I recently bought Tamiya’s 1:48 Wildcat at hobby lobby’s sale. I have never used PE, resin, or vacuform parts, but would like to learn how. I veiw this kit as something to practice on. I realize it may not turn out perfect, due to the fact that I have never worked with aftermarket parts before. But if I never try it, I guess I’ll never get good at it.[:I] So I am curious to know where everyone buys their aftermarket parts. I have noticed that some parts are “for Tamiya kit” or “for momogram kit”. How important is this? It seams like if it were the same plane in the same scale but different manufacture, it wouldn’t matter. Also, do you have any recommendations as to what I should buy for this kit?[%-)]
[#welcome]
The After Market parts (AM) are some times designed for a specific kit, as you have already experienced. However, when possible always consult with the distributor. I just picked up a 1/72 scale Tall Boy conversion for a Lancaster Mk. III. The kit “suggests” Airfix as the base kit, mine is Revell. After a quick dry fit, it will work with a minimum of sweat.
For the purchase of AM parts {I take it your in the states from the Hobby Lobby mention, we do not have them here in Virginia[V]} I would try Meteor Productions or Squadron.
As far as recomendations for the kit you just purchased I say buy all possible[}:)]…LET 'ER RIP!..oh, and be sure to post some photos[:D]…
Go for the Eduard color photoetched set for your Wildcat. It’s a simple, basic photoetched set perfect for the beginner, and yet gives beautiful results.
The reason the sets have to be made for the different kits is because each companies kit is constructed differently. The photoetched instrument panel for a !/48 Spitfire outght to fit on any any 1/48 Spitfire. But kit A has a thick fuselage, and kit be has a thinner fuselage, so to make the panel fit, the photoetcher has to fiddle around with its size and shape. And some kits have parts that others don’t, so that determines which photoetched parts are included in the different sets for different kits.
Hope I haven’t confused you. I’m a real fanatic for PE stuff, especially with all this new bending and rolloing stuff I have to play with now. I’m looking for some parts to try out my cone-forming stick. Maybe the intakes for an F-111 might fill the bill.
Tom
I have that Wildcat kit. I purchased a Resin cockpit set from Airies company. It comes with the correct floor board …I believe the kit one is inaccurate… it also has the seat and instrument panel and the control stick. Try Meteor productions…excellent source for aftermarket stuff. True Details through Squadron.com is good. I’ve bought resin sets from CAM decals. They make great resin AND decal sets.
http://www.camdecals.com/main.asp
I hope this helps.
Happy modeling
Neil
Another good source is www.Greatmodels.com. Just wanted to add that even with resin made specifcially for one kit, chances are you will have to file & thin parts to fit the thing. Depending on the kit, this may include thinning side walls or filling the resin parts down significantly. Resin dust is bad for you so please wear a dust mask.
You wouldn’t think it would matter which kit manufacturer the specify (eg. Tamiya P-51 vs. Monogram P-51 vs. Hasegawa P-51) but it does. I’m working on a Hasegawa Mustang at the moment and the nose and spinner seem to have a “stepped” shape which would need correcting. The Tamiya nose is more smoothly tapered and looks to be more accurate. The Monogram nose seems a bit wide towards the front. That’s why when you get aftermarket decals they pretty much tell you which kit manufacturer they’re contoured to. The same would apply to aftermarket resin cockpits and other parts as well.
Technically yes, they should be the same. However that’s not always the case. More often than not you can disregard what the aftermarket maker has to say about which kit to use but you’ll also find yourself shaving off areas of resin and/or part of the plastic kit in order to make the part fit properly. It’s not uncommon so don’t fret if you find yourself having to do a little surgery.
Best wishes,
Eric
Go for it… your modeling skills will thank you.
Thanks for all your help. I can’t wait to get started with the AM parts. I am currently working on Revell’s B-24; I fell like I have learned a lot since I started it.
Hey! I just finished my very first attempt at using an after market kit. It was the Aires cockpit set for Hasegawa’s F-4E Phantom II (photos coming soon). The set comes with resin parts, photo etched parts and something that took me completely by surprise - a small piece of clear film with the cockpit guages and dials printed on it.
First thing I had to do was go out to the local hobby shop and buy a saw. You’ll need one to cut away the excess resin. I found one that came with about 5 different blades that was perfect, and cheap. I also struggled a bit with my usual model sand paper - it was all too fine to do the heavy sanding I needed after cutting. I found that dry wall sanding mesh works really well.
The next thing I noticed was that the resin parts are kind of fragile. I popped off a few tiny little detail bits handling them in the cutting process.
As others have mentioned you do need to do a bit of dry fitting and sanding and thinning of the parts to get the right fit even if the parts are for the specific model you are making.
I was blown away at the level of detail the upgrade kit has. Really amazing how superior it is to the stock kit parts. The film with the dials on it goes like this: You paint the resin part white, cut and glue the film on the white part, then paint and glue a photo etch part on top of that. The effect is incredible. You can actually see the tick marks and dial hands and stuff. The photo etched part on top adds dimension and depth. 1000x cooler than slapping a decal on.
Photo etch parts are a serious challenge for my fat fingers. And some are so teeny tiny that I lost a few.
Over all it was a great modelling experience and I am extremely pleased with the end results. So much so that I went and ordered Aires upgrade kits for my next few models (Hasegawa Harrier, F/A-18A and F-14A).
I am hooked!
Cheers,
Steve
Aftermarket kits, parts, and details just add to the joy of building a model, not to mention the higher standard of detail they add. Some kits have great detail by themselves but AM stuff still adds a little more or may correct inaccuracies by the kit maker. I love to build a kit with PE and resin as well as scratchbuilt details. I just started working on Accurate Miniatures TBF-1C Avenger 1/48, or I should say I started on an aftermarket engine for this kit. I’ll start the kit itself in the next couple days when I get the Eduards PE set for it.
It’s nice to have the detail set made for a specific kit manufacturer (i.e. Tamiya, Hasegawa, Accurate Miniatures, etc.) but if none are available you can still use most or all of the parts from a set made for a specific type of aircraft or AFV (i.e. F4F Wildcat, P-47D, M4 Sherman, etc.).
But I strongly recommend taking the step to building with aftermarket details, you’ll enjoy and won’t want to build OOTB again.
I totally agree with Keilers. It’s like a drug! Once you’ve had your first taste of aftermarket parts you’ll really want them on the rest of your models. My budget doesn’t allow me to get very many AM parts but the few I’ve used have been great. The other day I used Waldron’s placards in my 1/48 P-51. I wish those things came with every kit!
Eric
I must agree with Tom (Sharkskin) on the Eduard color PE parts. I have this set and it looks like it will be fun to use. The instructions are clear and easy to understand. This will be my first attempt at use PE parts. I have used some resin parts on a Bf-110 that I am currently building. (Pictures later) I also have a couple of Dragon kits that contain PE parts.
Your thinking is correct - If you don’t try it, you will not be able to improve your skills.
Kurt