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1. Gear up, in flight mounting.
2. Weapons bays closed except the port side, preparing to fire either an AIM-9M or -9X. I plan the missles to be interchangeable via magnets like on the Strike Eagle.
3. Modified exhausts to capture the surface detail and maybe some of the structures seen on the tail booms.
4. Detailing the kit seat and cockpit to be more accurate. I plan to use the Aires set as a guide, but to save it for an eventual ground build. There are more than enough reference photos to dress the kit version up, especially with the zipper suited sky god firmly planted in the seat.
5. Likely will use a Tamiya Viper pilot, sinc the kit pilot inexplicably doesn't touch the control stick.
6. Extending the inlets so the engine faces are not visible.
7. Dressing up the AIM-9 launch rail a bit. Kit version is good, could be tweaked.
So, on to the obligatory cockpit section....
First, some comparison shots of the kit and Aires parts. Not sure if this has been doe before, but always nice to see kit vs. resin. Judging from the referenc photos, the Aires (as expected) is pretty dead on.
Seats. Kit is not bad, could be better with some simple work. The red areas I plan to remove/replace. The side detail is only so interesting before it gets buried in an all black cockpit...
Instrument panel. Aside from the blank areas at the bottom outside edges, the two are very similar. The Aires part has the coaming molded on, and the coaming is more richly detailed than the kit part molded into the upper fuselage.
Top view of the pits. The Aires one is more accurate, especially the rear deck area, but it is actually a bit overdetailed in the rivets. There are some layout differences--the kit ejection rails are part of the seat, the canopy actuator mount point is a different piece, etc. Overall, and again with the pilot in place, the differences aren't too great for a canopy down build.
Now on to some construction. First thing was to assemble the internal structures, starting with the center weapons bays. One thing that isn't obvious until you test fit is all the hinge points for the weapons bay doors need to be removed, otherwise the bay doors won't fit. Easier to do this before mounting the assembled bays... Once done, the big single piece door fit pretty well.
For the nose and tailhook doors, those were practically drop ins. The MLG doors on the other hand did not fit without some edge sanding. I perhaps should have tried the two piece doors. What is interesting here is that Academy chose to mold details onto the single piece doors, even though by definition they will never be seen. This area was backfilled with copious amount of JB Weld to make sure they never EVER move or flex. The Cask of Amontillado ain't got nothin' on me when it comes to entombing parts.
Finally, on to the dreaded inlets. I chose to assemble them in this fashion for a couple reasons. First, the bottomg edge (both inside and outside) seems to be the one that give people the most fits. I am quite sure the other inlet piece will mate up fairly seamlessly with what I have now. I'm not quite as sure how that will marry up to the upper edge, but, hey, we'll see, right? Second, this gives me a fairly sturdy nose section attachment. Third, I have access to sanding the seams and ejector pin marks, as well as fairng the inlet extensions when I figure out the plan for those. Not sure why ejector pin marks buried deep in an inlet all of a sudden bothered me, but a little voice told me that was the most critical part of the build to get right... :whistle:
All for now.
This post has been edited by MarkW: 24 December 2009 - 04:52 AM
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