Revell P-61 2015 Reissue

[TJ]

I like that exhaust staining. Looks just like the pic

[406 Silverado]

LOTSA neat tricks at work on this buddy Tony. Hate the luck on the canopy pieces but your other techniques you’re using are overshadowing any setbacks you’ve had so far. That exhaust staining is lookin KILLER!!

[tcoat]

Feb 14, 2024 7:17:12 GMT -5 406 Silverado said:

LOTSA neat tricks at work on this buddy Tony. Hate the luck on the canopy pieces but your other techniques you’re using are overshadowing any setbacks you’ve had so far. That exhaust staining is lookin KILLER!!

I will do a summary comparison to John's (jeaton01) White Box issue  ( modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/15793/monogram-white-box-48-61a ) at the end of this project  to cover the "issues" I had with the latest molds. I think my personal thoughts will surprise some people.
The canopy issues weren't so much bad luck as a know risk going into it to as an experiment.

I have put almost as much time into just those exhaust stains as I did the whole rest of the build. Since this was a trial build I don't have any sentimental attachment to it so it is a great opportunity to attempt some new (to me) methods. The staining is also a major detail in almost every single picture of these aircraft in an operational setting so the time is well spent even if the rest of the build has foibles. 

[Ceaser_Sa1ad]

Looking amazing! Makes me want to try one

[tcoat]

Feb 15, 2024 3:46:33 GMT -5 Ceaser_Sa1ad said:

Looking amazing! Makes me want to try one

I will give a whole wrap up later but at this point I will say do it as long as you fully understand it is not a modern kit. 

[handiabled]

Great looking exhaust staining. You're close to the finish line now!

[tcoat]

Done!

Summary and thread in complete section to follow when I upload all the pictures.

[kyledehart5]

Oh yeah!! That is awesome. Fantastic work

[lyle]

Looks like it should! Well done.

[TJ]

Amazing finsh

[tcoat]

More finished pictures. modelerssocialclub.proboards.com/thread/15924/monogram-revell-61-2015-issue

OK so here are my thoughts. Scored out of 5 with 5 being best.

1) Flash/Molding - As I mentioned at the start there was only a small amount of flash on about half of one sprue. 4/5
The very worst of it was around the engine insert and some interior parts. Was an extra ten minutes or so of clean up for all the flash. The one sprue with the port fuselage half was a bit thin but still useable.



2) Fit 3/5 (with smaller parts 5/5) - All small parts both interior and exterior fit perfectly and any misalignment is strictly on me.
The one wing front and the top of the fuselage were both thin and needed some filler. These were the only two spots I used any filler on seams.





The bottom of the fuselage rear section of the wings, boom halves, rear stabilizer, flaps and all other two piece parts went together with no filler and a couple of swipes with a stick made them pretty much disappear. One boom did open up a bit due to the amount of handling this needed but I left it.



One spot that could use some more work is the forward sections of the engine nacelles. If doing more than a bare bones build I would cut out the poorly defined "screens" and replace with something so I could clean up the other sections better.



3) Joints 3/5 - No doubt I could have got the main joints tighter with a bit more work but I am fie with them as the ended up. Everything lined up pretty good considering I glued the booms to the wings before attaching them to the fuselage and the starboard vertical stabilizer is slight off vertical but I can't even get it to show up in pictures.



Top wing pretty good




Bottom wing could use some fille




Same aft






The fit on the booms was exquisite! Not a gap to be found.




4) Glass 3/5 if opened probably a 1/5 if you want to close it up. Although it took some finessing as long as you have the fuselage all tight the main parts of the glass fit OK. Not great but still OK. The sections intended to be open are a whole different story! I had them temporarily tacked into place for painting and am not sure what I would do to try to get them to fit properly if closed up. I screwed up the paint by experimenting but that is not the kit's fault.


5) Decals 5/5 - Not too thick. Not too thin. Perfectly in colour and register and settled in around detail with no silvering. A nice number of stencils and even interior placards without going overboard. I did cut the wing walk lines into more manageable sections.
See picture above of detail showing through the arm of the nose art.

With the info that John has posted on his original issue White Box kit I really don't see that age has been that hard on this old girl. Nothing stood out as horrid and in some ways there may be less problems with things like warpage that kits sitting around for 50 years often suffer from.
I will not go into anything on accuracy since I really don't care but according to the Expertens on another forum it is a mix of the A, B, and C models. Since Monogram/Revell don't even say what mark it is they aren't wrong!
The fact does remain that this a child of the very early '70s with raised panel lines, parts that don't just snap together, soft or missing detail and all that goes with it's era. It is however COMPLETLY buildable and I really enjoyed it. I could have taken care of all the little issues I ignored if this was intended as a full build but I went into it with the plan to just do the basics and experiment a bit with exhaust stains.
If you are after accuracy, engraved panel lines, a closed up canopy and a slap together build then the Hobby Boss kit is probably a better bet. If after a fun little no stress build at a low LOW cost then grab one of these.

[kyledehart5]

I need to drag mine down from the shelf and compare it to your macro photos. I have a feeling that your build experience essentially mirrored my own. It all seems vaguely familiar. lol. Nicely done.

[tcoat]

Feb 16, 2024 21:39:53 GMT -5 kyledehart5 said:

I need to drag mine down from the shelf and compare it to your macro photos. I have a feeling that your build experience essentially mirrored my own. It all seems vaguely familiar. lol. Nicely done.

There could be variations in quality even with the new kits since the molding process is not always 100% effective but that applies to even the best high end modern kits. 

[stikpusher]

[tcoat]

Feb 16, 2024 22:08:22 GMT -5 stikpusher said:

UMMMMM....
Why is he holding a heart?!

[TJ]

This is a great review Tony. I've got two of these that have been in the stash for years

[406 Silverado]

That's a pretty comprehensive review of this kit Tony and thank you for sharing your insights and experiences with it. I started building this as a kid and never finished it which makes me want to give one of these birds a try. Despite the issues, you've managed to turn out a great ending product with it.

[jmarc]

NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNice !

[deafpanzer]

Catching up here! It really came out great!!! And I enjoyed reading your intel report too.

[handiabled]

You beat this into submission with a great result!

[tcoat]

Feb 20, 2024 10:09:10 GMT -5 handiabled said:

You beat this into submission with a great result!

It really didn't take much beating to get what I was after in the scope of this build. Like I implied in the summary there were some things I could have taken further but that wasn't my intent this time around. I just wanted to see if it was even buildable and how it compared to the White Box original issue. It is buildable and not really any "worse" that when the molds were new so I will tackle the next one in the shiny black. That will be years from now though since it is way down the list. 

[brandonk]

Nicely done. Man, that looks great. Now I want to get some more upgrades for mine, but where is the time. Someday....