HobbyBoss FJ-4B Fury
I built this kit awhile ago, but haven't displayed it much, so here goes. This is the old HobbyBoss kit in 1/48th scale. It is done OOB, using parts and decals that come with the kit. I think this kit is fairly basic, but it makes up into a pretty nice model. The plastic goes together well, but care must be taken around the nose (intake) area; alignment if the nose ring and intake can be tricky, as well as some gap issues here. I used super glue to get things attached and secured in the nose. Some lead fishing weights were glued iniside the nose, but I don't recall how many grams I used.
The cockpit was rather basic, but looks OK when painted and displayed under a closed canopy.
Overall, I liked this kit. It was a quick, fun build, just the kind that we all need from time-to-time.
About the only construction issue was the are on the upper fuselage, just ahead of the stabs; the kit had too much curvature here so once again I used super glue to fill and correction the shape. Other than thi and the nose, the kit goes together OK.
I love the old hi-viz markings, especially on light gull grey/white, so I used the kit decals for a Marine VMF 323 bird. The kits black/yellow decals went on easily and I had no issues with them. I used the kit-provided ordnance, fuel tanks, and pylons to complete the build
Hello Marvin...That's a fine looking Fury and I like your choice of markings. Nice weathering too. All very nicely done.
Nice work, my friend...I like that base, too. 🙂
Very nice! Sometimes you take the kit you can get for a subject you want - I had to go with an Emhar 1/72 Fury to get one in that scale - pretty bare-bones kit, but decals went on well and it looks ok when done. Yours came out well.
Marvin, if you want to see a basic kit of one of these, look at the 1/48th Matchbox. It makes this look like Tamiya.
great job on this, I really like the Gull gray and white era.
Well done, Marvin. It's great & the paint & weathering are superb.
Hi Marvin. I have two of these in the stash. This Fury variant look like a Sabre on steroids. In these markings it looks very striking. Six underwing bullpups would have completed that muscular look. You did a STUNNING job on this one. Well done!
Hi, Marvin - great work on your Fury! I just completed an F-8 Crusader, and pulled out my 1/48 HobbyBoss FJ-4 to build next!
A great build on an interesting bird.
Marvin, Nice work, here. I always like a nice Fury !
Thanks to all of you for your warm and wonderful comments. I really appreciate it. Hobby Boss seems to have a lot of detractors, who are very critical of some HB kits, mainly over shape issues. Every once in awhile, however, HB does get it right, and the FJ-4B Fury is one of them. Thanks again.
Very nice, you've convinced me to stay away from the Matchbox offering
Aircraft from this era and in this livery are very attractive and this is no exception, the very neat finish sets it off a treat.
Marvin,
I read your Hobby Boss FJ-4B Fury article with hopes that someone besides me noted the rear fuselage shape issue. I see you fixed it with super glue. That's a lot of super glue. Could you elaborate on that process a bit? How do you build up that much thickness? Your input would be appreciated. BTW, I live in Livermore, not far from "central California". Good job on the Fury. Thanks. Gary Lewis
Gary: Thanks for the kind words...I appreciate it.
Regarding the fuselage fix, I noted that there was simply too much curvature in the fuselage, just ahead of the tail; basically there was too much of a downward curve. This area should be a lot flatter than what Hobbyboss made. To fix this way pretty straight-forward. First, I researched what the aircraft looked like, by looking at a lot of pix on the internet; this gave me a pretty good idea of what I needed to fix. My go-to filler is usually super glue, dried quickly with accelerator. I build-up the superglue in layers, with each layer coarsely sanded to get the rough shape. When approaching the final shape, I wet sand using 400 grit wet&dry sandpaper. This is followed by a primer coat using Mr. Surfacer 1000, which is also sanded to blend everything together. Then, its on to paint, which in this case was FS 36440 Lt Gull Grey.
I hope this explains the process I used on this model. I use super glue/accelerator on just about every one of my builds. Super glue, dried quickly with accelerator has really changed the way I build models; I can get through the assembly phase much more quickly, using super glue. I still use regular glue, too, to assemble the parts; super glue is usually used to fill seams, and areas that need to be built up.
Marvin,
Thanks for your help. Looking at the fuselage halves last night I figured that if I laid them at the right angle, I could gradually, as you mentioned, fill the trough. Once you achieved the correct shape, does the super glue take a scribe pretty well for panel lines?