Id seen this kit on E-bay alot so I decided to get one. Upon opening the box, it seemed like a nicely detailed kit with good instructions and decals and couldnt wait to dive in. Thats where the honeymoon ended. Very few parts went together like they were supposed to. The alignment pins and holes didnt match on the fuse` halves and once the completed cockpit was glued to the right side fuselage, it was impossible to close the halves without leaving a 1/4 gap somewhere! I even tried removing the engine, sanding away locator tabs and generally trying anything to close the gap to a workable size…NO WAY!
Has anyone else built (or attempted) this kit? Its a shame because the detail is pretty nice. Give me a shout if anyones had the same issues as I did, especially if you actually completed it, which IMHO would be a minor miracle!
I have been potting with this kit off n on the last few months… Mostly re-scribing the panel lines. I bought the True details interior but no progress as of yet.
I knew a gentlemen who built this and from what he said, it went together well with out any major issues… Again I am not at the stage of assembly but from what I can see myself, the fit aint all to bad… Then again I have had this kit in my collection essentially when she first came out.
If I am not mistaken, I think the company went out of business and they found a ton of these kits in a back of a warehouse so… Wondering with time, heat and just plan ol sitting around, did this have something to do with the fit issues itself n ect…?
I truly feel your pain and yes, the over all kits detail is rather nice… It’s a shame though… Please do not give up…
It just needs a lil TLC… Looking forward to seeing her built up!!
Hi Len, FSM did a review in their Dec 1992 issue. Chuck Davis writes, “Building the Bird Dog was rough.” He mentions removing the locator pins, but doesn’t say anything abut a gap in the fuse. He does say to “remove the cockpit alignment tabs molded into the fuselage and align the floor with the door opening.”
Another thing that’ll make your teeth grind is that the wing struts are too short. Chuck wrote that he replaced them with Contrail Stock. I’ve looked for that stuff and have never been able to find it.
Good luck! Post some pics if you finish this baby, I’d like to see them.
Maybe sitting for a while,etc, could have something to do with it, Im not sure. Im a “pre-fitter” and when I tried to line up the fuse halves all by themselves, I had a heck of a time and knew I was in for a “treat”. Right now, the semi assembled kit is back in the box, minus the Future dipped clear parts. Gonna need a lot of plastic stock to fix/finnish this puppy…pun intended…lol. I`ll take another stab at it in the near futurebecause of the nice detail…just need the ole blood pressure to come down a bit!..Len