1/32 Kitty Hawk T-6 SAAF

[nicely11b]

I'm back again, this time with the Kitty Hawk T-6 that will be finished in markings of the South African Air Force.  A lot has been said about this kit since it's release 2 years ago, most of which hasn't been good, so I'm hoping to be able to pull off a decent build here.

My reference photos show some interesting weathering patterns that I hope to be able to replicate.  Though I won't have an accurate canopy unless I find a way to make the extra framework.



With that said, I'll get to the build itself.

As with just about every plane I've ever built, I've started in the cockpit.  First thing that popped out to me is Kitty Hawk's awesome job on their side walls.  Does anyone else notice the problem here?



That's right, the inside of the frame work, the area that is visible, is full of ejector pin marks while the outside is perfectly smooth.  I filled what I could and let the ones on the tubes there.  I'm not sure how this managed to get past their test builds, but its unacceptable to me.

But since I can't do anything but fix it and move on, that's what I did.  Framework was primed with Mr. Surfacer 1500 Black and then painted with Mr. Paint's RAF Interior Gray Green.  I don't know what color it really should be, but the Gray Green looked to be a close match in my photos.

The rest of the cockpit is receiving the same treatment, with some chipping done on the seats and floor.



And once the seats were painted, the PE belts were shaped, primed, and glued into position.  Once they were glued, I painted them.  A wash of Ammo brown for green vehicles brought out the details.



Seats still need to be cleaned up a bit but they're moving in the right direction.

[nicely11b]

Some more work done in the cockpit of the T-6 today, mainly finished up the instrument panels and started assembling the main components.  For the front instrument panel, I replaced the kit decal with punched instruments from Airscale.  The rear panel has much smaller instruments and I just punched the kit decal instruments and glued them in place.  Once the instruments were put down, I gave the panels a quick dry brushing to bring out the raised detail.  A generic version of Bondic was then used to create the IP glass.

There is no real rhyme or reason for the small spots of color on the panel, I just wanted something to add some interest.  I wasn't going for accuracy on this part.



As for the assembly, the seats are glued in place, along with the right side of the framework and rear control stick.  There are a lot of parts to this assembly and it'll be a bit tricky getting everything lined up so it can go together correctly.

[mnrun.]

Looking good so far. That'll be a fun scheme to paint.

Gotta love those ejector pin marks. How often do we run across something where the fix seems so obvious? When laziness seems like the most likely reason for forcing the modeler into tedium, that's always pretty maddening.

[Deleted]

Beautiful detail on the IP and weathering on the seats .

[Leon]

Instrument panel and pit are looking good!

[nicely11b]

Cockpit is all finished up now.  In my last update, I started getting the main pieces of the cockpit together and the sidewalls.  

The rudder assembly was tricky, but in the end I expected it to be worse.  I put the rear rudder pedals in, in the position that I wanted them, and held them square to the cockpit until the CA set.  Once it was in, I attached the starboard side linkage to the rear pedals and ran it through to the front of the cockpit.  I again I glued and held it in place until it was set.  With those in, I was able to add the front pedals and keep them in the same position as the rear pedals



With the front and rear pedals in, I attached the port side linkage and port sidewall.  The instructions called for the front instrument panel to be installed prior to placing the wall, but it went in just as easily after.



With that all assembled, I was able to move on to everything that attaches to the cockpit framework, including the firewall and rear bulkhead.

Once the bulkhead was attached, the cockpit appeared to be a bit bowed, though everything dry fit fine into the fuselage halves.  At this point, it was just a matter of assembling everything.



And everything together



With the cockpit finished, I'll be moving on to the R-1340 and its compartment.  Once it's wrapped up, it can be installed in the fuselage and I can close the body up.

[nicely11b]

Moving right along now...

With the cockpit finished, I'm able to move on to the R-1340 Wasp and the engine compartment.  Once it's all together, it looks pretty decent, but getting there is a challenge.  Every single main piece of the engine is full of ejector pin flash.







It's not terribly difficult to clean up, but pieces like the injector ring are fragile enough without having to deal with cutting the flash off.  With that all cleaned up, at least as well as it needed to be, I test fit the main components.  The injector ring needed to be trimmed on just about every rod in order for them not to bend.  The statement that Kitty Hawk engines are substandard is ringing true so far.

The engine mounts are also a piece of work.  Every one of them broke while trying to get them off the sprue.  The plastic just seemed very brittle here.  It also doesn't help that the sprue gates are ginormous.



As I said though, once getting past the difficulties, it looks decent.  I'm sure we could get better with a resin motor, but this one will serve the purpose here.  If I was leaving the cowl open, I would prefer to look for an aftermarket solution.

[Leon]

The pit looks awesome and nice work getting the engine cleaned up and assembled!

[nicely11b]

Thanks, Leon. She's fighting me, but I'm not giving up on her.

[thug626]

The CP work looks fantastic! despite it fighting you tooth and nail the entire time. Excellent work to eradicate the EP marks. With the EP marks on the engine....at least they're on the inside surfaces.

[nicely11b]

Aug 21, 2016 13:50:26 GMT -5 thug626 said:

With the EP marks on the engine....at least they're on the inside surfaces.

Thanks!  It's nice that they don't need filled, but they made it difficult for the halves to mate correctly.  I got them taken care of, but it shouldn't have been that hard.

[nicely11b]

I left off with the engine dry-fit together.  Well, it's now 99% finished.  The majority of it is not going to be seen, so it was left in primer.  The only part behind the engine itself that is painted is the heat shroud around the exhaust and the exhaust itself, where it can be seen.  Paints are a mix of Alclad, Mr. Paint, Tamiya and AK Interactive.

[wbill76]

Looking good! Nice work on that engine.

[Leon]

Engine looks great!

[mnrun.]

Very cool.

[nicely11b]

With the engine all together and painted, I attached it to the cockpit assembly.  The framework strips that go from the exhaust ring to the firewall were a bit too long and had to be trimmed to get them to fit.  



The whole assembly could then be attached to the fuselage.  I started by attaching it to the starboard side, since that was the more difficult side with the exhaust sticking out.  Not that it was hard, I just had to get the exhaust into its fuselage slot before I could squeeze the cockpit into its locating holes.  Once that was done it fit pretty snug.  I glued it with some MEK for a strong bond.

[Wes]

Very nice work

[thug626]

Ooooh! I am liking what I'm seeing.

[saltydog-email no longer valid]

Very crisp start on this build friend. Excellent detail work.

[dupes]

For whatever reason, I realllllllly dig wacky paint schemes like this with lots of bright colors (and "small air force", to boot!).

Great work on the guts!

[Leon]

Nice progress! I'm really liking this.