I've never built a resin kit before as well.  I'll be following your progress closely as this intrigues me greatly.  Good luck!

Toshi

There is one thing you should do before you start this kit. Read up on Resin kit building. A complete resin kit should be built verrrrry carefully. You should get a particulate mask to wear while cutting the parts from the plug and working with the resin. The resin dust is very harmful to the lungs. Gloves would help out too. 

Work carefully.

Jim  

All true.  Wet sanding is good too.  Once the dust is in the air it stays awhile.  Just be patient and you will do fine.

As a former MAC employee, I have always loved that plane!  That kit has just been a little too much on the pricey side for me.  Maybe your build will encourage me enough to bite the bullet and shell out the money!

Upon closer examination, I see the first signs of what looks to be a long road. The parts are filled with tiny (and some not so tiny) air bubbles. I did some thorough research of resin kits yesterday, and I did find that the air bubbles come from the casting process. Grr....it looks like that is just what building resing comes with. The wing tips seem to be particularly stricken with 'pox'. I have not yet decided if I will fill the holes with gap-filling super glue or try using some Squadron putty.

You can let me know what you guys think.

As to the general fit of the kit, I am not that pleased with what I am seeing. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The worst culprits seem to be the engine nacelles. The splitter plates either don't align, or are completely missing altogether! There are also some nasty gaps in what seem like very hard-to-get-to places.

Well, I will let you know how it goes!

So after seeing all of that ugly yesterday, I am using my newly learned resin knowledge!! I have never before washed any model of mine (and I have made many). This will be a first for me. 

Warm water and soap will do the trick. I also read that it is best to scrub it with an old toothbrush. You will notice that I have also gone through and checked that everything is in order and nothing missing. I have also sorted parts into appropriate stages.

This picture is post-wash, and I am satisfied with how it turned out.

However, I am not entirely pleased with some of the resin parts, most especially the pitot that was included. It is awful!!! Saying it is over-sized is an understatement!! It is very large and not slender in the least. I will replace it with a piece of brass. The only issue that I can already forsee is that I have no space in the wing to drill a hole to inset the pitot in. The wing(s) are paper thin at the location the pitot is to be inserted. I figure it will end up getting attached multiple times after close enounters with fat fingers or careless bumps. :/

I'm interested in hearing how this resin build goes for you.  Last year I bought two expensive resin 1/24 car kits.  I will readily admit that they intimidate me quite a bit.  I've never built a resin kit and look forward to learning from you.Good luck!

Gary

Resin kits used to be notorious for using an oily parting agent which needed to be washed off with soap and water before any painting or gluing.  Many kits no longer have this problem, but I wash the kit anyway just as a precaution.

If the holes are not too large, a full bodied primer like auto body primer will usually fill those bubble holes after two or three coats, sanding between coats.

Wow, that is rough. I have a few resin garage kits and thankfully none with holes that bad. Superglue works good for the bigger holes and a good primer as Don said for the smaller ones.

But I guess that's what you have to go though, I've never seen this aircraft in anything but resin and vac-form which is it's own headache.

I have prepared the parts now to be primed. I will probably end up using some Tamiya fine to prime it, as I haven't read that that would be a problem. 

After closer examintion of the propellers had I found that they were quite chunky. After some intense sanding am I now more satisfied with how they look. However, I am not please with the attachment pins that they have provided. When I dry fit the propellers into the hubs did I notice that the angle was really (I mean REALLY) weird. They sort of flared inward instead of being perpendicular to the hub. I will have to think of what I will do to amend that.

The detail on the tire rims is nice. I am pleased with them.

The fuselage and engine nacelles came together with some difficulties. I tried in vain to get the halves to glue and only after it wasn't working with the CA did I figure out that it was the CA with the problems. That got turfed. There was need of lots of filler along the mating line for both the nacelles and the fuselage, but I am pleased that all my sanding has paid off. Joining the nacelles to the fuselage, and the wings to the nacelles I believe will be another story all together.

I think on the whole the plane looks very sharp, and I like the distinct curves of the fuselage. 

