New Tool Jaguar Jaguar A (Kitty Hawk 1:48) - Out of the Box Build Review

[Mike]

Following my review here, I thought I'd start a build log now, even though I've not yet got any pictures. What I have got is a bunch of small sub-assemblies and a mess of tools on my desk though

The cockpit is assembled, and apart from the lack of a tab on the instrument panel, it all goes together well. The seat isn't half bad either, although I need to check it against my refs properly yet. I've test fitted the nose bay panels, and they are a GOOD fit. You'll need to put some tabs behind them to make sure they don't pop inside, but they should fit very well. I'm posing mine open though, so have had to fill the two ejector pin marks per door with CA. I'll reinstate the rivet detail with some Archer rivets in due course.

This is a kit that really needs a wash before you start building it. There is a lot of mould release agent left on some of the insides of the larger parts, and that will transfer around the kit during the build. Nip it in the bud by washing it off in warm soapy water. I'm currently looking into making the nose gear leg able to be installed later, and think I've got it cracked - I just need to test fit it all when the glue has gone off.

I'm also deciding whether to mate the nose to the fuselage before I glue it all together, as the curve of the roll-over hoope behind the cockpit is slightly different between the front and the back. That would be easier fixed by manipulation and gluing while it's still in halves, and that's the route I'm leaning towards at present. I'll post up some pics once I've got a bit more to show for it

[Mike]

As promised, some photos. Firstly of that nose

Closed

Open

I'm sure you'll agree that either fits rather well

The cockpit has been skinned with the supplied PE parts, and looks alright to me. I've also started building up the nose gear bay so I can see exactly how it fits within the nose area.

[Shar2]

_{Will you stop this Mike? You've already cost me shed loads of dosh this past week, now you're tempting me with more lovely looking styrene, and I don't normally build froggy stuff.}

[Mike]

Sorry Dave... Please accept my humble apologies.

[Alpha Delta 210]

Looks very nice, so far. I look forward to the RAF version(s). What is the suggested retail price of this kit?

[Mike]

Don't know the UK list price yet, but I can't imagine it being more than the F-35B, which Hannants have in for £39.99. Don't quote me on that though - that's just my surmise

[LT Motta]

Beautiful!!! I've just bought one GR.3 from Airfix (second hand) but I'm sure I will not resist to this French version...

[goose]

No No i want one, cant affored it, please don't tempt me.

[Alpha Delta 210]

Don't know the UK list price yet, but I can't imagine it being more than the F-35B, which Hannants have in for £39.99. Don't quote me on that though - that's just my surmise

Mmm, I might be tempted.

[colin]

I'm sure Eduard will come out with a zoom etch for this which will cost me even more money, any decals for the instrument panel Mike.

[woody37]

OOooo. This is going t osell well

Daily updates please Mikey

[Mike]

I'll do my best matey. it's going together quite quickly so far. I have the major internal bays built up and have just primed them with some Alclad White to give the interior green a bit of brilliance before I tone it down. The intakes are then going to get a strip of exterior colour at the lip, and I'll then close them up and deal with the seams.

I've also joined the front and rear fuselage, which went better than expected. I have some short areas of the seam to cover up, which I'll do with CA and sanding when I have a bit more time. it's mostly hidden behind the intakes anyway, and goes across a panel, so there is almost no detail to obliterate. Not a bad plan there by Kitty Hawk

[woody37]

Cool, should be finished for next weekend then, I'll pop over and have a look at the finished article

[stringbag]

What I have got is a bunch of small sub-assemblies and a mess of tools on my desk though

No change here then Mike.

I must say it looks a lovely kit and I'm looking forward to the 2-seater and GR1.

Keep up the good work.

Chris.

[exdraken]

that's a must have!

And seems to fit!

[Mike]

Now that the fuselage/nose joint is cured, I've filled the gap with CA and sanded it back flush, which should result in a nice strong joint and one that can be scribed where necessary.

I've been building bays like they were going out of fashion, and have decided that I'm going to leave one side un-done, while the other is all buttoned-up, with the exception of the air-brake. Quite handy really, because I lost a part from the closed up side!

I mixed my own Zinc Chromate colour from Vallejo colours because I couldn't be bothered waiting for the WEM paint to cure, so that's been applied and a filter of a russet brown added to give it a little "grime". There is more work to come on those areas before I consider them "done", but I'm not doing any/much scratching of additional detail. This is an exercise of building the kit to the best of my ability, not getting bogged down with super-detailing.

You might have noticed the intakes at the front of the 2nd photo - those have been sanded smooth inside, and the interior sprayed with Alclad White Primer, then masked off 3mm, a spritz of Alclad polihed aluminium added, and then a sand acrylic over the top, which should respond well to scratching if I decide to model it with worn paint around the intakes. They have been glued together with liquid glue, and left to set up for 24 hours before I start sanding the seams and making good any lost panel lines. They're a helluva lot better shape than the old Airfix kit parts, that's for certain!

Because one side of the engine bay is to be left open, I've put some shades of Alclad on the area to start the weathering process, again with more work needed before I can call it done.

[Mike]

I encountered my first bit of poor fit a while ago, and that's probably because I'm closing up one of the gun bays. I think the bay door has been designed in its hinged position, so in order to get it to close, I had to remove around 0.75mm of the lip, and trim back a similar amount of the interior detail too. With a little fettling and fitting, I've managed to get a nice flush fitting door

[Max Headroom]

Drool

Trevor

[phildagreek]

This looks fantastic.

[AirfixAndy]

This is the stuff of Cat fans dreams !

Whats the plastic like Mike ? ....the F35 kit seemed to be made of plastic that was very flimsy and reminded me of that old 1/72nd Airfix F-22 kit !

Andy

[Mike]

The plastic seems fine - easy to sand and cut. The fuselage is quite flimsy (as mentioned in the review), but that's mainly due to the number of holes in it

[Canuck63]

Wow Mike,

I'm not into jet planes but this one defnitely makes for a superb build OOB!

Cheers

[Mike]

Cheers chap. I've done a bit of detail painting on the various primered bays, but still have a bit more to go... more later

[Canuck63]

Seriously Mike...with a little "creative painting" this kit would sueely shine!

Cheers

[12jaguar]

Hi Mike

If the 2 bottom right parts are the airbrake boxes, there's a bit of an issue as the MicroTurbo APU is only installed in the Port one IIRC

John