MiniArt 1/48 P-47M-1-RE Thunderbolt

Started by David Odenwald · 74 · 3 weeks ago
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    Louis Gardner said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    This looks like it’s going to be an amazing build and I’m very impressed with the details. I was originally very pleased with what I saw in the box when I posted the kit review earlier, but now that I can see how it goes together I am thrilled about it.

    The decals are in the mail and you should be getting them on Monday.

    Keep it going my friend, you are on a roll !

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    David Odenwald said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Making progress on this kit. So far not lost another part though this kit does task me. Just look at all the bits I had to glue to the left side of the cockpit, the grey bits. Last photo with B39 I may skip completely as the actual part is as small a pinhead I would take a little bump on the fuselage compared to this part.

    Engine has been a breeze. Cylinders were painted Vallejo dark aluminum with black pushrods. Engine just snapped into bulkhead without gluing. Same with Gc4, it just snapped on to the engine. Still need to assemble and paint the resin crankcase. And because they came with the kit added all the black plates between cylinder rows, part Gc20 and Gc15. Though no one will ever see them, much like other bits MiniArt provides in the cockpit.

    The pilot's seat is a kit in itself with seven parts. Glue D32 to B54 and before the seat parts set align one of the side parts, B6 or B5, to it and glue. Then add B69 followed by the other side part. Finish by attaching the legs, Cd16, to assembled seat.

    All the pertinent parts have gotten yellow zinc chromate while the cockpit parts are now RLM 80 olive green.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Superb progress and great looks, my friend @kahu!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Some really good progress, David @kahu

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Cockpit looks great, and suitably worn, David @kahu. Looks like a really good kit. I may need to move mine farther up the queue.

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    David Odenwald said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Thank you everyone. Got the cockpit about wrapped up. Just need to add decals to instrument panel plus add a bit of wash and it should be good to glue together and then close up the fuselage bits.

    A word of caution, the antenna mast because the plastic is nicely soft and very thin is easy to bend and yes break. I think for the next MiniArt Jug what I should do is put a blanking plate on inside of fuselage and only add the antenna mast after everything is together.

    Speaking of tempting fate, not glued the wings together because I am still debating cutting all the barrels off their mounting plates and installing once painting is done.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Sounds like a great progress, my friend @kahu!

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Sounds like a good approach, David @kahu

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Antenna masts, and their wires, are evil David @kahu. I struggle with them on every build. I have heard that you can't be a master modeler until you have broken at least 100 antenna masts, so I must be very close to being a master modeler.

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    Erik Gjørup said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Good thinking to blank and leave the antenna till later.

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    David Odenwald said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Here is the cockpit almost ready to button up. Just need to dullcoat to seal it all and then add drops of gloss for bezels.

    MiniArt provides two decals for the instruments. Clear backing ones means picking individual dials and placing them. Erk. Luckily the decal of the whole panel snugged down easily with MicroSol and MicroSet. Pretty pleased with how things are going. And not a bit of aftermarket in the cockpit.

    Breaking 100 bits off oh yeah we're all master model builders there I think.

    MiniArt provides one of those I think Spitfire rear view mirrors for the windscreen. Tiny thing. And it has a seam running down it. Glad the plane I am planning to build does not require it.

    3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

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    Spiros Pendedekas said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    The interior looks wonderful, my friend @kauh!
    Great that the instrument decal snuggled down nicely, so you did not have to apply the individual dials.

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    John vd Biggelaar said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    A beautiful interior indeed, David @kahu

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    George R Blair Jr said 2 months, 1 week ago:

    Instrument panel looks great, along with the interior, David @kahu. I love it when the panel decal fits correctly and snuggles down like it should.

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    David Odenwald said 2 months ago:

    Jigsaw puzzle. That describes MiniArt's philosophy on how major parts of this kit fits together.

    All the major parts of the cockpit are keyed to prevent any goofs. Down side of this makes things a bit fiddly. And tolerances are tight. So take your time and test assemble before gluing.

    Instrument panel mounts to top of rudder pedal assembly. There are two tiny guide notches on each piece for proper alignment. I assembled the cockpit and fuselage halves with tape before dropping in and gluing instrument panel to make sure it was in the right spot.

    The coaming in front of instrument panel is a separate piece that snaps in once fuselage glued together, MiniArt will have glue in three parts to the bottom of this part. As photo shows they won't be noticed so skipped.

    The center line rack is a separate keyed part. Judging by the photo not sure what happened when I glued it to a fuselage half to create that gap but its nothing major.

    The vertical tail tip is also keyed to prevent misalignment. As is the fin fillet.

    Getting closer to finish line now fuselage is glued together.

    4 attached images. Click to enlarge.