Hasegawa P26A fit problems

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I’m building the 20th pursuit group model in 1/32. Very nice plane and I expect it to come out well.

HOWEVER…the cockpit assembly does not sit well in the fusilage if Tenax’d in as per the instructions and styrene guide marks there is a significant gap on one side of the interior. I had to add styrene to fill this side and top gap. so Beware if planning to build this kit.

If anyone has built this kit and experienced this, please let me know.

I’m quite riled at Hasagawa for this. Generally very high quality from my experience!

2

I had a problem with this area also. Sorry to say it’s an older kit and there are some issues with it. It does build up to a nice looking kit though. I’m going to do 2 more.

3

Thanks for the reply Gervasi…I know its not me then, and others will be aware of the problem. It looks good.

4

Hi Wilbur,

I built this kit last year. I found that the cockpit was undersized, it had a gap around all sides.

I added styrene strip so it was a little too large and sanded it down untill it fit snuggly with no gaps.

You can have a look at the build here: http://rosssmodels.hobbyvista.com/Tim.htm.

May be my experience can help.

Cheers

Tim

5

Don’t forget that this kit is approaching 40 years old, more or less. For its time it was a good kit. It can’t be compared to todays standards.

6

Thanks timcar…thats a beautiful build there. Those pics help me out. I would be interested to know what you used for rigging. I am using what is called florist wire. very thin and straight used by florists to make arrangements.

I had no idea this kit (molds) were that old. I have indded added styrene and am close to painting the plane.

Your engine looks fantastic as well.

Cheers

7

I built a 1/48th kit and used very fine brass rods for the rigging.

8

This kit was one of Hasegawa’s first 1/32 scale kits. The original release of this kit as well as the P-12, F4B-4, and BF2C all had pilot figures that looked very Asian. Hasegawa removed the figure from the molds in the 1980s.

Bill

9

Hi Wilbur,

The P26A kit is a great kit when you consider its age(I still have two in the stash). You should also look out for the BF2C of the same era. It is another gem. Both, with a little scribing and detailing, look just as good as the current batch of 109’s and 190’s.

I rigged the P26 with 5lb/2.2kg nylon fishing line. As you can see all the rigging points are indicated on the wings and undecarridge by partialy pre-drilled holes. I re-drilled the wing holes at an angle so that the rigging exits the wing at the angle of the wire. As done in the kit they will come out at 90 degress an then bend in the direction you pull them taut.

I drilled through the lower attachemnts on the undercarridge as well as the fuselage, this was to help with tautening the rigging as i went… The rigging sequence I used was this:

1: Anchor the four wires to the top (closest to the fuselage) atachements between the U/C legs with and make sure they are well and truly secure. One at at time draw the wire through the coresponding hole in the lower attachement and secure with super glue. When set, cut the wire off level with the attachement point.

2: Repeat with the four (per wing) lower wing wires. I tensioned each wire by having a locking pair of tweezers (haemostat) hang off the wire until the glue had fully set. This took time but was worth it as the wires are taut and you don’t need to go down the “heat shrinking” method road.

3: Trim all the wires ends off level at the attachements on the U/C legs. Fill any holes left with putty and sand smooth. Then you can touch them up. Becareful when gluing at the wings so yo don’t mar your paint job.

4: The engine attaching ring has a half circle open in it. I attached this as part of the build so it was painted with the rest of the aircraft. To rig the upper wires I simply glued them in the wing first and made sure they was secure. Then I started with the starboard side (side without the cut out) I threaded the wire through the pre drilled hole in the fuselage, grabbed it with the locking tweezers and l let them hang down, so this tightened the wire which was glued into place with super glue. When set trim the wire off inside the fuselage as close to the hole as possible. This will make it easier to grab subsequent wires as you work through all six.

I added spreaders from thin wire, and painted all the wires silver. (I tried to drill out fine palstic rod but couldn’t get it to work to my satisfaction - maybe next time.)

The aerial wires I used smoke coloured invisible mending thread. This is a really fine nylon thread and I didn’t paint it. I glued the aerial on nearly last but still managed to knock it off a couple of times.

Thanks for the comments on the engine. It and the cockpit were the areas I spent most of my energy on the build.

Cheers

Tim

10

Thanks for the details Tim, I’ll post as I go along.