
| It was my intent to do an online build pointing out all
the traps and gotcha's. The problem is there just haven't been
any! This is one well engineered and detailed kit. It is a
shame that it is reported to be Revel / Monogram's swan song. They
are saying that there will be no future newly tooled aircraft
models.
Since there are no real problems with the kit I'll try to off a few tips that may make assembly a little easier. |
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The fit of this kit exceptional.
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There is one tricky seam to fill - the tail
just past the engine .
With the engine installed there just isn't any way to fill and sand this seam. My solution was to not install the engine during fuselage assembly as shown in the instructions. Instead I made a plug from card stock to match the shape of the rear of the engine assembly. I inserted this plug in the fuselage so that the engine can be installed in the final phase of assembly. Besides making it easy to fill the seam it eliminates the need to mask the engine. There are also two sink holes as indicated in the photo that need to be filled.
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One thing I goofed up. I should have installed the plug slightly farther back so that I would not have to grind the back of the engine tube. I sadly caught this mistake just a few moments too late. |
Don't forget to add weight to the nose! I filled the radome with small lead pellets. |
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When you get to the wing to fuselage installation be extra
careful. You CAN get a flush fit without filling. Just take
your time and glue in stages. I was disappointed to see that there
may be a slight gap at the wing root that would be impossible (at least
for me) to fill properly. My solution was to put a very little bit
of pressure on the joint with some tape. When I applied the glue the
wing root eased itself snugly against the fuselage.
It is not a bad idea to make a guard for the pitot tube.
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Watch out for those darned mice.I decided it would be prudent to finish painting the Mighty Mouse rocket pack before committing to installing it. My concern was that I would not be able to do an acceptable job of detailing the individual rockets. After doing a beautiful job of painting 24 little OD rockets with red noses I found that all 8 legs of the housing did not sit flush with the fuselage. After sanding and adjusting on what I thought were the offending legs I finally got to the point that the whole thing just was not going to work. Everything about this kit had fit so darned well that it never crossed my mind to insure the fit of the rocket pack before going to the trouble of painting it. At least this was discovered before painting the plane with two holes opened in the fuselage. Live and learn. |
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