittyhawks offerings.

Mike

That is gonna be a nice plane when done. You've definitely made the issues unknown to the observer at this point. Can't wait to see it done.

are you going to build all the squadrons that operated the Fighter version?

It seems that you sort of hinted that you will be building a lot of those when they get released,,,,,it just reminded me of your Tomcat set.

Rex

ps, does this mean that 1/48 builders will be looking for a -6 in their scale too now?

I might not do all of them, but there are a few I'd like to do. :-)

wow, that sure "has the right look for a TwoGar" to me, and I mean that in the specific dimension sort of way

If this family model is any indication, they will have a winner for the shape with the single seater too

Just as long as you guys put the word out as to which glue to use, the kit will make a very good upgrade from the Resin kits of before. Maybe advise KH at the Nats to include a "suggested glue paper insert" into his Cougar kits, to eliminate that problem? (oh and take this one with you to show that "it can be done")

Side bet, there will be conversion sets for this one for -6 and -7 before 2015 Nats, Doesn't 1/48 still "need" an F6F-6P conversion set?

Rex

Nice recovery, Darren!

Super nice build. It's amazing to see where this came from and where it landed. Truly amazing looking aircraft. Well done!!

Great Save!! Fine looking build. Maybe you can send K.H. a "nasty-gram" and get a descent reply? Bob

Very impressive model, especially given the fight it gave you. Thanks for posting the bad news and the good news - hope KH takes notice.

Mike

D.R.- What a study in patience, but by sticking with it you turned a pig into a fine Arabian show horse. GREAT JOB you made of it. I know zip of this airplane, but I see two windscreens. Was this airplane intended to takeoff and land with the canopy open, in order for emergency exit purposes? If that is the case, that could explain the second wind screen. Just wondering.

Beautiful build, thanks for posting.

Patrick  

Patrick, this is a "useless piece of trivia from TarnShip",,,,,,,,but, even when at rest on the deck of a carrier, anytime there is a reason for a pilot/instructor to be sitting in the back seat of a naval aircraft, there is at least 40 mph of wind coming into a cockpit,,,,,,,more than that on days of with more than a 5 mph wind.

So, even if the back seater gets onboard the aircraft before the ship turns into the wind,,,,,eventually he will be sitting there with wind coming over the aircraft nose while the canopy is still open. (canopies close while sitting on the Cat or while waiting behind the JBD in the days before the super efficient air conditioning units)

Rex

r13b20

Great Save!! Fine looking build. Maybe you can send K.H. a "nasty-gram" and get a descent reply? Bob

It might be helpful if everyone would drop Kitty Hawk a nice comment about our disappointment with their plastic. You have to use an email address to contact them: 

kittyhawkmodel@vip.sina.com

More information: Before the advent of the powerful steam catapult, Navy fighter and attack aircraft were designed with sliding canopies. The standard procedure was to launch (and often recover) with canopies open in case of emergency ditching. That way the pilot get out quickly before the ship/wake pulled the temporarily floating aircraft under. The first Navy single-seaters to feature clam-shell canopies (and hence, closed canopy launch/recovery) were the A4D Skyhawk and F4D Skyray (and everything since).

Tarn and Paul -  Good explanations, otherwise if the canopy were to be always closed, a second windscreen would make as much sense as taking sand to the beach.

Thanks guys.

Patrick