Official Alley Cat GB Sept2010-Sept2011

hey guys, I'm not in this build. ( yet ).. but I am lurking... and I have few suggestions for the Tripod bird builders..

1: not all the weight for the bird to sit on the nose gear needs to be in the nose.. you can place weight anywhere infront of your balance point. And the balance point may change between the with the wheels on the gear or not. I place weights in the engines , fuselage and anywhere thats on the side the needs the weight, this can cut down how much wieght is needed on the nose gear, places some weight on the main gear.

2: try wheel wieghts... get them from local auto parts stores, or used ones from tire balancing shops. I cut them with good wire cutters to size, then shape them with pliers, their very mallable.

3; attach your weights with 2 part epoxy.. I use 2 types,, liquid or putty... depending on what, and where.. both work good and won't melt your plastic..

i use bluetack to hold my weights in

The Wildcats reached their stall out point last night. They're now on hold until the vacform canopies and Gunze paint show up.

Also...relearned yesterday why I don't spray Tamiya white primer straight from the rattlecan. Had to strip whole areas off with lacquer thinner...which ate a portion of the starboard wing detail on both planes. Not sure why the starboard and not port...

Hate to ask guys, but I'm stuck.  The original aircraft I am building was modified with the canopy from an F8F Bearcat.  I don't have one.  Would anyone have a Bearcat you scuttled and don't need?  1/48 Testors or Hobby Craft.  Just need canopy parts.  Only problem with Testors is the canopy fram is partly integrated with the fuselage.  If anyone can I appreciate it.  If not, no biggie, I can change my theme.

Chris

Chris - try this 

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SQ9521

or this:

http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SQ9616

Would like to get in one this one with the ARII F6F-3.

This is my first kit from Arii , not a bad kit for the price. The interior is nice ,if not overly detailed. The exterior is wondeful.

 Will probably build OOB with canopy closed and focus on paint, markings and weathering.

 I haven't decided on whose markings to go with yet, but I'm thinking of the Hellcats flying from the Princeton. I just love the faces on those cats. Also will be an ace's bird . Why, of course, for a Zero killer.

 Howard

Sweet, you're on the list. Never seen that company before. whats the kit like?

Scorpiomikey

Sweet, you're on the list. Never seen that company before. whats the kit like?

 Very nice for under $20 at my local Hobbytown. Some light flash here and there , nothing to get in a twist about. Cockpit is detailed enough to be presentable OOB even with the canopy open , although the glass seems a little on the thick side . Details are crisply molded, especially the outside. Nice engraved panel lines . Strangly though ,I can't locate exhaust stacks. Easily solved with bits of brass tube.

Decals seem ok , not much on the sheet though. Basically the box art aircraft, but with aftermarket and printable decal sheets , markings abound.

Liked it well enough to run back a few days later and pick up an A6M5 Zero and Raiden"Jack" . Got to have some opposition after all.

 I've heard this comany has the Otaki molds. I would say compareable to the Monogram kits of the late 70s early 80s. Maybe a step up.

 The 3 Arii kits I picked up would build into very beautiful models with minimum effort , but would also be great starting points for all out super detailing. Would recommend to any one trying keep kit cost down ,yet still build nice models

Howard

Nice to know. ill keep an eye out next time im shopping around. As for exhaust stubs lately Ive seen them being molded into the fuselage halves or already on one of the engine parts. They'll be there somewhere.

DoogsATX

Chris - try this http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SQ9521

or this: http://www.squadron.com/ItemDetails.asp?item=SQ9616

 

Thanks for the links.  Seen them before, just didn't feel like dropping 10 bucks on a tiny little piece of plastic.  I think I'm just going to do a different scheme.  Though about a race plane but their markings look just like the military schemes.  I haven't been able to find anything exotic yet.

Wanted to post some pics of the ARII kit. After de-bagging the parts trees and closer inspection , have discovered a few minor flaws in the molding . Not sure if they will show in the pics.I have circled them with pencil. Nothing a little  filler and light sanding won't cure .

 The biggest challenge is the canopy glass has one of those strange "ripples" that I may need to polish out . I Future all my canopys anyway so it shouldn't be a problem.

I'm not going for an all out detail, will add some scratched items here and there , add ignition harness plus wires to the engine , paper strip belts with fine wire buckles. That sort of thing. Enough to enhance, while keeping it simple.

BTW - there are no exhaust stubs , just small openings where the stubs would exit . Simple enough to remedy. I still stand by my original opinion of this company's kits . For the price , using basic modeling skills , they should build up quite nice.

kg4kpg

Thought about a race plane but their markings look just like the military schemes.  I haven't been able to find anything exotic yet.

Chris,

By exotic you mean like this?

www.rarebear.com   You can modify a kit based on these drawings http://www.warbirdaeropress.com/articles/Taichi/TaichiNew.htm (scroll down til you get to the Bearcats and Corsairs section), or you can build one of the High Planes kits (which are kind of rough, but they're the only game in town).

woah baby, thats hot.

A bit more progress on the Wildcats. 

Finally got the vacform canopies yesterday, so I spent a good chunk of my bench time last night cutting them from the backing sheet. What a PITA! 

Since the canopies are for the Monogram kit, the windscreens didn't come anywhere close to fitting, but the main canopies work just fine, so I'm going to be posing them opened up. 

