Jack12477

Hi Mike
 
I have the same book along with the CME interior. I also have some extra PE but I am not certain if it is the full set like you have.
One of the reasons I never started mine, (other than my normal procrastranation) was all of the online builds I saw, said that  the fit, ecpecially around the cockpit was shabby at best and required considerable rework. I hope you are able to overcome this on your build. It would be a shame to loose out on your already fine work up to now. This may be a case where there are same number of kits finished as there are real aircraft preserved, (Or partly restored) two that I know of. I did run ac5ross this today though:
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been a Ferrari I didn't like. Ever. I've only known one person who was a Ferrari owner and he owned two. He had a job and a salary very similar to my own, so I was very curious as how the heck he did it. According to him, from time-to-time, you can buy a Ferrari that needs work for a reasonable price. On top of that, he had learned to do all his own work making repairs. I had always assumed (incorrectly I suppose) all Ferraris cost a small fortune.

Potholes are never finished Keith - they just get deeper!  (sorry)
 
Looking good, Nils.
 
John

So much better than mine. Built 40 years ago 
👍.
 

The Dino has always been one of my few sport car favorites.
Very nice build!

All the cockpit bulkheads have been prepped.
 

Thanks for the help, guys.
After reading all that, I can safely say the kit provides WAY more ordnance than one can possibly use on this one kit. While all are slide molded, they are about as up to date and well detailed as any others I have in other kits. Remember the days when Hasegawa sold you a kit and you had to buy the ordnance separately? Today it's just the opposite with many companies. Half the kit parts count is ordnance. Not complaining, just sayin'...

Evening all,    I have  just brought  my  scenery  board  for  my  raised area,   its coming from China  and  expected  arrival with me  upto Three  weeks,, I have other  stuff  I can do.
 
OC.
 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266556642528?var=566325039917

Those clamps look like they have seen a lot of service Nils. I will be interested to see how you finish the potholes.

It is funny what our brain does with what our eyes see. It took me about 3 minutes to see the sheet of perspex - I was looking for something a lot smaller! The hull is looking real smart Mark.

On the left is the assembled pilot seat, on the right, all the parts that make up the RIO seat.
These seats build up as well detailed as any aftermarket seats I’ve bought in the past.

Thanks guys, I'm at my daughter's in Buffalo seeing a specialist, will update you when I get back home.  

Thanks  Ken.
 
OC.

Yep definitely read both pages... The info is pure gold... Also that's the place to ask those questions... The general idea is that given the mission and what was on hand munitions wise, they could have carried anything within the aircraft's approved spec config, any day of the week... The full range of munitions was available... The best bet is to look at combat pics for specific aircraft... (which is typical for any model carrying external ordinance)
 
You have the decals for VF-31 Tomcatters, off the USS Lincoln, one of the three carriers operating in the Persian Gulf over Afghanistan & Iraq during OEF, OSW & OIF 2002-03....

Here ya go...
 
http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?/topic/221470-f-14-tomcat-weaponry-config/
 
Covers typical air to air and some fairly standard OIF (Operation Iraqi Freedom) loadouts...
 
The weapons that come with the kit puts you right into that OIF & OEF time frame...
 
Hope it helps...

I guess I stuck my foot in my mouth. I found this bag of seat harnesses buried inside the box along with everything else.

I am going to need to research reference material to determine an appropriate bomb cat load out. If any of you know about it or are aware of reference sources, please chime in.

As well detailed as this kit is, I am disappointed that seat harnesses were not included. Maybe I’ll rob the figures from my Tamiya tomcat in lieu of harnesses.

 

Just a bit tricky installing the lines from the oil tank due to access, and there not being any positive connection point at either end. Thought about using some brass wire instead of the plastic parts but went with the kit part and paint at the end of the day, think it’s believable.
Rear wheel and chain install is next.

It required some very clever thinking to get all of this plastic organized into one smallish box. Once removed, it won’t be easy to get it all back inside if possible at all. I like the way they separately boxed up certain fragile pieces. There’s a ton of plastic trees in the box with much of it being ordnance.

Hi Lou, great to hear from you and thanks for the kind words.  I have the following book which has a lot of great pictures of both the civilian craft (including the Howard Hughes plane) and the military craft.  It's definitely worth buying if you're going to build this kit I think.  
 

Interestingly, the interior of the military craft looks very similar to that of the civilian craft, down to the interior curtains.  I decided not to open the model up in part because I wasn't too certain about whether the interior from the kit was accurate or not.  
 
For the wheel wells, the photo etch actually adds some nice detail like the rivets and the panels which seems very consistent with the pictures I've seen of the actual wells.  The PE is also really helpful to cover up that dreadful, hard to get to, ejector pin mark in the deep recess of the well.  Though, this is not an issue if you use the CMK wheel well replacement parts which actually fit better.
 
