Monogram Mafia III

Hey PJ,

Great progress work on your Voodoo.  I'm in with B-One on this one: you learn something new every time you visit the forum!!! Will be watching your NMF with great interest as well.  I'm terrified of trying a NMF again because of my past mishaps.  Will be following your build closely!!

Nice recovery on those areas!

Looks great!

Wow ! Looking good. And this is why I joined this forum, I learn something new everytime I read the posts on here.

Finally completed and assembled the cockpit

As I started to clean and fit the fuselage sides I discovered a small warp on the top. This being a NM finish requires as little filler as possible. Everything shows up under Alclad so I'm keeping putty out of this build. Notice the small step that would require substantial filler and feathering if the warp is not corrected.

I used a hair dryer to carefully heat the warped area and using my thumb, I was able to take out most of the warp. A Quick Grip Mini Bar Clamp was used to strategically add pressure to equalize the halve join in small sections using Tenax applied with a Touch N Flow applicator glued from the inside.

That took care of the warp.

The rest of the fuselage was glued with Tenax in sections to get an even join line requiring no filler and hopefully little sanding to get rid of the seam.

A preliminary fit of the cockpit looked good except for a small gap behind the radar screen.

So I broke out my Micro Mark punch set and matched the diameter of the part with the punch.

Punched out a disc from a junk mail plastic card we all get. I save those for scratch building.

And glued it with Tenax. Sanded it a bit to clean the sides.

I did a preliminary fit of the cockpit and the disc took care of the void. I'm letting everything dry and cure before I attach the cockpit and continue to work on the fuselage.

Ah, the night fighter version... very nice!

I decided on a black livery, gear up, and wings down!

All its in my stash(10+) are all Revell with the exception of 2. After my F4U is complete I will simply have to pick another!

Ah PJ, that's right! I goofed on my image search for the box art. The original was the old simple white box with the photo of the built up kit. I should have looked in my stash, becuase I am pretty sure that I have the same original boxing, or perhaps a later re issue with the simplified painting.

CC, the P-39 is a tried and true classic. And OOB it has the parts on the sprues to do several versions: P-39D, P-39Q, P-400. Choices of: exhaust stacks, wing guns, nose cannon, etc. I am looking forward to it. I am in the same boat of trying to get another progress finished before I can kick off my MM build.

MV, I have the twin pack Reno Racers release of the P-51 in my stash. Found it for quite a low price at a LHS and wanted the T-6 mostly, so I snatched it up. I have several 48th scale P-51's in my stash, so one more was just a bonus. I have yet to build it, but when I examined the kit it looked decent enough to me. I think the only real change I will do is like to get a True Details seat in there with a harness. A simple addition like that works wonders for most any cockpit for just a few bucks.

Mark, that sounds great to me. have fun at Hobby Day. No AMPS for me today as I have some prior commitments. See you there next month, and at IPMS next week I do hope.

I got some progress done on my Bearcat and F-4B-4 Biplane at Hobby Day Eve. Going back to do more at Hobby Day today. Pics forthcoming.

"Not that the Revell Pony is bad,"

I agree. It surprised me how good it was when I built one some time ago. Didn't have the features, but overall a competent kit.

All the LHS had was a P-39 yesterday, so I'll be doing it up in OD over NG.  Funny, I built the same kit for MM2.  I'm going to finish the DC-3 I almost have finished before starting the Airacobra.  Should have pictures by the middle of next week.

I have three of those gorgeous little ponies. Actually Stik, that is the Monogram re-release from 1985 in your picture. It was originally released in 1977 under a different box. I have the original release (bottom one)  that I bought in the late 70's at the long gone Orange Blossom Hobbies in Miami. The other two I have I bought at Toys R Us when they used to carry plastics back in the late  80's. The sticker on one sealed box says $3.50. These kits were fabulous and loaded with details like a partial engine, wing gun details, fantastic sharp detailed pilot figure, molded wheel bay details and a great cockpit.

the Baron

stikpusher

Yes, that kit is indeed a dressed up version of the late 1970s vintage pre merger Revell kit. That was one of several single seat WWII fighters that Revell released at that time. The others being a P-51D, Spitfire Mk.II, and the Me-109G10. The Mustang has been re issued as part of a combo twin set of "Reno Air Racers" by Revell Germany with the Monogram T-6, but not solo post merger. The Monogram 1/48 P-51D released around the same time was a much nicer kit and keeps getting re issued instead. But the Spit and 109 are still going strong in R/M boxings even today as they near age 40...

I never built any of Revell's 1/48 kits, back in the day, since I was a loyal Monogram kid.  I've picked up the P-51D, to build alongside the Monogram kit, and compare.  I like to see how they both chose to do things.