Looks like you are doing fine.  I fill bubbles with CA and sand them pretty soon, just as soon as I am sure it has gone off.  Thin CA is best for this.  I use Westley's Bleche Wite for cleaning the resin. It's pretty harsh stuff but it does a very good job.  It's at auto parts stores, it's used to clean white sidewall tires.  Might be hard to find, there's a substitute now called Black Magic Blech Wite but apparently is less concentrated.  May work OK.

You're doing a great job.  Everything looks good in your hands.

Toshi

I have made some more progress. The fuselage is together with the addition of the tail fin. I have filled with Squadron putty along the joint line. It was a pretty nasty seam before the filling. 

I have also filled the offending seam on the engine nacelles. They were also pretty ugly. I will do some sanding once the putty has dried. As to the wings, I wasn't very happy with how the bubble holes had filled with the CA. I sanded that down and applied some Squadron putty to fill it instead. 

As I had mentioned in an earlier post; you can see just how thin the wings really are!

You're making great progress there! 

I'd always heard people tell me to fill holes with CA but if putty works better use what works! 

I was unable to open the latest image, which is a .webp file.  I'm not familiar with this type of image file- what software is needed to open it?

Don, this is the image that I think you couldn't see. Is it working now?

Sheek, it looks like you're making good progress with this kit.  I built this one about four or five years ago (maybe more).  I, too, remember all the little pin holes in the resin.  I ended up using a wide brush and brushing on a layer of Mr. Surfacer 500 to really level off the resin and fill in the holes.  A good sanding really made for a more acceptable surface.  A couple of holes needed an extra drop or two of the primer but it made for quick sanding.

This was my very first resin kit as well.  I love the XP-67 and our kit choices of this amazing plane are woefully limited.  The Anigrand kit is a good one to get your feet wet in the world of resin kits.  I also have the 1/48 scale Collect-Aire kit of the XP-67 but that one is a real mess.  Each time I get up the nerve to think about starting it, I take it out, look at it, then put it back on my shelf.  The modeling world needs more XP-67s, not more Spitfires, German planes or Mustangs.

Eric

Agreed on an injection molded Moonbat!  I figured MPM or Special Hobby would have done one by now.  An XP-54 Swoose Goose too.

The other 1/72 option for an XP-67 is the Rareplanes vac kit.  I have one somewhere in the stash, and it seemed to have nice surface detail.  I do remember that the wheel wells were way too rounded on the edges and that the plastic sheet was pretty thin.  When I bought the kit, some of the problems seemed insurmountable, but they don't seem as intimidating now.  Back in the day, I had no idea where to get things like replacement wheels and such.  It's been that long. 

The Anigrand kit offers its own challenges as you are aware.    I look forward to seeing yours built!

I have been busy painting my smaller pieces. After a good coating of Tamiya primer, I started to add the colors.

Silly me, I guess I should have thought about this one a little better. In hindsight, I should probably have cut these before painting, as I am sure I will mar the topcoat somewhat when I cut it for the landing bays. 

*shrugs

Can't do anything at this point. 

My gears have their colors done. I wasn't happy with how the the top part of the front wheel joined with the gear intself. I decided to very carefully use a no. 11 blade to make a space between the top of the tyre and the gear. All that is left with them now is some weathering and a couple of bolts. I am not going to go too heavy on the weathering, as the plan for the plane is to be one which mostly sees the inside of a hangar.

The pilot (obtained from my spares box) has been started. My propeller tips are done, as are my two main tyres and the pair of exhausts. Now, neither the exhausts nor the pilot fit into the spaces that they gotta go. I will have to ream out the opening to allow the exhausts to fit better, and, alas, the pilot's feet may have to go. 

Now, as a better explanation of the horrendous pitot provided in the kit......tadaaa!

Like I said, it is AWFUL!! Scale that baby up 72 times!!

modelsheek91

Don, this is the image that I think you couldn't see. Is it working now?

 

Yep, works fine now.

So I am happy now. All of the niggly bits are painted, weathered, and ready to be glued on when the time comes. 

Because the control panel had no sort of details on it, I aqcuired a decal from my spares box and modified it to fit. 

