Richards Kinetic 1/48 F-18D

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Beautifully done cockpit. The fit certainly seems to have it's problems. Nothing you can't deal with but a nuisance nevertheless.
Jim

[rtfoe]

Thanks John and Jim,
This kit sure poses some challenges which can be solved. In my rush for the previous build I forgot the blue background card but because this kit needs work I can lesurely snap pictures while contemplating the next step.

Still puttying away.

Cheers,
Richard

[boatman]

Thanks John and Jim,
This kit sure poses some challenges which can be solved. In my rush for the previous build I forgot the blue background card but because this kit needs work I can lesurely snap pictures while contemplating the next step.

Still puttying away.

Cheers,
Richard

HI Richard have you finished puttying yet ?
chris

[rtfoe]

HI Richard have you finished puttying yet ?
chris

Not really Chris :smiling2: ...this kit is a killer. But I have stuck on the flap actuators.

Cheers,
Richard

[BigGreg]

Richard...... I'm here looking at this... like.... HEAVY BREATHING....... :thumb2::thumb2::thumb2::thumb2::thumb2:

[boatman]

Not really Chris :smiling2: ...this kit is a killer. But I have stuck on the flap actuators.

Cheers,
Richard

HI Richard whats it a really bad fit then the kit
chris

[rtfoe]

HI Richard whats it a really bad fit then the kit
chris

I expected better since the boxing said Gold kit with the latest of molding. I'm used to bad fitting kits. I'm just holding back as there are no armement or formation lights decals. All it has is the B/W decals for the tiger stripes and stencils.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hi all,
Even the experienced of the experienced builders can faulter and I'm not perfect. With all the excitement I assumed the position of the rear undercarriage and nature of the shape of the F-18, one would think this will be a nose heavy kit. I didn't factor in the weight addition of the interior tubing at the rear of the engines would tip the balance so fearing a tail sitter I had to do something. I tried something I have never done but heard of...drill a hole and fill lead pellets to the nose!

First I checked that the compartment at the nose was separate and nothing could get into the cockpit. I drilled a hole about 0.5cm in diameter at the base of the nose, made a funnel out of paper and poured the pellets in to the brim then squeezed thin cyano(superglue) and let it cure. The nose was hot while the glue cured. I didn't know cyano reacted this way. Good thing it wasn't hot enough to melt plastic.



I checked the balance and then sealed the hole with a sliced thick piece of plastic rod and sanded smooth....phew!!! that saved the day.

Cheers,
Richard

[boatman]

very nice bit of work Richard so she wont now be a tail sitter as its easy to forget when starting on a kit you really like an get carried away building
chris

[Guest]

Those pellets look tiny, able to fit into the smallest of spaces.

[Guest]

The nose was hot while the glue cured. I didn't know cyano reacted this way.

It sets by reacting with water,¹ and most (not all) chemical reactions produce heat, so it doesn’t really surprise me — though I wouldn’t have guessed it would be enough to make the model feel warm to the touch.

I do wonder if the glue was actually necessary, if the nose is a sealed compartment and you glue in a plug then I wouldn’t think loose pellets would be a problem. But OTOH, it won’t hurt to glue them down either

¹ This is why it helps to breathe on superglue if you want it to set quicker: the moisture in your breath will provide it with more water to react with.

[Jim R]

Hi Richard
Nose weight sorted :thumb2:
Interesting what Jakko said about breathing on CA - useful tip.
Jim

[rtfoe]

very nice bit of work Richard so she wont now be a tail sitter as its easy to forget when starting on a kit you really like an get carried away building
chris

Thanks Chris, definitely got carried away there didn't I. :smiling:

Those pellets look tiny, able to fit into the smallest of spaces.

Andy, I'm thinking they're not lead pellets but hardened bits of cooled solder from a blowtorch as they don't look uniformed.

It sets by reacting with water,¹ and most (not all) chemical reactions produce heat, so it doesn’t really surprise me — though I wouldn’t have guessed it would be enough to make the model feel warm to the touch.

I do wonder if the glue was actually necessary, if the nose is a sealed compartment and you glue in a plug then I wouldn’t think loose pellets would be a problem. But OTOH, it won’t hurt to glue them down either :smiling3:

¹ This is why it helps to breathe on superglue if you want it to set quicker: the moisture in your breath will provide it with more water to react with.

Thanks for the tip Jakko but I don't know how much humidity my breathe can contribute, fact is our weather here is so humid that superglue hardens very quickly.

Hi Richard
Nose weight sorted :thumb2:
Interesting what Jakko said about breathing on CA - useful tip.
Jim

Jim, for a moment I thought I was in trouble...yup good tip indeed.

Cheers,
Richard

[rtfoe]

Hi,

Other things that need sorting were the fit of the front canopy shield. I was warned about the bad fit and lots of scrapping and sanding of both the clear part and the front hood made it possible to fit flush.



The molding on the canopy left a seam line right in the middle from front to back of both the clear parts. I scraped, wet sanded polished the front one as can be seen above. Just another coat of polish to finish it of for Future dipping.
Below is the achilles heal of most clam shelled kits. Some filler delt with is but the sanding had taken away detail of the formation lights which need reworking.



I have glued most of the flaps and ordnance...will be taking shots of that later.
The vertical fins for A,B,C had reinforced tabs on the inner root but the instructions say to leave it off for this...with feeling of doubt I will reference to check.

Cheers,
Richard

[Guest]

Thanks for the tip Jakko but I don't know how much humidity my breathe can contribute, fact is our weather here is so humid that superglue hardens very quickly.

I had considered that, but decided against mentioning it In not-as-humid climates, though, that simple trick can certainly help if you’re having trouble getting superglue to stick things down quickly enough.