The Monogram kit is much nicer. Sharper detail, more detail, etc. Not that the Revell Pony is bad, but the Monogram kit was one of their top of the line kits at the time that they were raising the bar and setting the standard in aircraft models.

Original release Revell P-51D

Original release Monogram P-51D

Sweet!! I built that about 30 years ago; it hung with pride over my bed until knocked down by a relative putting on a coat!!  Will be watching your progress closely!!

stikpusher

Yes, that kit is indeed a dressed up version of the late 1970s vintage pre merger Revell kit. That was one of several single seat WWII fighters that Revell released at that time. The others being a P-51D, Spitfire Mk.II, and the Me-109G10. The Mustang has been re issued as part of a combo twin set of "Reno Air Racers" by Revell Germany with the Monogram T-6, but not solo post merger. The Monogram 1/48 P-51D released around the same time was a much nicer kit and keeps getting re issued instead. But the Spit and 109 are still going strong in R/M boxings even today as they near age 40...

I never built any of Revell's 1/48 kits, back in the day, since I was a loyal Monogram kid.  I've picked up the P-51D, to build alongside the Monogram kit, and compare.  I like to see how they both chose to do things.

It's gonna be SEA camo. Black undersides with 3-tone uppers. :)

Lookin' good, Darrin. Good to see that old classic taking wing again!  What kind of finish are you going to put on it?  Camo or NMF????

Thanks for your suggestions, and also the short list of quicker build example, Stik.

I think I need something easy to regain some semblance of sanity, so definite food for thought.

Yes, I have that same kit. The original Trimaster kit was an early multi media kit with PE and White Metal parts. ProModeller replaced those parts with injection plastic parts.

Stik

I also have the Pro Modeler FW190D in 1/48 and it's a beauty. Tons of details. I suspected it to be from another company and you just confirmed it.

Yes, that kit is indeed a dressed up version of the late 1970s vintage pre merger Revell kit. That was one of several single seat WWII fighters that Revell released at that time. The others being a P-51D, Spitfire Mk.II, and the Me-109G10. The Mustang has been re issued as part of a combo twin set of "Reno Air Racers" by Revell Germany with the Monogram T-6, but not solo post merger. The Monogram 1/48 P-51D released around the same time was a much nicer kit and keeps getting re issued instead. But the Spit and 109 are still going strong in R/M boxings even today as they near age 40...

It's interesting to track the less-clear origins of kits, post-merger.  The ProModeler 1/48 P-40E was based on Revell's pre-merger 1/48 kit, which was itself supposed to have been pantographed down from their 1/32 kit, apparently.

Greg, I dont know where your personal kit/build interests lie, but they have more than a few kits that are easily weekend builds in their line up. I know the pair that Duke Maddog picked up at last months IPMS meeting would both qualify as such. I would not reccomend building say their 1/48 B-17 and B-24 kits in 6 months timespan, unless you are a speed demon in your build pace. But their catalog of old and current kits has got to have something that will fit the bill for you.

PJ, off the top of my head, in the 1/48 Pro Modeler line the F-4E, A-4E, and P-38G came from Hasegawa. The Ju-88s, and FW-190D & G are originally Tri Master molds. As PJ said, many can be found in their Pro Modeler boxings for less than their Japanese counterparts.

Thanks for the input, gents. This really sounds like fun, yet as I am way late on one GB and almost dropping ball on the other (been a rough yr, not my nature to drop the ball on commitments), don't want to be a drop-out. And I'm awfully slow, the 2 in 6 mos...not too sure.

I will be watching this GB with interest, though. And maybe someday if I light a fire under my own backside, well, who knows.

I know for a fact the Monogram Pro Modeler 1/48 F-4E is a repop of the Hasegawa one for 1/2 the price. I recently picked up one on ebay for $35 with free shipping. Knock the shipping off and the price is about $25. Not a bad price for a really nice Hasegawa kit with recessed panel lines and two decal sheets.

There are a handful of molds that R/M obtained from either Revell Germany, or a few Japanese companies. Primarily Hasegawa or Trimaster. Otherwise. probably 95% of their line up is either original R/M, or one of the companies such as Aurora or Renwall whose molds they obtained after those companies went under.

And yes, both kits must be done within 6 months, the time starting from the date that the first kit work begins upon.

Greg, there's a little cross-pollination between companies, so some (not a lot) are not "original". If you have a couple of kits in mind, someone can verify for you, or you may want to look at the Monogram build post in the aircraft section to see what qualifies, or possibly inspire you to build.

Couple of dumb questions....

How does one know if a kit is 'original' Monogram or Revell (aside from the fact that Stik would set me straight)? And does the start to finish in six months mean for both kits? ie, both kits done within a 6 mo timeframe?

TIA

Got the fuselage closed up. Not much seam filling at all needed fit is pretty good. Doing wings tonight.