ipmsusa2 Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hi all, Here's the latest on the E2C 2000. The canopy was masked with Montex Mini Mask (# SM 48321). Not only do they fit perfectly, you get a double set so you can mask both the inside and outside if you choose. I got mine from Sprue Brothers, but the Montex website is montex-mask.com. One advantage to Kinetic's canopy approach is that it includes a section of the fuselage. Since the canopy isn't a perfect fit...probably the result of a replacement part due to a short shot in the kit...it allows you to putty and sand any problem seams with relative ease. Incidentally, unless the Kinetic policy has changed, when you request a replacement part, they won't acknowledge the request. Just send the part when they get around to running the kit mold again. This means that your needed part will eventually show up in your mailbox anywhere from a few weeks to a couple of months or more later. Remember I said the wing fold joints and nacelle/wing joints fit perfectly? Well, they do. Mostly. But when I looked close, I found a slight step in the starboard wing step joint and a similar problem with the nacelle/wing joints. This is likely the result of the kit parts fitting as tightly as they do and it's something you need to watch out for. In any event, the problem isn't severe and can be taken care of without losing much if any surface detail, which can be easily restored. The port wing joint, nacelle area just took a little sanding and no putty at all. Whether the bulged side window...which is a separate piece that has to be installed before mounting the canopy...shifted during canopy installation or I simply screwed up the initial installation, I can't say. In any event, I had to carefully cut out the window and reinstall correctly. As it turned out, at least on my kit, the window was slightly too large to fit properly so it took several test fits and very gentle trimming to get things right. The eight-blade props are built up from a pair of four-bladers. Each blade also has an engraved leading edge that needs to be painted steel. Checking references, the steel sections appear to be everything from dark steel to bright aluminum. How much of this is due to light reflection and/or viewing angle I can't say. So for model purposes I chose to go with Model Master Metalizer Non-Buffing Aluminum. In an earlier installment, i installed brass tubing in the nacelles in preparation for removable props. To complete that system, I installed a length of 3/32" (.094") tubing in the back of each prop. Length of the tubing doesn't matter, within reason, and you'll have to align the new shafts with ye olde Mk. I eyeball computer. Done right, they'll spin like a whirligig if you hold the model in front of a fan. One of the eight-blade props completely finished. The white tips are decals and are designed to fold over to create white tips both front and back. It works for the most part, but you'll probably need to do a little bit of touchup on the back with Model Master Flat White. I did. And of course manufacturers logos go on the front of each blade, positioned so that the beltline of the logo aligns with the bottom line of the steel/aluminum leading edge. The decals from the kit sheet are appropriately thin, but they take a long time to release from their backing sheet. Since there are a total of 32 decals for the two props, you should plan on a relatively extended decal session. Also, I wound up using tweezers to handle and position all of the logos and some of the tip decals. The side windows have been corrected and reinstalled. The canopy section/fuselage seam has been eliminated. Last but not least, Finally the nose cone was added. The nose cone is indexed with a locator pin. As a result, the bottom part of the seam is a perfect fit but the top seam requires a little sanding to bring things into line. With that done, all that's left is a final shot of primer, finish paint and decals. Incidentally, 'all' is not as simple as it sounds considering the large number of decals. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted October 18, 2018 Report Share Posted October 18, 2018 Nice work, and a great save on that side window! Those scimitar props really add a degree of "cool" to the Hawkeye! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipmsusa2 Posted October 19, 2018 Author Report Share Posted October 19, 2018 Thanks Gil. Those side windows are tricky because they're a butt joint all the way around, leaving you with minimal contact surface for cementing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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