As to the canopy, I have only built one other kit with vac-formed parts. This canopy, alas, is also vac-formed. My last experience was less-then-pleasant, so I hope this one turns out better. The detailing on it for the rails is not very prominent, so I have attempted to use some liquid mask on it. 

Wohoo! I got the body put together without too much swearing! What do you think about the shape of this guy! It's awesome!!

The fit between the nacelles and the fuselage were a little poor, and there was a lot of sanding and reshaping required. As you can see, I have filled along the join lines, and did some filling as well. 

I can just see the light at the end of the tunnel!

Now for some paint! With the primer on, I take to the skies, er, spray booth for my lower grey/upper olive drab.

For the grey I used simple toll paints, thinned probably 80-20 with Tamiya universal thinner. I have also had good results thinning it in the same ratios with straight water and rubbing alcohol. The alcohol is nice because it quickens the drying time, whereas the water gives it a more rough texture.

Ok, am I the only one who gets peeved off at the sheer differences in all of the companies' olive drab color? Humbrol is different to Testors, which is different to Model Master, and so on. Well, this paint that I used is also different. For my olive drab I decided to use Badger's ModelFlex paint (as there are no actual color photos of the Moonbat, I rationalized that there was a bit more flexibility in the coloring that I used). What was nice with the ModelFlex color was that it was pre-thinned and ready for the airbrush. It went down nicely, and gave a very smooth finish.  

That's looking very nice!  You are making great progress!

When working a vac canopy measure twice, cut a little bit, check fit, then cut a little more.  Repeat until the canopy fits perfectly.  If no spare is provided, you can pour some quick set plaster into the uncut canopy (still on its sheet) in case the unspeakable occurs.  Use the casting to vac or plunge form a new canopy.

The XP-67 had a two-tone upper camo, with greenish areas on the wing outer edges and O.D. everywhere else.  Does Anigrand's instructions mention this?  If not I can scan the Rareplanes instructions for you.

Heh, and while the oldie moldie vac kit is out maybe I'll look into restarting it.  Oops, sorry must be the cold meds talking.  . Cough-cough.

Anyway, keep plugging away!

I dug out the Rareplanes vac kit, but the instruction sheet paint guide is blotchy!  This is probably more helpful:

https://goo.gl/images/fxNhCH

See the darker areas on the perimeter of the airframe?

Wow, she's looking great! The finish looks perfect, you did a great job on the seams and pin-holes. 

As to OD green, I'm not sure about the USAAF but with the army version there doesn't seem to have been a standard. Some factories used shades darker or lighter, more greenish or brownish than others. 

G: I'd love to see yours too! 

So I managed to track down a photo of the Moonbat where there does not seem to be the variance of color on the wings. It is a bit hard to make out, but it looks like the upper/lower wings are solid colors. 

Alas, I may also be wrong on the whole thing as someone earlier pointed out that it did have a variation of color.

I have gotten the rails painted on the canopy. I resorted to hand painting it because there were no raised/scribed details to get a cut off of with a no. 11 blade. I will clean up the crispness of the lines once the paint has completely dried. I have enhanced the 'clearness' of the glass by immersing the canopy in some Future, then letting it dry covered on a paper towel. I stress that it has to be covered or all of the dusties floating in the air will stick to it!!! 

To enforce what I had mentioned in an earlier post, the kit-supplied pitot is that thick hunk on the right. The painted brass wire is on the left. The original pitot was even fatter than the wing, and I am left scratching my head how that would get attached!!!

And finally, I have managed to finish with the props. 

This is one of the pair of them, and it doesn't look too bad, if I may say so myself. Fitting the blades on the spinner was a bit tricky. The blades came attached to a resin sprue by their pins, but the problem was in that, first of all, the pins were WAY TOO SMALL to fit in the holes provided in the spinner. The second problem was that the way the blades were shaped made the alignment on the spinner all wrong. They flared inwards, actually following the profile of the spinner. I was initially going to just go with how they were, but then I did realize that it was way too wrong. So I chopped the pins off, and did some reshaping of the ends. I then drilled a small hole and inserted a metal pin of my own to give it some structure. I then centered the pin in the hole, set the position and glued it in place. Once it was dry, I put in some filler. Then added some paint, and VOILA!!