The kit is ok, and the CMK set is a nice add-on, but things like the need to clean up pretty much every piece, as well as the fit of the pieces, including the windows, the canopy, and the engine cowlings, make this a bit frustrating.  There's also the issue of no interlocking connecting points for the wing and tail struts (as well as a number of other detail parts) which is annoying.  Then there is the matter of certain details that are helpful to add, like the nose center rib in the book picture above, and the location and angle of the antenna mast in the center wing that is different from plane to plane.  Also, the tail wheel in the kit looks nothing like either of the two versions of the tail wheel on the real thing, so of course now that I've seen the actual pictures (the book above has great close-ups)  I feel obligated to scratch build a more accurate one, though not really looking forward to it.
 
I've started to lose interest in finishing the model, but am going to try to push through to get it finished by the beginning of June for the group build on LSM.  It didn't help that the model took a nose dive off the table last week and three of the interior windows fell off.  Thankfully the top two pieces of the fuselage had also loosened, so I was able to take them off and reinstall the windows.  If it was one of the windows further back I probably would have had to junk the model.  If you end up building the kit, I'd probably try not to be as OCD as I have been and just enjoy building it.
 
 

Greetings!

Work continues on the saw shed. The floor was next. Instructions were a bit contradictory as the floor boards are to be the same length as the crossbeams however you are instructed to cut a notch in the boards to accommodate the vertical beams. This notch would not be needed if the boards are as long as the crossbeam so I did not do this. The 4 trusses were easy to construct using the template.


The trusses were then glued to the upper crossbeams. That takes us to constructions of the saw table. Construction was straightforward using the supplied plans as a template.

Some logs show 3 boards used to cover the table sides however I just used 2, similar to what is shown on the plans. 3 were used on the side where the end plate will be placed.
Next up is the hardware. I have several questions I hope someone on the forum can answer.

1. There is motor that sits on a platform above the table that has a drive shaft that is connected to a pulley and belt. The belt connects with the drive shaft wheel on the end-plate of the saw table. Connected to this pulley there is another drive shaft (pink circle in photo below). What would this shaft be connected to? The exact layout is not described in the instructions as it is hidden under the table so no need to build it. However this leads to the problem of how exactly does the saw / roller system work (see Q2 below).  I am assuming the motor runs the saw, but maybe not? If it is the saw, wouldn't it be more appropriate to line up the end-plate with the center hole of the saw (yellow circle)? I guess it could be offset with another set of pulleys and a belt to drive the saw.

2. Given the layout of the saw table rollers, I assume the path of the wood along the table would be the pink arrow in the photo below. The yellow line represent the saw blade.


If this were the case, would there not be a mechanism to move the blade up and down to accommodate movement of the wood? Either the blade would have to move downward to allow the wood to roll past and cut the wood as it is moving back up, or the blade move up and cuts when moved down like the illustration below.

My assumptions at this point are the drive shaft runs the blade and there is another set of pulleys and a belt under the table. As such, the blade would have to move downward to allow for the planks to roll past and be crosscut.
It seems to be an unusual set up and when looking at other build logs of this kit, I've always wondered how this set up would work

I am probably over thinking this but I would like to hear some opinions before i start to glue the gear on.  If you want to see a detailed description of how the motor and drive shafts are set up, refer to the log by gdale

thanks

Jeff

It's looking good, OC. As you add more details, you can add additional weathering effects, if you think you need it. Too much weathering now and you'll live with it. Don't overthink it, mate.

Nothing like a wet weekend (& end of the summer racing season) to free up some time. I sanded the keel down to an approximate shape, glued the outer stem on & gave it some initial shaping, & glued the keel on. More pictures later but this shows the way I'm ensuring the keel is plumb. It's a piece of clear acrylic sheet with a line square to the base scribed on to it, then fixed to the building base. Two light strips of timber with masking tape stay the keel, I'll check it in a few hours, & by that time the epoxy will be stiff but not beyond movement, should there be an issue.
 
The following steps will be slowly & carefully fairing these to each other. Then the infill piece for the propeller cutaway. It's possible some filling will be required where the keel meets the hull, but we'll see.
 
thanks for the interest

Thanks guys, I'm at my daughter's in Buffalo seeing a specialist, will update you when I get back home.  

When this kit first arrived, I noticed that it is designed to use butt joints. I really dislike butt joints. Because it uses butt joints, no joiner strips are provided -- not even the sort that are typically used to close rings. Hmph.
 
Work proceeded on the first fuselage section. Regardless of what the kit designer intended, I simply made myself a joiner strip to close up the ring, which, as you can see in this first photo, is not entirely ring-shaped. It's a ring where it joins the cowl, but then flares to a flat bottom along the rest of the fuselage. The forward-most bulkhead is a simple circle, but the aft bulkhead has a cutout where cockpit elements will be located. I stiffened the entire flimsy-looking bulkhead with thin CA. I also painted the interior a sort-of canvas-colored tan, because I don't know how much of it will be visible once the fuselage and cockpit are assembled. (BTW, that's just an old, dried glue blob in the lower left corner.)

 
Both bulkheads required some sanding to get them to slip easily into the ring. Here's the completed fuselage section, now mated to the cowl assembly. The cowl has numerous blisters, which I will add later to avoid smooshing them while working on the fuselage.
 

 
That first butt joint turned out well. I'll be very happy if the rest turn out as nice. Moving to the next fuselage section, construction of the forward cockpit begins, so there will be a lot more elements.
 
Cheers!