I weight my nose wheel subjects with lead birdshot, (smaller diameter than BB’s) and 5 mi. epoxy. Works very well!
Looks like it is my turn on one of these now. I hadn’t built one in over 25 years but had a couple in the stash that ended up being traded. This one is a Christmas gift from my brother-in-law. I think I will do it up on a dio base and take advantage of the removed panels and some aftermarket goodies. Spru-brothers has the clear resin canopy but I’m not paying that much, I’ll just tweak the kit parts. I did buy a cheap sheet of exterior PE and I’ll do some scratch work around the engines. I don’t have an inch of space to display it so it will go back to his study for display when done.
I really like the old kits and would probably pass on thr GW kit unless I found an unbeatable cheap deal on one. I figure the detail work helps me improve, even if it isn’t the most accurate. Neither my brother-in-law or most people who see my builds know the difference. Just all my high-speed colleagues on the web. 
Chris
I do not have any experience with the new release, but I built an “A” and “B” version of the Monogram kit about 15 years ago. Both are built out of box. All I can recommend is lots of patience and dry fitting and they don’t turn out half bad. The biggest detractor are the engines with one being part of the boom with closed cowl flaps and the other a seperate cowl with extended cowl flaps. Here are my attempts, both brush painted with Tamiya acrylics and dull-coated.
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/BigFoot01/Aircraft Collection/P1070175.jpg)
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/BigFoot01/Aircraft Collection/P1070176.jpg)
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/BigFoot01/Aircraft Collection/P1070177.jpg)
!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/BigFoot01/Aircraft Collection/P1070178.jpg)!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/BigFoot01/Aircraft Collection/P1070179.jpg)!(http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v485/BigFoot01/Aircraft Collection/P1070180.jpg)
There’s absolutely nothing wrong with the Revell/Monogram P-61. You have to use no more filler on this kit than you would on any other kit. I’ve also got about six finished Widows sitting in my display cabinet (two additional ones have been destroyed in previous family moves) so I can say I have some familiarity with this particular kit.
Yes it is obviously not the newest release out there and it is up there in age. Flash on the parts? OH NO! Whatever shall I do?!?! A copyright date on it which is located on the bottom? Heaven forbid one has to do some scraping! I always find it funny that you see people who go out of their way to brag about how they sanded and rescribed an entire model while at the same time others gripe if they have to pick up an Xacto knife to shave some flashing off or (dare I say?) sand something.
It also bugs me when people deride a kit when they’ve never even built it before. Lots of people say “From what I’ve heard, it’s a beast of a kit where nothing fits right but I’ve never built it, though.” Before you disparage the kit, at least build it first before telling others that it’s horrible. I think if you try the RM P-61 you’ll find that it requires no more skill or patience than 90% of other kits that are out there on the market. Apparently, all a manufacturer has to do is use (inaccurate) recessed panel lines and an overly inflated price to make the masses think that theirs is “superior”.
[2cnts]
Eric
Truer words were never spoken… [Y]
It’s a thity-plus year old kit… And, in the P-61’s case it MSRPs for 16.00 bucks! One could spend the money on two or three just to hone the ol’ modeling skills (or, more importantly, actually aquire some of them!)
Ahh, but having two kits is an easy way to rectify that… One simply swaps out the cowls and engines… Takes a bit of surgery, yes, but the end-result is worth it, IMNSHO…
Besides, if you display it with the left engine being “worked on”, there’s no reason in the world for it to matter that the cowl flaps are open, since “the mechs always opened the cowl-flaps”… The other is “closed” because that’s simply what the check-list says to do during engine shut-down… If the mechs aren’t “working on” the other mill, there’s no reason for the flaps to be open, lol…
Monogram designed this kit for the budding diorama-builder, remember… That was their thing in the mid-late 70’s, and the very reason most of us who built the kits “back then” know who Shep Paine is…
Dunno if it’s “wisdom” or if it’s just because I don’t know any better, lol… But yeah, I’m a Modeler, I reckon… To me, the whole idea of building models is to make the “mine”, with parts and corrections that I made… If something doesn’t fit, MAKE it fit, or, as my old Sergeant Major once said when something was “Effed-up”…
His reply was, “Well, UN-EFF it, young Sergeant!”…
HE was a wise man, lol…
("Cold Steel!", Sarn’t Major Kulow, wherever you are…)
I have never seen a kit on here that is more polarizing than this one…
the dialetic logic kit- you either love it or hate it…
I will have to tackle mine this year to see what all the fuss is about firsthand…[whstl]
True. I think it’s because the GW kit was being looked forward to so much. When it didn’t meet expectations and came in so expensive, things went south. I have bought some GW armor kits, and built one. A SWS with Flak gun. Nice kit, certainly better than the Italeri kit. So I was disappointed to read about their P61 not being the best since sliced bread. Some features look nice, other not so much. I’ve built the Monogram Widow about 9 years ago, and was pleased with it. I have 2 more in inventory and I look forward to building them as well. Unless I can find a real deal on the GW kit, I will not be buying it. I hope I can, I’d like to do a comparison for my own.
