German but different. Do 27 'Serengeti'

[Guest]

"Beating into shape" a very apt statement Steve whether literal or actual . Sometimes followed by a few, or even more, delightfully put together phrases.

A model crisis. Just been through one and this is a new tooling.

Laurie

[stona]

As promised for those wanting a laugh!

The fuselage is more or less finished. Of particular interest are the ludicrously over scale hinges on the side doors.



I've managed to make one wing from the kit parts which seemed to be from two entirely different aeroplanes



I'm rebuilding the short shot half of the fin. I inserted some card and have applied a swipe of filler (visible here) to make the two halves at least similar.



Less said about the engine the better. Let's just say I won't be making a feature of it



The fit of the horizontal stabilisers/elevators was positively Tamiyaesque, once the flash was removed (mostly).



I know I'm giving this old kit a hard time, it's only fair to point out that it isn't great, but I'm having fun building it and eventually it will all be about that 'zebra' paint scheme anyway.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

I feel your pain Steve! I'm going through a similar experience with my Revell Tomcat! That's why I haven't done a build thread

But I'm expecting a silk purse from you!

Cheers

Patrick

[stona]

I appreciate your confidence Patrick but I'm only going to build what's in the box. I'll fix what I can to make it fit but that's it. I'm hoping to get it built and maybe even painted before I start the final leg of my current job on 5th May! If I don't manage it then so be it. I never inflict rigorous deadlines on myself as I discovered years ago that if I rush, then I will f**k up.

If someone wanted to spend a lot of time and effort they could do a lot of detailing, particularly in the very visible interior, and make something really outstanding. I'm afraid I'm not that someone

Cheers

Steve

[eddiesolo]

Hi Steve, looks a dog to do, but I know you will lick...or kick it into shape. Interesting paint scheme, glad you're tackling that and not me.

Si

[Guest]

Magnificent work so far Steve.

I can not make something really outstanding....but if you need two hands more, let me know

[stona]

Finally managed to stick the nose and other bits on. None of this fitted very well, the nose still needs some fettling. If you follow the instructions for building the engine/cowling assembly it won't fit onto the fuselage. I had to build up some parts with plastic card and spread the 'hinge' of the upper cowlings to make it even approximately fit I also had to build up the dividing frame between the two halves of the windscreen as there was a 1.5mm gap on each side!!



Amazingly, a quick dry fit shows that the wings actually fit to the fuselage quite well. The same can't be said for the two undercarriage legs.

Cheers

Steve

[Guest]

Fabulous work so far Steve, have to admire you aircraft guys it is the fuselage seams that bug me.

Scott

[Guest]

I second that! Why oh why do aircraft kits fit so badly sometimes?

But in steves hands, it's coming out well.

[Guest]

Magnificent work so far Steve.

[flyjoe180]

Nice job Steve. Sounds like a really bad kit, but you are doing a good job so far. Any small indiscretions will be hidden by the striking external paint scheme I would think.

[stona]

Why oh why do aircraft kits fit so badly sometimes?.

To keep us on our toes

Seriously, I don't know the history of this kit but judging by the poor fit and also the thickness of the panels (the cowlings must be a scale 6" thick!) it seems like a very old kit. That means that the molds were designed and cut using old technologies and now they may well be 'well used' as well.

Why parts like the fin and an engine cowling were short shot and everything is covered in flash, someone who knows more about the actual injection process would have to answer.

I don't mind fiddling about with plastic card and a handful of different fillers (everything on this one, Milliput, CA/baking powder, Mr Filler etc) because I have them and have an approximate idea of what you are supposed to do with them. I also have files, sand paper, scrapers, various scalpels, drills, different adhesives and all the other bits and pieces I've accrued over the years readily to hand. The problem arises if someone buys this as a cheap kit to have a go at building a model first time or on a return. They can't reasonably be expected to be equipped for the job and It will definitely put them off.

Scott seams are really not that bad, assuming that the two halves actually fit properly. I had to do a bit of work on this one. The grey residue on the spine is not filler, it's the residue from a guide coat I used to sand the mating surfaces so that they actually....errr....mated, combined with a colour I used in the glue so that I could see exactly where it was going. Also, on a kit like this, remove the locating pins as they just serve to misalign rather than align the parts

Cheers

Steve

[flyjoe180]

Apparently this kit was released in 1989. Obviously it has had a hard time in the moulds.

[tr1ckey66]

Great work so far Steve. It's always good to keep the 'hard graft' building skills honed! This kit may not be a multi-media, mega model with flawless fit but it's builds like this where you learn the most. It's builds like this that you develop your own techniques and learn a lot about yourself as a modeller in terms of patience! These skills also come in useful should you need to build a short run kit.

Most people can make a reasonable fist of putting together a modern kit it takes a true modeller to make something incredible from a very basic starting point.

Good skills and worth passing on

Cheers

P

[Alan 45]

Looking good Steve despite the problems with the kit , the injection moulding is always a problem when using plastic , the bur/flash happens when the mould isn't tight enough and plastic seeps into the joining plates , this happens with mettle as well but with mettle it goes into a large drum with stones in it ( I forget what it's called ) that spins around and removes it but you can't do that with plastic so it's down to us to sort out