I just purchased the old Fugimi F-4E Phantom and realized it had an awful cockpit. The pilot seats look like junk as well.
I purchased an Airies resin cockpit set that looks great that I am waiting for.
My question is how hard will this be to fit this in the Fugimi since it was made for the Hasegawa kit. Wondering if anyone out there has done this too.
Been a long time since I was active on this site but want to get back into it
There’s really no answer but to test-fit and see. Potential problem areas (i.e., possibly requiring minor trimming or – rarely – more major surgey) are likely to be:
a) width of assembled fuselage/cockpit area of the model itself - is it too narrow to allow resin insert to fit…or do corners or edges of the resin need trimming;
b) cockpit opening cutout, ‘edges,’ or spacing; (again, does something need trimming, removal, or reshaping);
c) molded obstructions (locating pins or otherwise) on cockpit sides, getting in the way of the resin tub;
d) is there anything underneath (such as molded-in gear bay, etc.) that will get in the way of the resin tub;
e) how will you mount the resin cockpit tub itself? You may need to add tabs, shims or similar to get a secure attachment.
f) --hopefully last-- check seat height against the fitted canopy before making final tub attachment. You can ‘fudge’ the cockpit depth a bit if necessary: it’s harder to ‘shorten’ seats.
Most of these things take far longer to describe than to check out and fix. As I recall, the high-end old Fujimi kits were some of the best-engineered cockpits around, while the low-end were no worse than cheap Revell or Airfix kits…so, hopefully, problems should be minimal or non-existent. I swap aftermarket products and ‘non-intended’ kits all the time, and rarely have any serious problems, with a little pre-fitting. [:D]
Good luck!
I had this kit back when it first came out. It had the original shorter slanted gun nose and almost no detail. That was back in the mid to late 70s. At the time it was ok. If you wanted details, you had to make them yourself cockpit, wheel wells and so on, but it was the only game in town. I think I tried that detail set but that was a long time ago and I have some memory of it needing fit and suppots to work right. The cockpit floor sill need to be supported at its proper height by extra plastic so it sits right and doesn’t move. You might want to think about some PE if it doesn’t some with the detail set you are getting. Keep an eye on your load out too. Depending on what you have in mind you might have to order a weapons set from Hasegawa. you most likely need better AIM7s and a certain series AIM9. It will depend on where and when your aircraft was used.
Thanks for the info. It will be a “fit and sand, fill” project I’m sure.
Thanks for the info. I have better. Aim7 and Aim9s with the kit I’m doing now; Academy’s Col. Robin Olds F-4C. This kit is great but my dexterity isn’t as good as it use to be.