Doug
NgggHHHH!!! Caveat- I do not own the GW kit, but I’ve built two of the other ones.
Judging ONLY from photos on line of the GW kit- of course it’s a better kit. Better detail, better molding.
So the issue would be, in the mind of some; is it a $ 75.00 better kit?
That IMO is a purely personal opinion. I’ve been in this hobby for a very long time, and have yet to see any clear correlation between a kit and it’s value to the modeler, versus it’s cost, other than in the most general way.
I built 2 Revell Widows over the years and dont remember the kit being as bad as its being made out to be. I have a 3rd in my stash that I was saving for a super detail build and Im thinking about pulling it out and doing a "dry-fit" build to see whats so horrible about it. As for the GW Widow, for 80 bucks it should be a “shake-n-bake” but reviews say otherwise. Dont get me wrong, if I could pick one up for about 30 bucks Id do my own review but I`m with a bunch of other folks on the price thing.
I got my sites on another kit…Revells PV-1 Venturas out…gotta get me one a doze…[;)]
I only built the Black Widow once and it went OK. Have some sand paper, files, knife, spare styrene and patience handy and it can be done.
To me, it kind of fit in the middle of their 1/48 WWII kits in the way of modeler friendliness. I enjoyed their P-39 more than the Widow, but the Widow infinitely more than their P-38 which nearly drove me to fits.
I can’t comment on the GW Widow kit as I haven’t seen it and am no longer a 1/48 scale modeler anyway.
Heh…
Personally, I don’t hate the kit, as I’ve never built it, nor will I unless and until it comes down drastically in price…
But Bondo pointed something I’ve tried to say and never got quite right… Is it indeed 75.00 better than the Monogram kit… Sight unseen, I’d say “No”, simply because I won’t pay that kind of money for ANY 1/48th scale WW2 fighter, manufacturer be damned… (Unless I find one on sale someplace for under 30.00 my personal limit or 1/48th scale fighters)
For 75.00 MORE than the Monogram Widow, here’s what I think needs to be done with the GW kit (based solely on reading, of course) to make “more better”…
1: Correctly-molded panels, meaning over-lapping skin-panels
2: Parts for all three variants of the P-61, to include the Charlie (The F-15 Reporter should be released as a separate kit, however).
3: Instructions that show exactly how the spoilers work (in order to avoid them being modeled as speed-brakes (ala FSM Review), and detailed with the correct perforations (should be P-E, but styrene with negative relief is acceptable)
4: Remote gunsight and turret controls
5: Night binoculars
6: Internal bracing molded into rear blister
7: Radar set
8: Rockets, to reflect it’s more common ETO mission of ground interdiction and attack
9: Two complete P&W R-2800 Radials, w/ proper hubs and spinners for the props.
10: Crew figures (both flight and ground, with “Monogram detail-level” or higher and THIS is non-negotiable)
Now, if even two-thirds or half of what I’ve listed above were undetaken in the first place, then I would be much more receptive to the idea that the kit’s worth another 75.00 bucks… But it seems that so many folks are so easily taken in by a few new pieces, that they think, “Hang the expense!” and rush right out to aquire one, without any thought about holding these manufacturers collective feet to the fire and give us what we’re paying for!…
Meanwhile, I got two more Mongram Widows in the stash, and will probably buy yet another, as I’ve sill not done a Charlie or an F-15 conversion…
- Include a couple “happy endings”[:P]
[^o)]
I have no idea what you mean by that…
I am 64 years old and I remember the Revellum 1:48 P61 kit when I was about 12. I just bought the Revell Germany P61 also in 1:48 and I wonder how that kit stacks up to the Revell/Monagram and the GW kit?