Next up - masking the canopies, colored tails and cowl interiors. Hoping I can get around to laying down primer tonight...

lewbud

Chris,

By exotic you mean like this?

www.rarebear.com   You can modify a kit based on these drawings http://www.warbirdaeropress.com/articles/Taichi/TaichiNew.htm (scroll down til you get to the Bearcats and Corsairs section), or you can build one of the High Planes kits (which are kind of rough, but they're the only game in town). 

Well, actually I was referring to an F7F racer.  All the pics I've found the F7F race plane they are in glossy sea blue with navy markings.  I do like the warbirdaeropress site, I want to do The Spirit of Texas Seafury one of these days.

Kg4Kpg you could always do a what if F7F, your own custom paint scheme. There are some of those in the air racer BG and another one is starting. Would be a cool airframe to start with I think. Oh and there are 2 of them flying at Reno this year.

vetteman42

Kg4Kpg you could always do a what if F7F, your own custom paint scheme. There are some of those in the air racer BG and another one is starting. Would be a cool airframe to start with I think. Oh and there are 2 of them flying at Reno this year.

Personally I think a yellow wing F7F would look amazing.

Your all evil geniuses, i love it. I agree, an exotic What if F7F would look mint. And crossovers are welcome in both GB's (im hosting the 2nd round air racer GB too) So if you decide to go down that path i hope to see you over there too.

Scorpiomikey

Your all evil geniuses, i love it. I agree, an exotic What if F7F would look mint. And crossovers are welcome in both GB's (im hosting the 2nd round air racer GB too) So if you decide to go down that path i hope to see you over there too.

On the first page of the current Air Race GB, there was mention of a 'what if ' F7F powered by 4360 Wasp Majors. Now that would really be evil. Besides ,Tantrum with its twin Griffons might need the competition LOL.

Seriously, You could do  engine nacelles, cowlings, and   spinners similar to the shape of Rare Bear's nose end . Not to mention any other aerodynamic improvements. An unlimited gold F7F would be awesome.

Now see what you guys have made me do...take out the tools.   Several good ideas, I'll mull them over.  Not sure where I would find Wasp engines...or what they would cost me for that matter.  I do have a couple engines from the Monogram P-61 kit, what model engine were they?  Hmmm

The P-61 used the P&W R2800 Double Wasp, so you'd be good there.

If you want aftermarket, Vector makes a gorgeous one: http://ultracast.ca/products/Vector/48%20Scale/48-004/default.htm

paint is nearly done

eatthis, that is a lot of different planes and angles to get good coverage.  Nice work getting there.  Well, I've begun to clear my first real hurdle withe my F7F.  I made my own sink on the nose of the cat with Squadron Green putty, using it as adhesive to hold in weight.  The plastic has finally hardened and I've begun to do some body work  to repair it..  While I let the inside nose putty dry and stabilize, I did something that I had never tried.  I attached the wings to the fuselage halves before the fuselage was joined.  My concern was messing up the dehydral in the end.  What I got was a great fit at the wing root.  I was able to have a better look at the connection and small adjustments were easier as the Tenax started to set up.  It also let me give a little extra glue to the wing join where it protrudes inside the fuselage.  Joining the fuselage did dot seem any tougher even with those big wings already attached.  I will keep this in mind in the future. By the way this Cat is a gem of a build.  A little flash to deal with, but great fitting parts with very good detail.

A view of the joined wings before attaching the fuselage halves.

Here's the nose after the first trip into the body shop.

Wabashwheels

I did something that I had never tried.  I attached the wings to the fuselage halves before the fuselage was joined.  My concern was messing up the dehydral in the end.  What I got was a great fit at the wing root.  I was able to have a better look at the connection and small adjustments were easier as the Tenax started to set up.  It also let me give a little extra glue to the wing join where it protrudes inside the fuselage.  Joining the fuselage did dot seem any tougher even with those big wings already attached.  I will keep this in mind in the future. 

I just read about that technique in Tom Cleaver's 1/32 Trumpeter Bearcat review. Seems nutty, but I think I may have to try it next time I build a kit with separate wings. I would have tried it with the Wildcats if it hadn't been for the separate lower fuselage piece.

I actually did something not too far off with the Zvezda La-5 I'm building for Ostfront. It's a five piece wing...solid lower with two pieces for each top wing. I ended up joining them together first, from the inside. Worked really well and ensures that the awesome surface detail is preserved!

The Tigercat's looking great - can't wait to see it come together!

After a couple hits with the putty and sandpaper, the "dented nose" looks pretty good.  I rescribed the panel lines on that section of nose and put on a couple coats of Model Master Blue Angel Blue cut slightly with MM Insignia Blue.  I hope to bring down the gloss when I weather the panel lines with oils.  Boy, all this talk of wild paint schemes on F7F's makes my operational scheme seem pretty bland, but I'll stick with it.

The nose cleaned up pretty well.

Same plane, same paint, darker exposure.

Big birds looking nice eatthis. Looking forward to seeing little bird done too. I see youve got a pair of pigs there. what kits are they? What schemes are you planning on for them?

Wabash that tigercats look sweet.

the middle 1 is a 48 scale tornado the pig is 1/72 and its gonna be pink and purple lol

...pink?...and purple?...i have got to see that.

its my 1st attempt at preshading i just slapped some black on it with a brush does it need to be neater than this??

is it me or does that pink not look a million miles away from raf desert pink???

has the preshading worked at all? its more pronounced in the flesh

ps i hate decals espescially the little fiddly buggers my eyes are bad and my hans are too big!!