ghodges Posted September 24, 2023 Report Share Posted September 24, 2023 (edited) Got this in the mail 11 days ago as a "quickie" commission build...... so I set aside what was on the bench and got her done today! This kit is a rerelease of the Czech Model 1/32 F-80C, which I built a while back, so that gave me a real leg up on knowing where the problems were and all that needed to be done to speed the build along. The plastic and resin parts in each kit are identical. The SH instruction booklet is almost exactly the same, but in a smaller format. The advantage to the SH kit over the original CM kit is you get more decal options with the SH release. The decals. by the way, are some of the best kit decals I've used in decades! The build itself is not very straightforward.... the intake trunks are molded as a "Y" meant to be attached to the wing interior, which doesn't work at all. They need to be cut apart which allows each assembled intake trunk to be shoved into place for the best fit. The wings need help to get the proper dihedral. I used a brass strip for that. Also, the top forward edges of the main gear wells have to be trimmed down or they'll knock into the bottoms of the rear of the intake trunks and make fitting the wing to the fuselage tougher. Outside of those 3 things, the kit goes together well with the typical test fitting before gluing since it's a short run injection kit without locating pins for the fuselage. The model was primed with Alclad gloss black and then Alclad and AK Metallics Aluminums were used for the NMF. All of the trim colors and the anti-glare panel were masked and painted over the NMF with no problems. I chose the Ramblin' Wreck scheme because it had blue trim to set it apart from my earlier CM build which has a lot of red on it. The kit cockpit is nice with a colored PE main IP and a nice resin seat This shows how the kit intakes have been separated and shoved up into the rear of the fuselage intakes This shows the brass wing spar and if you look closely you can see the leading edges of the tops of the main gear wells have been ground down The kit main gear has only a "nub" for an axle, so I drilled them out and added brass tubing axles. The white nub seen is to replace the pin for the bottom main gear door. And on to the finished pics... The Special Hobby 1/32 Shooting Star is a decent kit, but definitely not a shake and bake. However, it really looks the part with a little TLC. Critiques, questions, and comments welcome as always! Gil Edited September 25, 2023 by ghodges 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 17 hours ago, ghodges said: the intake trunks are molded as a "Y" Meant to be attached to the wing interior, which doesn't work at all. They need to be cut apart which allows each assembled intake trunk to be shoved into place for the best fit. The wings need help to get the proper dihedral. I used a brass strip for that. That's a beautiful airplane model. Is this the place to ask for more detail for us newbies? For example, when you had to fix the wing dihedral, did that cause problems with the fit anywhere else? Is that why you had to sand down the edge of the wheel wells? Just a bit more detail would be great. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stikpusher Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 I like it! A nice clean build of the classic Korean War workhorse. Not so weathered as they would get later on as the war went on and their daily service with exposure to the climate would take its toll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted September 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 (edited) Stuart (and all)..... below is the build review I wrote for the identical Czech Model 1/32 F-80C that explains in better detail the fixes needed to the intake trunks and the wings. Since I had experience with this kit, I got the wing to fit to the SH fuselage much better than in the original build; though it still took a lot of grinding, cutting, and adjusting. Sorry about the long read.... but I hope it makes the above pics more sensible. The biggest problems to be conquered with this kit are the fit of the intakes to the fuselage, the fit of the intake trunks to the inside of the intakes, the lack of dihedral in the wing, and the fit of the wing to the fuselage. I heartily recommend NOT following the kit instruction sequences and deviating in the following ways to correct these problems and get the best fit. Before gluing the fuselage halves together…… The intake bleed air ramps and the intakes themselves need to be glued into and onto their fuselage halves. This allows you to work from the inside and the outside to get them to fit. I also recommend leaving out the resin fuselage bleed air vents on the tops of the intakes until after you’ve sanded the intakes on the fuselage, lest they be obliterated (like mine!). Try to “drop fit” them into place after the sanding is done to better preserve them (I did this on the SH kit and it worked very well!). Czech Models molded the interior intake ducting as a large “Y” assembly which is intended to be glued to