I quit. This is a horrible kit. I have filled, sanded, filled, sanded, and filled some more. I can’t take it. The straw that broke the camels back was the clear pieces. None of them fit right. I have lost so much interest in this kit now it isn’t even funny and I don’t have the desire to try and fix the canopies. My LHS doesn’t know of aftermarket stuff for it either. He kept trying to sell me stuff to vacuform a new one after repeatedly telling him I wasn’t going to go that route. So without further ado here are pics of my P-61 minus any clear pieces. The idea behind this is it is being repaired after some little kid thought it would be funny to shoot out every glass piece with a bb-gun. LOL
P.S.
At least it is not a tail sitter. Only thing good about this build.
Been there, done that. Been there??? I AM there! I started my A-10 in October. After 8 months and 300+ hours it still isn’t done. I can’t count the number of times I nearly gave up, but it’s nearing completion and I’m glad I stuck with it.
Be smart. Put it in a box and stick it back in the stash. One of these days you’ll be glad you did. If nothing else just use the excuse that you are waiting for someone to come out with aftermarket glass for it!
That is so unfortunate about the clear parts, because they are the most difficult to adjust. I agree with MusicCity. Put it in a box where it will be safe and sound, until you you fell like taking it on again. Do some easy things, and maybe some inspiration will hit you. It’s a great looking bird so far.
That kit can be a real bugger - that much is certain. Eduard makes a real nice PE set for it which I have used and can highly reccomend. True details does two different sets of replacement wheels. Mike West of Lone Star Models does a great resin cockpit set and replacement clear parts. I bet if you asked Mike he would set you up with just the clear parts for a reasonable price. www.lonestarmodels.com
I had the same fit problems with my P-61. I love the plane, hated building it because of all the “unnecessary” work, but in the end I think it made me a better modeller. By the way, your Cooper’s Snooper came out very nice. Mine was pretty bad. I heard AMT will come out with a 1/48 scale P-61 with newer tooling…hopefully within the decade. If so, I look forward to building another one.
For what it;'s worth, your sanding and filing routine paid off well in the end. Beautiful looking Widow.
Nice lookin P-61 Stram, the pit looks great. What you can do is display it as a test aircraft, for example during long pacific recon missions the pilots became overheated and jettisoned all glass in order to cool down and relax ![(-D][(-D][(-D]
Looks like a great build despite the missing clear parts. Hope you can get some AM clear parts soon, because it would be a shame to let such a nice model go un-finished.[tup]
Dont quit ! Put it away safe for a little while and come back to it with some new inspiration and motivation… you’ll be glad you did ! And when its finished , you’ll feel so proud . I also like "Swanny’s " idea. …Best of luck !!!
Relax bro , put that kit somewhere save and dust free for another day.Hopefully Swanny’s
idea will come thru.
Every single one of my builds has a horror story ,I am sure everyone will tell u how many times they came to throwing a kit a away.Just put it away and your mind when calm will find a way to fix it.Just hang in there.
Definitely set it aside and do a couple of straight from the box builds to blow steam off.
I’ve had Revell’s 1/32 MiG-21 MF going on and off for nearly six years now. I started her before Trumpeter came out with their 21 and was so far into it when they did, that I didn’t dare give up on her.
She’s given me fits like you wouldn’t believe. Lots of scratchbuilding (particularly in the landing gear area. The clear parts drove me bonkers with crazing,but in the end I think I’ll just do a tarmac scene with all the intake covers and tarps in place.
Never underestimate the relaxing qualities of a straight from the box build. Don’t know if you’re into 1/72 but Academy’s 1/72 ME-163 Komet and P-40 Warhawk kits are real little gems for not a lot of money.
Hey, Upnorth-I’ve built 2 Academy ME-163 and have 2 on deck (I wanna do the red test platform scheme). It’s a real gem of a kit as you say. I’ve done one P-40 which was very fun. The only problem I’ve had is with their Cobra (minor fit stuff).
Yeah, but it looks GREAT! I’ve got one and plan on going all-out with it, Eduard sets and all. Now I know that the transparancies are red-flagged and will deal with 'em as I go. Don’t lose heart!
Thanks for all the encouragement. I am going to put it aside and look into am stuff, namely following up on swanny’s idea. I am not sure if I am man enough to try it but I thought about scratch building the canopy framework based on the kit canopy. Maybe I will give it a go. Gonna build something easy now, my son is after me to build the AT-AT from Star Wars. That should be an easy one.
Thanks again for all the support and kind words. By the way it is the Revell 1/48 scale kit.
Hey youve already accomplished one thing…
You made it look 300% better than the one I made.
I had the same problems as you. Give a go at those replacement canopys.
I had to put mine away for a while. Had the same problem. So some day I will finish it or start anew with Lone Star’s awesome looking cockpit sit. I wish AMT would hurry up with their new tool version but it looks like we will be watching the Mars landing before that kits comes out.
had the same problem with a Jake kit, really frustrating…took the m-80 route on that one just couldnt be saved.
like to see some close-ups of the cockpit…how bout cutting out the clear parts and leaving only the frames, then come back with some tranparent film of different thicknesses. if the frames are still too thick you can sand down the frames a bit. that is if you still have grit left after working the seams.
CS, that would be a tall order. However, scratch building the frames wouldnt be too bad… or the AM parts would work too. Anyways, the bird looks great. You really gave it a nice workover!
