1/48 Dora Wings Vultee Vengeance.

Started by John Healy · 102 · 2 years ago
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    John Healy said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    This kit features some really nice detail in most areas. Today, I assembled the tail wheel mechanism. Great fit and awesome detail, but I suspect the fork for the wheel itself will be a weak spot. I’m waiting for final assembly to add the fork and wheel. Dora’s P-43 had a weak tail wheel too.

    Watch the addition of the wedge shaped parts at the rear of the wing roots. The instructions have them reversed.

    The landing gear leg housings build up from three small parts and fit well.

    Then I came to the flaps……..It’s going to be a challenge to get these to fit well in the up position. Every Vengeance photo that I’ve seen shows the flaps up while on the ground. Everything is imprecise about this area of the kit. I honestly would’ve been happy with a solid wing on this one. Other then that, it’s moving along nicely.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Looking super so far, my friend @j-healy!
    Hope the fork will not be that weak.
    I am sure that regarding the flaps you will sort things out your usual excellent way!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Very nice progress, John @j-healy
    The tail wheel mechanism does indeed hae some nice details.

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    Eric Berg said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    @j-healy. Looking good here. What is the purpose of that main wing attachment part J13? On both sides? Seems a bit complicated in the wheel well and flaps department. Sometimes I think Dora Wings is guilty of over engineering things a tad.

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    John Healy said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    J3 and J4 are fairings that the inner flaps fit into. The flaps are angled in this area and do not fit flush with the fuselage.

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    David Mills said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Great Work John @j-healy I have been waiting for this kit to come out for ages!
    Nice to see it progressing!

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Looking great, John (@j-healy). The tail wheel assembly looks really sturdy until you get to the fork.

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    John Healy said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Hit a major milestone for this one today. I assembled the cowling and painted the interior. The cowling is made of two plastic sides, a ring, and an intake duct roof. These parts all went together well. The intake duct in the lower cowl needs two small PE fins/vanes attached. These parts were too tall to fit properly. I trimmed both until they fit between the guide grooves provided by the plastic parts. Another area that needs caution is removing the larger bomb bay doors from the sprue. Each has three attachment points that are connected right on ledge shaped detail. I cut and cleaned these as best I could because it will likely affect the fit of the two smaller doors. I airbrushed the mostly complete visible interior structures with Humbrol interior green and Testors yellow zinc chromate. Both thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner. I normally brush paint my interiors but felt airbrushing this one was a better choice due to the numerous tiny PE parts involved.

    I’m hoping to finish the interior and close it up by the end of the week.

    15 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Nice progress, my friend @j-healy! Really looking forward to this wonderful modeling project!

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    Eric Berg said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    @j-healy - You're moving right along as Spiros commented, but I can see one needs to take one's time with this kit. It looks a bit fiddly like most Dora Wing kits. Do you think the push rods for the engine won't break upon removal from the sprue?

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    John Healy said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    This one definitely benefits from careful, deliberate attention. I think the pushrods will be fine with a sharp blade. I’m really happy with Dora Wings. I can’t wait for the Dutch CW-21 and 22 kits.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Great looking interior, John @j-healy.
    The additional PE is very nice and airbrushing it is a good approach.
    Dora kit of the CW21 and CW22 draw my attention as well, thanks for notifying.

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    This really does look like a nice kit, John (@j-healy). The interior has built up into a nice representation of the real thing. It does look like there are a lot of fiddly parts that need close attention and good eyesight.

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    John Healy said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    Yes, it’s very accurate, George. They really did their homework on this one. Steve Long and the Camden Museum of Aviation in Australia provided a lot of assistance for this model. Steve is a regular on Hyperscale and Britmodeller. He’s very knowledgeable about Australian and FAA aircraft.

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    John Healy said 2 years, 4 months ago:

    I finished the interior and closed it up today. Excellent fit all around. The kit supplied belts looked like a combination of British shoulder straps and US lap belts. I substituted US items from an Eduard set.

    5 attached images. Click to enlarge.