1/32 HPH F7F-3P Tigercat crossing the line !

Started by Michael Ezat · 73 · 3 years ago
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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 6 months ago:

    Oh my - splendid! - and it will all be repeated next WE! Great job Michael (@faraoemike).

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 6 months ago:

    Thanks buddies ...

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    Josh Patterson said 3 years, 6 months ago:

    This and the Helldiver got my attention as neat kits but I don't build much 1/32 scale. The engine nacelle looks about as busy as the bomb bay on their Il-28! I am surprised that there is nothing to go inside the scoops on the wings. They did that on the B-36 too. At least you can get to it. I don't know what I'm going to do. One thing I will say for HPH, they do engineer the kits well! Other than small fiddly bits slowing you down the main assembly will probably almost fall together!

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Good morning budies !

    So , after almost 4 weeks I am back with this build . My progress is going quite good and now with the second lockdown (COVIT-19) will going faster .

    Regarding the painting I had something in my mind but it did not thrive since no photographic material was found with Tigercats in primer , so I continue as the instructions command .

    The nose landing gear looks not so clear casting (and maybe not so strong as HPH boasts) and I decide to make some modifications .

    I build a new scissor with a better support axle and one more for the retracting mechanism , plus one over the main that was missing for an unknown reason .

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    After this I am going to cockpit area : Everything assembled by the manual , plus some cables here and there .
    At the end , a good weathering (colours chipping , scratching ,fading , dusting , leaks etc )

    9 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    And for the end of this session , some working on the nose gear bay : Same as above , post shading , leaks and dust .
    And off course some cables and tubes .
    That's for now , please feel free to comment harshly .

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    That's amazing progeress, Michael. so much detail!
    Love your scratchbuilds!

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Almost choked on my coffee upon seeing the details. I have to keep reminding me it is after all 1/32, but WOW. Love every bit of it, and the legs just look sooo cool. Well done Michael!

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Thank you gent's !

    1 attached image. Click to enlarge.

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    Louis Gardner said 3 years, 5 months ago:

    Michael, @faraomike
    Talk about attention to details ! This is GREAT 🙂
    I like what you are doing here, and it's all very impressive work.

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Hello again ! We are in 2nd lockdown (COVID-19) and this is a great opportunity for modeling .

    So , let's continue with the engine support frame : A nightmare !

    Main part (#187 & 188) are not same in dimensions , but because there is no further info on the instructions, I started with them .

    Also there is not any sign on the wing about were must drill for glueing those parts .

    The goal here is to construct a frame that fits excactly on the landing gear nacelle with the circular front end excactly on the opening on the nacelle for this .

    Ha ! The result after many hours is just tragic ! If you have a straight frame , you can't have a match with the front opening , and if you have a match with the front side , you haven't a frame that fits into nacelle !

    After two days I realized the wrong so , cutting here and triming there (and in some cases scratching with polysterene rods and sheet) I finally have a frame that fits into nacelle AND in front opening at the same time !

    Having done with the frame , I move my attention to the engine accessories , pipping , cabling and lubricant/fluid cans , on the frame and in the nacelle , as well as the nacelles per se .

    Next stage are the engines : a big and time consuming stage as you may see in picture #8 .

    A small army of cylinders , heads , magnetos , engine body , transmission , fuel manifold body etc coming on my bench .

    If you count parts #166,169 & 170 plus the valves pushrods , then every engine consists of more than 100 pieces .

    Oh yes , I almost forgot the spark plugs +18 more parts on every engine (from ANYZ).

    OK , one engine ready , one more to go . The army is smaller now .

    That's all for now , hope soon have more to show , until then , have a nice week !

    14 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Erik Gjørup said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    You are getting the best out of the situation here Michael, and the finished engine looks great.
    Stay safe

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    Andrew H said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Wow, great progress Michael!

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    You are doing an excellent job here, Michael!
    Congratulations, my friend!

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    Michael Ezat said 3 years, 4 months ago:

    Hello boys (and girls ?) !
    This is a very small and quick update . As you can see , the big badasss cat is on the painting proccess .
    Due to its monochrome camo, I will have to try hard enough to make its panels stand out, without resorting to severe weathering , since this aircraft is not documented in a bad condition.
    So , I will work on panel by panel , playing with different shades of blue on different coloured pre-shading surfaces and with very light sanding with micro mesh sanding fabrics .
    I hope the result is worth it, since I will have to mask it countless times, always fearing that some damage will be done to the already painted surfaces or to the model itself.
    The next update , normally , will be within the first days of 2021 , so until then , I wish to all of you "HAPPY (and healthy) NEW YEAR , creative and rich in models ! Anything you like in your life , I wish you to find it ! "

    PS . Sorry if I missed photographing the landing gear, but when I remembered it was already masked .

    2 attached images. Click to enlarge.