hi fellows, i bought a few kits today while at a neat little hobby shop mainly because they were “opened” kits and i got them really cheap. anyway, one is a 1/48 Italeri F/A-18E Super Hornet and i am very impressed with the finely engraved panel lines and weapons load provided. it looks really good in the box, but i have no clue how the fit goes. i really enjoy doing AM cockpits on my shelf sitters and would like to put one in this bird. however, no one seems to have made one for this specific manufacturer. my question is, will an AM pit designed for one manufacturer’s kit be “tweaked” to fit into another manufacturer’s kit?
nevermind on the F/A-18E, i just found the detail set for this kit at squadron, but i still want to know if any of you guys ever do pit swapping between diferent manufacturer’s. thanks. later.
My guess is that it will work, although the Eduard set I got for my 1/72 Hasegawa F-16B was for another Hasegawa F-16B. Part of the seat detail won’t fit on the kit seats, since they aren’t the same. The rest of the stuff works fine (burner can, etc).
My guess is for cockpits, most AM kits are designed to replace the “tub” for the cockpit, and if one manufacturer makes the tub and nose gear one piece, there may be some fiddling required. I have 4 1/48 P-51s and not one has the same cockpit interior setup… as for the side wall details, Italeri’s is pretty much non-existent, so I think the only problem would be making the two tubs line up…
Hey salty,
I think I know what your saying…!!![;)] Sure other AM mfg’s will fit w/ a lil sanding and reshaping. Dry fitting is main focus here which will help you out w/ what I mentioned above.
If I’m not mistaken, Black Box makes a AM interior for the new F-18. I am not sure though if its for the “Echo” or “Fox” variant.
hope this helps ya out.
Flaps up, Mike
hey, just to make myself clear, yes, i’m talking about taking an AM cockpit designed for a hasegawa kit for example, and put it in a tamiya kit of the same subject. thats an example of what i’m trying to ask here. thanks, later.
Chris…with all things being equal…sanding, filing, chopping, cutting, bending & tweaking with a pencil-grinder (Dremel) will make anything fit…
if it’s for a 48th “E” and the “E” is an accurate representation…then for a “E” it should fit…aaahemm…will fit
imo…
Salty, I know, for instance, some people have taken the True Details cockpit set which is designed for the Tamiya P51 and used it in the Hasegawa P51 kit with some minor adjustments, so it can be done. I guess it really depends on the kits themselves and the modelers’ individual skill level. I know there’s some AM sets out there that are a horrific fit even into the kit for which they were designed, requiring major surgery. But it’s mind boggling what some guys can do.
An AM set for a Hasegawa kit should fit a Tamiya kit (for example) with a bit of modification. All the detail inside the cockpit should be the same but the shape of the tub might be different. All it will take is alot of sanding and test fitting (which you usually need to do when fitting an AM cockpit anyway).
My advice is, if there is an AM set available for your particular kit, choose it. But if there isn’t then it should be fine to stick a different set in there.
well, i’d love to find a resin pit for the F/A-18E with a little PE to boot. but, all they have is the PE fret for it so far. i’m terribly excited about assembling this thing, i have some really cool ref. pics for a change. later.
Check AIres, true details, verliden, black box, maybe even ch miniatures (expensive tho)
to see if they have update sets for the 18E.
I am in the school of thought, that with proper application of force and studious grinding you can make anything fit - aires a4 cockpit (hasegawa) in an old fujimi a-4 kit, verliden f-15c/e update set (hasegawa) in a monogram f-15c - plus others I don’t recall. PPP (patience, practice, persistance) is the rule
well rik, i’m from the same school of thought friend, as long as you dont grind off any detail, who cares what the backside of a resin tub looks like!! later.