I'm finally in this bad boy! I admit, as a 1/48 Hasegawa 109 series fan, I was (and perhaps still am) skeptical that the Zveda 109 kit is really "better". After reading the reviews and seeing Wingnut's F-4, curiousity got the best of me so I decided to give it a whirl (kicking and screaming of course). This WIP will be objective and I intend to compare the two when appropriate. As a disclaimer, here's week worth of work so don't think I'm really this fast. So grab a sandwich you may be here awhile....
Following the lead of others who have built this turkey, I decided to get the Quickboost exhausts and I grabbed the Eduard PE set for cockpit as well. I decided to pass on the Vector set because it just didn't seem worth it to me. Besides, I think the spinner is nice and should hold a wash, perhaps even better than Hasegawa's example.
I started with the engine and assembled it per the instructions for the "In-flight" version since my example will be closed up. Perhaps it was me, but I found them extremely confusing. I only added what was necessary then added the QB exhaust stubs. I had no issues. (My joy would be short lived...)
I set this aside then turned to the cockpit. I thought the detail here was better than Hasegawa's example. I painted it XF-63 German Grey cut with XF-19 Light Grey to represent RLM 66. I added some of the PE, primarily the seat belts, pedals and the IP to spruce it up a bit. The separate fuel line Zveda provided had me scratching my head, as I broke mine trying to remove it from the sprue. Why not mold it to the starboard sidewall? Oh well, it looked good once fixed, painted and installed. I would have to attach the shoulder seat belts after the fuselage was assembled as the piece these attach to gets added after its closed up. No biggie just different.
I had a heck of a time getting the nose to close up. My Eduard Fw 190 Dora flashbacks started coming on quick like an old fashioned newsreel. I kept removing things from the top of the engine until I was able to close everything up. I still don't like the way it looks. It was at this point I started checking E-bay for a cheap Hasegawa F-2. I'm sorry, these types of kits just don't interest me.......I like things closed up to preserve the classic lines. I then began to notice that the panel lines were petite...perhaps too petite. I am concerned they won't hold a wash. I guess we'll see. There are no panel lines on the upper wings?.....strange I then read that some Fs didn't have them, so I didn't scribe them in. I do however like how all the control surfaces are posable, so I was a bit creative. I must say I like the tail planes deflected down. I may start cutting and poing all of them out from now on...
I also added the seamline on the intake with styrene rod. I've read the intake is inaccurate but I don't really care. It looks close enough to me.
The JG 26 kite I was building had a yellow nose. After a preshade of the panels, I painted that. I added a touch of XF-7 Flat Red to the XF-3 Flat Yellow...
Next I taped off the yellow and sprayed the wheel bays Gunze RLM 02. These are nicely detailed and way better than Hasegawa's version. The canvas covers are even present. I then started on the RLM 76. I used what I had left over from Hackl's G-6. After a light postshade, here we are.
Next I added the RLM 74 and 75 with Gunze Aqueous. I used a typical upper wing camo pattern which may or may not be correct. The condensation streaks were added for some subtle weathering.
Ok, I need some opinions here............does this dihedral look correct? To my eye, compared to Hasegawa kits, the angle is too much of a "V". Also, on my example, the wing tips seem to curl up slightly which I know is wrong. Perhaps my eyes are playing tricks on me...
Thats where I left off....
Joe