Aaaand we have a winner!! *COMPLETED 11/7/13*

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

That is, for the worst fitting kit I have ever built!

Working on a 1/48 Revell Huey Hog for an army buddy of mine. Being done up in 18th MP Brigade colors.

The entire forward half of this thing is atrocious… Huge shims and huge amounts of gap-filling superglue needed to close things up. Haven’t even started on the roof yet, which is shaping up to be the devil-child of this whole build. [:^)]

Well I enjoy defeating a good challenge… question is, can this one be defeated without making the kit look like a child’s toy?? We shall see.

Going to enjoy the learning experience - some new experiences on this one, like first time using shims and first time using superglue to fill anything more than a very small gap.

Building this strictly out of the box.

You can see below the shims and superglue that were needed to fill those massive gaps. Gone over with 220 sandpaper and took a quick shot before going on to some final sanding here.

2

I’ve felt your pain! I built this kit many years ago, and you’re right; it goes together poorly, and the roof fit begs the question of whether it was ever meant for this kit. It sounds like you’re in the right mind-set though…patience and lots of filler & shims will bring it together.

In the end, the extra work paid off and I was pretty pleased with what ended up on the shelf.

Good luck with the challenge…the victory over poor design will be worth it.

Cheers,

3

I have seen some nice builds come from this kit… not that I expect mine to be anywhere near their quality. However I know this can be done - it’s just going to be patience and persistence. Lots of plastic shavings and a new bottle of gap-filling superglue too, obviously [;)]

This is what I am going to be dressing her up as:

4

That’s awful!! The kit engineering and fit, that is. What you’ve done with it so far to make it acceptable is excellent.

Sometimes you have to wonder who designed these things.

Good luck with it.

5

I thought the old Revell F/A-18 kit from the early '80’s was bad. Excellent work there!

6

Was that this one, marketed as “Hunt For Red October” around 1990?

7

I’m not sure, Tex. That was issued after the merger w/Monogram, so that may be Monogram’s bird in the box. The one I had was this one:

8

I see. Yeah, that’s not the same one. I didn’t recall any issues with the HFRO Hornet. Thanks for the info!

Gary

9

Revell and Monogram did seperate F/A-18s in the early 80s when the aircraft was being developed. Lets just say that the Monogram one was far more detailed, especially in the cockpit, gear wells, etc. Both companies modified the molds after the prototype aircraft changed into the production models. MV, that looks like the original Revell release.

10

Heh you haven’t done their Apache, yet, have you?

Gene Beaird,

Pearland, Texas

11

Yeah this build of that same kit has survived a couple earthquakes and 25+ years…

same with this Apache (except it is only about 20 years old…)

yeah and then there is there 1980’s vintage Hornet…

What is stronger? Steel or the flesh that wields it?

12

I’m trying to remember but I built a 1/48 scale kit back in the early 1990s that required an entire tube of testors white gunk to fill all the holes in the fits. It was a USAF plane and about six months after i built it the seams I had spent time hiding started to become visible again. I thew it into a camp fire a few weeks later in disgust.

13

Oh I totally agree on the poor quality of the Hog! I have been in the process of “beating it into submition” for a few years now.

Every time I can’t take it anymore I box it and try again a few months later.

Theuns

14

Glad I’m not the only one! Nice builds stikpusher! Gene, this is actually the only chopper I’ve built - I started the Revell 1/24 Huey a few years ago but ended up giving it away before I got the fuselage together. Theuns, how far along are you and what colors are you thinking? Do you have a WIP thread on it?

15

Thanks DA. I know that these kits are not “shake n bake”, but with a little effort the will look very nice when completed.

16

I built that 1/48 Revell F/A-18 pictured above. I didn’t have any trouble with it at all. I as a kid suspended all my models from a wire in my bed room ceiling, when the wire snapped that was the only plane survived the fall to the floor. That fall destroyed my B-52D 1/72. I was in a rotten mood for weeks after that.

17

Seasick, I know that feeling. When I was fouteen, I was working on completion of a USCG Eagle. Ratlines and sails in place, I had all the fore and aft rigging hand tied and had started on the shrouds. One day while I was at school, my Mom decided to open all the windows in the house. When she opened my window, the Eagle sailed right off the top of my dresser, driven aground on the floor. I never went back to it.

18

Here’s an update for y’all. Worked on the Huey today along with my Gee Bee.

I did one thing and one thing only… and that was enough for me today [blkeye]

The roof… 'nuff said. [bnghead]

Coming up next on this thread: I’m gonna show you just how much a turd can really be polished… [+o(]

Might need to look into those Archer rivet sets… I have a feeling those things up there by the mountain ranges of superglue arent going to survive the beating-into-submission sessions. I know I know I probably used too much but really… you wanna build this for me? [^o)]

19

Yup…I remember that appalling fit. I used half a tube of Squadron Green putty, built-up over the course of several days to fill those gaps. Surprisingly, after almost 20 years it hasn’t cracked or shrunk!

Stay the course…you’ve almost got her licked!

Cheers,

20

Any of us who have ever put this horse together know what you’re going through, DeafAviator. We’re all pulling for you! You’ll win through in the end. (Excellent work so far, BTW.)