I just picked up the Academy 1:48 of this plane. Anyone built it? How is it as a kit?
I assume it is silver, any hints on any aspect of a silver paint job?
Haven’t done this one. I have done an Esci Sabre in Canadian markings. I finished it with Floquil Railroad Old Silver and Platinum Mist. They seem to take handling better than some other finishes, I have read here. They don’t rub off very easily.
hey, nsclcctl! I’m Building this kit right now! (I know, it’s not 1/72, WWII or even multi-engine, but someone was kind enough to supply me with PAF Decals… [:D])
Which kit did you get?
This one:
Or this one:
If you got the latter one, then we’re building the same kit. My beef with this kit is that the fuselage halves don’t go together well at all (well, it could just be my kit). When I put the intake/cockpit and engine/exhaust sections in, there are tremendous gaps… i’ve dry fitted it at least a hundred times to try and figure out where the problem is, but no luck… then just last night i noticed that the area of the tailpipe, isn’t even on the same level (i.e. The diameter of the left side exhaust is smaller than the right side)… I hope i’m making sense.
It might be remedied with some superglue and some putty, but i’ll get to that when it’s been put together. aside from that, there’s nothing much to say other than don’t forget to put the ballast in! [:)]
I picked up the 1/72 Academy F-86. Its the a/c called “El Diablo” although I don’t know if I’ll us the Academy decals. I haven’t started it but it is in the TO BE BUILT pile.[^]
Mine is the Mig-killer. I have not dry fitted anything nor taken it out of the plastic. It looked cool and I wanted to do a Sabre and a mig, picked this up to start. I have had good luck with academy in the past but who lknows. Are you building it in halves with that little cart holding up the tail end? I haven’t decided yet.
Sorry for the long reply… my PC was in the shop for the last 3 or 4 days…
Academy is usually very reliable, and this is my first obvious problem with one of their kits. Though i’m willing to bet that it’s just my kit. (When i picked it up it was the last in the shop and the box was a little beat up…) I was really concidering cutting it in half, but i figured i wanted to “fly it around the room” every once in a while… [:p] Besides, i don’t think i’m quite ready for a “diorama” just yet. [:D]
Oh! how do you plan to do the NMF? I’m thinking about doing mine in bare metal foil…
shrikes, let me know how you like the Bare-metal foil if you use it…it looks interesting to me but I’m kind of leary for some reason…
Where did you get the PAF decals? What is the brand?
The Philippine Airforce decals came courtesy of IPMS Philippines… It’s a bit more complicated to use since they printed this batch themselves and there’s no way to print white. I’m really excited with this kit since this is the first PAF plane i’m building! [:)]
How does McConnells Beautiful Butch in 1/48 Academy compare to the Hawegawa kit. Can’t decide btw the two which one to get? Any suggestions - esp with kit fit, depiction & decals.
Can’t help you out with this one, Luke, seeing as i’ve never built the Hasegawa one. Though, I hear that the 1/48 Hasegawa F-86 is a very nice kit indeed! [:)]
Here is a list of problems I had when I built the Academy 1/48 F-86F-30.
The intake trunks ( D25 & D26) did not match up and left a very bad seam inside the intakes. It was very difficult to remove.
The fuselage halves did not fit properly due to the molded in gun bay being too thick and hitting the cockpit tub. I had to file the outside of the gun bays down to get a good fit.
When the wings are installed there is a large gap where the top wings join against the fuselage. I filled that are in with plastic stock and sanded down for a smooth finish.
The panel behind the wing (C16) did not fit correctly and requirs some putty and sanding. The intake lip (C38) did not fit and will require sanding to match the fuselage cross section.
Be careful bending the nose gear forward door as mine broke and I had to glue it in the proper position.
Hope this helps you. It can be built into a very good model. I painted mine in Metalizer buffing alum and steel. I sealed with future when I was done painting.
Thanks, Berny13! I figured the wing roots would give me a problem, and i have to look into those gun bays later… did your fuselage halves go together correctly? and (just a clarification) the solution was to sand down the gun bays from the inside of the fuselage?
I tried the Bare metal foil and the instructions forgot to list another essential tool in its application: patience. i don’t know if i can do the entire thing in BMF. the details show through the foil, but i don’t think i’ll be able to wash it or weather it as normal… maybe i can go with those metalizers you guys are talking about. If not, i’ll just go with Tamiya’s aluminum… [:)]
I just wanted to share a bit… I just finished putting the F-86 cockpit subassembly together, and it’s the most detailed cockpit i’ve ever done (probably because i’m always doing 1/72!). This is also my first attempt at “scratch building” (if you could call it that). I felt the seat was a little boring, so i whipped up some “seatbelts” and “buckles” to add some clutter. [:D]
Do you guys think I can pass myself off as a modeler? [:I]
Nice work there, shrikes. What did you use for seat belts? I’ve been considering adding some to my F-84E cockpit but not sure how to go about it just yet. Not sure if I will add them or not but it would be a nice touch. Like you, this will also be my most detailed cockpit ever. I just hope I can get the rest of it built.