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1/48 FJ-4B Fury


ghodges

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This is the Grand Phoenix kit, and if you want to build a 1/48 -4 Fury, this is NOT the kit to buy! sad.gif Although it comes with some impressive resin parts for the wheel wells and the cockpit, they don't fit. Google a few searches on some sites and I think you'll see that this is the case for this typical short-run injection kit. I do believe the Hobby Boss -4 Fury is now the way to go, if you have a choice!

That said, it IS buildable with a bit of planning and elbow grease...

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By the way, the scratchbuilt wing fold (which is mostly fictitious) is something I did, and not an option in this kit. I also had some decal silvering problems, though those were probably of my own doing, as I used some very good Eagle Strike decals for the CAG Davey Crocket's plane.

I'm happy to have this one done, but it's certainly no contest beauty! However, it'll look ok sitting on my shelf, and adds another bright "nifty fifty's" jet to my collection. Comments, critiques, and questions welcome, as always. Cheers!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Gil, if nothing else, you do not lack in the elbow grease department. Deciding to build a particular kit department - Eh, maybe not so much. :smiley24:

 

Great looking job, as usual. You do tend to turn sows ears into silk purses.

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Nice job, Gil. Almost got that kit a couple of times...spider sense hit me every time and I never got it.

 

Your looks the part as usual. What was the worst of it as I can't see any thing obvious.

 

Bill

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In a nutshell:

 

IF you have this and plan to build it be aware of the following items:

1) The -4 Fury almost never had all the gear doors down, only the 3 small doors on the gear. The others were almost always up (except when cycling the gear, of course!). That means that you can completely leave the resin main CENTER gear wells out (as I did). Have fun cementing those separate doors into the closed position, as they do not fit well!

2) You still need to use the resin WING gear wells, as they provide the seating for the resin main gear trunnion. BUT, they're too thick (as is the wing interior) so you have to sand BOTH of them VERY thin to get them to fit into the wings; as well as to hog out the wing interior space for them too. A motor tool will make this a lot easier!

3) The nose gear well and the intake trunk do not fit into the nose, BOTH needing extensive sanding IF you try to make them fit (as I did). My advice is to leave OUT the intake trunk (which means the nose gear well will then fit easily), add nose weight in that area, and then cover it all up with an intake cover like I did. Otherwise, you can end up sanding through both the gear well and the intake trunk, exactly where it'll weaken the nose gear strut attachment!

4) The main gear are molded in 3-4 parts! I advise you to pin these parts together for strength, and don't just glue them together.

5) I modified the exhaust can to be added at the end of the build, which makes it easier to hold the model while painting.

6) You may find (like me) that the vinyl masks provided with the kit have lost their adhesive properties. No matter: stick them on some Tamiya tape and make your own new masks.

Those are the main problem areas as I recall them. Hope this helps!

 

As advised at the top, find the Hobby Boss kit if you can!

 

GIL :smiley16:

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Wow, Gil! Absolutely Awesome :D I just sold mine last year; I couldn't convince myself to begin something that probably wouldn't ever turn out the way I wanted it to. You did yourself proud on this one. Congrats

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