I got started on this fleabay find, building it oob no add ons. First thing I noticed was the lack of alignment pins anywhere .The instruction needs to be looked at closely as the placement of some parts are’nt clear,lots of test fitting.The cockpit is complete and ready for placement
test fitted the major components nothing really bad as far as fit goes.This is a bigger kit than I realized
cockpit and tail wheel installed along with some of the mid section components that wo’nt be seen when complete
the fit was decent but still required a fair amount of filling especially the tail gunner section it was really off as were a lot of the panel lines
I got heavy handed with the sanding and had to remake some features ,handled this with some mask and filler
finished sanding and got some primer on it ,still some imperfections to be worked out on the seams.
more to come after I get the feeling back in my fingers this is a lot of fuselage to sand!
Nice work on the pit!! Good luck with all the filling and sanding, always a dreaded part of the build for me. This thing is a behemoth it looks like, what are the dimension on that sucker??
he-177 was roughly the size of a lancaster…
Definitely not a project for the faint hearted! Looks like you are well on your way here.
Looks good…I built this big boy a couple of years ago and I rememberthe same problems you just described, The top of the fuselage bows in at the seam…that was a big deal…the tail gunners canpoy…check the fit there too…not the best…but the biggest headache with this kit is the landing gear…getting it to align right is a major PAIN…be careful!! also the tail wheel strut kept breaking off…its not a strong conex. Also the top bubble and turret…checl the fit there too, especially with the turret, its ring and accesories. Any thoughts on camo scheme???
Besides that and wht you ahve already gone thru its a nice kit when finished but you will have to park it in the garage!!! Its huge!!
Heres mine…hope my [2cnts] help…
carlos
Looking good so far. Keep us posted.
Regards, Rick
looking good so far. I like the seats and arm rest.
thanks for all the kind words everyone its much appreciated! Eric its wingspan is 24" and the length is right at 18" .Carlos thats a huge help thanks ,I’m going with the 6/KG100 version has a combo of rlm 02,71,70,on the top with rlm 65 on the bottom.The top did bow in same problems as well with the tail and you’re spot on about the landing gear, here they are as of today
Coming along nicely. Glad to see it got its feet.[:D]
Can’t wait to see more progress.
Trey…
you are a smarter man than me,I waited till after I had the beast painted to add the gear…I always do that so it doesnt get in the way of the overall paint…in this case it bit me in the arse…looking good…and again careful with that darm tail wheel too…
Carlos
Carlos thanks to your warning I dry fitted the gear so I could get the alignment correct,they will come out for the overall painting.Thanks again for the tip much appreciated!Trey
I have this puppy in my stash…E-bay aquired also but the seller threw in all the available PE sets and resin parts/ wheels. Every once in a while I open the box and look in, then close the box…looks like a ton of work! Gotta psych myself up for it so Ill be watching your WIP for inspiration....looks great so far. Im working on an MPM Pe-2 so I know what you`re talking about with locator pins missing and crappy directions!
Keep us posted!
Len
thanks Len hope yours goes together better ,sounds like you got hooked up with all the goodies did you get the guided bombs as well?Yes its been a lot of work (still not sure if its worth it)made some more progress and added a carbon fiber spar due to the weight of the wings and the stress I figure would be applied to the fuselage seam.
aligned and glued the wings in place with the spar ,again not a great fit took a lot of test fitting and sanding and will require more filling and sanding after the glue sets to fill in the irregular gaps between the fuse and the wing roots
Trey interesting solution for that large wingspan…I didnt have sagging problems with mine but the precaution is warranted…
Len…I built my 177 with the PE and resin upgrades…I prefered them to the plastic parts especially in the cockpit, the plastic detail parts seemed thick and out of scale,…heres a pic of my pit with the PE…I really liked the completed pit…one of my favorites…
carlos
got the wings mounted and filled
great looking pit Carlos!
Trey…take a look at the top glass turret behind the cockpit…if I remember correctly, everything about it was a bit strange…from the fit to the look of it…compared to pics of the real deal…
carlos
Carlos you’re are right the base ring is too large,I trimmed it back to match the research pics I’ve found. I’m just about ready to bin this pos kit.The canopy is not even close to fitting ,I’ve done what I can with it, but far from happy with the results. I’m going to finish this simply because I’ve gone too far to stop ,but this is a really poor fitting kit. This is the first and last MPM kit that I’ll build,anyway heres a few more pics of the progress.Take note how far off the canopy fit is
Trey-
The canopy fit doesnt look too bad from the pics you posted and the rest of your build looks great to me. You havent built a bad kit until you ve tried the Modelcraft Twin Mustang F/P 82. That makes any MPM kit seem "shak n bake"! Heck, I started building an MPM Pe-2 for a break from the "Twin Stang"...LOL. .AND...you are right...these MPM kits are a PITA but if you take your time and have patience,youll end up with a great model.
Len