the wing bottom and then fit neatly up into the rear of the intakes when the wing is added. It does not work! The intake trunk mouths do not align well with the intakes AND they will interfere with the fit of the wing to the fuselage. Also, though the instructions don't say so, the intake ducts are meant to be SHOVED INTO the rear of each intake (a very tight fit!); something that would be impossible to do while trying to simultaneously glue the wing assembly to the fuselage. The solution is to cut the Y apart, making two separate intake ducts. Then, each one can be individually fit into its intake, pressing and twisting to get the smoothest transition and fit. Note that the rear lower edges of the intake ducts inside the fuselage may still need some grinding and trimming to keep them from hitting against the tops of the main wheel wells and inhibiting the fit of the wing. Thinning down the top front edges of the main wheel wells in the wing bottom may also be needed to get clearance between the two of them. One of the more trying problems is that the wing, as molded, is too flat; lacking proper dihedral. The limited run nature of the molding in between the main wheel wells, with the extra plastic there, makes it difficult to try to “bend” the wing in the center to give the wing dihedral. What’s needed is to GRIND out all of that plastic between the main gear wells (a motor tool really helps here!) and also to remove the plastic that spans the front and rear of the bottom wing center sections. That will give the bottom wing the flex needed to make the next step work. (The SH issue needed less of this as its wing is more flexible, but that flexibility is why I added the brass wing spar. The spar had to be long enough to do the job, but not too long as that would keep the top wing from being able to be glued down at the outer ends without causing gaps at the edges). The outer main wheel well tops are separate parts. They can aid in setting some dihedral on the bottom wing by doing the following (using super glue): First, glue the inner edge of the separate outer main wheel well top to the main wheel well top edge and allow it to set securely. Next, while bending the outer wing upward, glue the outer end of the part to the bottom wing. Doing this on both sides will give the bottom wing a modicum of dihedral. The wing tops can now be added, but don’t forget to first drill out the locating holes in the bottom wing for the bomb pylons and wingtip tanks! At this point, the instructions can be followed to install the cockpit tub, nose wheel well, exhaust can, and glue the fuselage halves together. I also recommend gluing the stabilizers in place, as these will serve as a check on fitting and aligning the wing. Also, don’t forget to add some nose weight! Even with all of the above adjustments, the fit of the wing assembly to the fuselage is problematic. The width of the fuselage tended to flatten out the wing and remove what dihedral had been set. I found that sanding each of the wing roots down allowed the wing to fit in place with the dihedral sustained and a pretty good fit along the wing roots. By making sure that the intakes ducts do not hit against the main gear wells, the wing can be place with a much better fit on the bottom. HOWEVER, it's recommended that you pay attention to the fit of the top wings along the wing roots (keeping them as good as possible) WHILE ALSO getting the wing alignment correct (using the tail planes as a guide); and NOT worry about how bad the fit on the bottom is by comparison. AND CONCERNING THE MAIN LANDING GEAR: Another anomaly to be mentioned is the lack of a traditional “axle” on the main landing gear. The small nub meant to serve as an axle will only hold the tire if it’s glued to the brake drum on the wheel (perhaps the maker’s intention). I recommend drilling and pinning each gear leg to create an axle for each tire, or get some aftermarket metal gear. Also, the fact that the brake drums are molded on the kit wheels instead of the gear legs means that IF you want to flatten the tires by sanding them, there is only one spot to do it properly! Hopefully this provides more of the details you were wondering about. Cheers! Gil Edited September 25, 2023 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jmarc Posted September 25, 2023 Report Share Posted September 25, 2023 LLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOK GREAT , well done SIR and thank you for sharing it with us, it's quite appreciated ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StuartMont Posted September 26, 2023 Report Share Posted September 26, 2023 14 hours ago, ghodges said: Hopefully this provides more of the details you were wondering about. Cheers! This is exactly what I wanted to read Gil, thanks so much for posting it. Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KenP Posted November 10, 2023 Report Share Posted November 10, 2023 It's been quite a while since I've been on the forum. Very nice work on the F-80C Gil!!! Ken Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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