I. D. Models 1/32 vac form AR-234

Great start, I'll be following along for the build.

Your friend's, Toshi & Ezra

Thanks Tosh!it should be interesting!

I ordered a paint mask set for the canopy assembly and a set of metal landing gear.Going to take a lot of weight to avoid tail sitting!

Ok made the bulkheads out if thick plastic and boxed in the wing area.Phil likes structure!  

Mocking it up and checking the fit...needs work but I can deal with it.Compared to 1/48 it is huge!I will.definetly have to hang it !  

Joined the fuselage halves fit was poor (might be my fault)so I put a .10 styrene plate on top of the fuselage and faired it in.Rescribed some panel lines and I think it will do!   

Painted the resin engines flat aluminum.I suspect they may be repops of the Revell 262 kits engines. 

Luckily I had a spare wheel well part for the nose. From a Revell 262 kit.

Engine nacelle and wing assembly ongoing...

Mounted up the wings with brass tubing that I flattened in my bench vise.Usef JB Weld to secure them.Will add putty to smooth out the joint.  

• Ok got the horizontal stabs and rudder installed.   

I cut the openings for the wheel wells and made them by wrapping a 12mm socket around a sheet if aluminum.I made flanges so that they could be installed from the outside.Took awhile to figure out how to do that .   

Aftermarket metal landing gear has arrived.  

Mocked up the landing gear..this is a surprise !No tail sitting!The only thing I can think if is that the vac form plastic is thinner and lighter than conventional styrene.If course once the engines are installed it will.likely change the balance and weight will have to be added.  

In answer to your query re blocking your thread -- apparently not...or it was a temporary issue.

Cheers

How is the integrity of the fuselage and wings with these vacuform kits? Is the plastic firm like a traditional kit?  I've been thinking about buying an old kit and seeing what I could do with it just for fun. When I was a kid, these were for advanced modelers only.

Well you have to reinforce the wing to joints with tubes or spars but the integrity is fine.

Posting here to answer your block question....  Had a heck of a time finding this thread - the search engine on the site is useless - i put in your user id and it just had a post form like 2015 and 1 other thing......  good luck - looks interesting

Vac form kits require different techniques than conventional.plastic kits.I like to outline the parts with a Sharpie and scribe around them with a new #11 blade ,then you break the parts out.Then you tape a couple of sheets of 100 grit sandpaper to a flat surface and sand the parts in a figure 8 pattern until the fit is decent.Use liquid cement or super glue to join the parts and putty the joints.The best Vac Form kits are or were made by Contrail ,Rareplanes. And Welsh Models .Combat /ID kits require more work because they are so basic.Try a 1/72 vac firm kit to see if you like them.

Made the airlerons out if 1/16" Aluminum.  

Added some interior detail from the spare parts stash...

Having attempted one vacuform kit, I have the utmost respect for the skills to build these, particularly a more complex kit like you are doing.   Looking great so far!

Thanks!I just wish they had included more cockpit parts instead of nothing!

Mrchntmarine

Posting here to answer your block question....  Had a heck of a time finding this thread - the search engine on the site is useless - i put in your user id and it just had a post form like 2015 and 1 other thing......  good luck - looks interesting

 

Ok airbrushed the primer coat...had to stop in the middle and mix up some more gray because I underestimated the surface area of a 1/32 scale kit!   

So this kit had zero interior detail? You've made it look nice and complete. 

Nothing!so I raided my spare parts abd put something together!The canopy is large so empty would not do!