F8F BearCat in the Portuguese Navy

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, i'm biting the bullet, i've had this one in my mind for a long time now and as i've recently reduced my stalled builds pile to just 3 models, i'm joining in the GB with this one.
This also marks the beginning of a new phase of my modelling cause there's a catch, at least for me it is, i'm using the airwaves photo-etch set, first time using this stuff so we'll see how that goes, may very well be the most time-consuming part of the whole build, i just hope i'm able to finish it inside the deadline...



I'm starting the cockpit right now so wish me luck!

[Knightflyer]

Go Bearcats Go!!!

Makes me wonder when the Bearcat breeding season is, 'cos there seem to be a lot of 'em around all of a sudden! 

Hope the build goes well, looking forward to see what you produce

[DogfighterZen]

Go Bearcats Go!!!

Makes me wonder when the Bearcat breeding season is, 'cos there seem to be a lot of 'em around all of a sudden! 

Hope the build goes well, looking forward to see what you produce

Thanks!
There is an abundance of Bearcats around here, maybe our forum is a protected habitat for them...
Ok, started work on this and cleaned up some ejector pins on the mating surface of the wings cause a dry fit revealed a very bad fit, all good now.
The PE doesn't scare me that much now, it's very easy to work with, although i haven't started on the millimeter bits yet...
Seat and sidewalls are in shape, i just have to get some CA on them, i'll try the "Drop of CA on a CD and apply with toothpick" method to see if i don't end up drowning the parts in glue...
Also hacked the prop and spinner from the new parts donor, the Italeri Spitfire IXc, carved up the blade holes and we have a spinner for the Bearcat! Still needs some work but it'll do.



Now, i just have to keep the momentum going...

[NARSES2]

Seat and sidewalls are in shape, i just have to get some CA on them, i'll try the "Drop of CA on a CD and apply with toothpick" method to see if i don't end up drowning the parts in glue...

Use thin superglue (I find the 4 bottles for a £1 in Poundstore  ) and just touch the join and let capillary action do the rest.

Looking forward to this. That old Monogram kit is a lovely one

[DogfighterZen]

Seat and sidewalls are in shape, i just have to get some CA on them, i'll try the "Drop of CA on a CD and apply with toothpick" method to see if i don't end up drowning the parts in glue...

Use thin superglue (I find the 4 bottles for a £1 in Poundstore  ) and just touch the join and let capillary action do the rest.

Looking forward to this. That old Monogram kit is a lovely one

Thanks for the tip, Chris!  I have the Loctite's original Super Bonder but i'm not sure if it's thin enough, do you think it could work?

[zenrat]

The first rule of Bearcat Club is...

Maybe i'll make a start on a Sea Fury.

[NARSES2]

Thanks for the tip, Chris!  I have the Loctite's original Super Bonder but i'm not sure if it's thin enough, do you think it could work?

From memory the Loctite glue is more of a "medium" so I'm not sure.

The Poundstore stuff is very thin and sticks almost instantly in warm weather. As it gets colder this drying time extends. Also found it is very long lasting in the bottle unlike some other more expensive brands I've tried. I use this for small parts and where capillary action is required and "Wayside Master CA" for where I need medium or thick glues. I get this off EBay direct from Wayside and find it excellent quality and value.

[DogfighterZen]

The first rule of Bearcat Club is...

Maybe i'll make a start on a Sea Fury.

Thanks for the tip, Chris!  I have the Loctite's original Super Bonder but i'm not sure if it's thin enough, do you think it could work?

From memory the Loctite glue is more of a "medium" so I'm not sure.

The Poundstore stuff is very thin and sticks almost instantly in warm weather. As it gets colder this drying time extends. Also found it is very long lasting in the bottle unlike some other more expensive brands I've tried. I use this for small parts and where capillary action is required and "Wayside Master CA" for where I need medium or thick glues. I get this off EBay direct from Wayside and find it excellent quality and value.

Thank you!  I believe you're right about Loctite glue, it could be a bit thinner. I'll try to find some of that in local drugstores but if not, i check out the bay.
Did go ahead and tried to assemble the cockpit last night and, i'm either too dumb to understand the instructions or the measurement of these Airwaves PE sets leave a lot to be desired... The problem is that the seat is exactly the same width of the gap in between the side panels, and there's no slack at all, when it's still supposed to have the seat belts glued on the outside of the seat and on the right sidewall there's a box with a lever and that also stands in the way of the seat...



To make things worse, when i tried closing the fuselage to see if it fit inside, guess what? It doesn't! It makes an otherwise perfectly fitting fuselage, have a 2mm wide gap around the cockpit area, because the sidewalls and the armored plate behind the seat are too wide... I've even tried to sand the inside of the kit to see if it would help but no dice...
By what will be seen of the cockpit when the fuselage is assembled, i'm starting to consider dropping the PE seat and armored plate and just use the instrument panel and sidewalls, with the pilot in there... if i can make them fit with the plastic seat, that is...
And another bad point for the Airwaves set, IMHO, is that the sidewalls bare almost no resemblance to what i've seen in pics on the web...
Anyone else used this set before? I could really use some help with this...

[NARSES2]

Can't help with the Airwaves set I'm afraid. I've only used their generic sets not specific ones.

Must admit when using Eduard Zoom sets I only use those bits that will be seen, and I am moving to Yahu for instrument panels as they come made up so all you do is attach them to the fusalage. Very good and not expensive. I've praised them before on site and there is a link somewhere.

[DogfighterZen]

Can't help with the Airwaves set I'm afraid. I've only used their generic sets not specific ones.

Must admit when using Eduard Zoom sets I only use those bits that will be seen, and I am moving to Yahu for instrument panels as they come made up so all you do is attach them to the fusalage. Very good and not expensive. I've praised them before on site and there is a link somewhere.

Thanks anyway, Chris!  I've read your comments about the Yahu instrument panels and i was interested since then, although i've never seen one for this kit. But something tells me that i'll wanna buy another one of these or a better kit, and i will have a look to see if they produce the Bearcat's panel.

I will use the instrument panel provided but i'll loose the seat and sidewalls, not worth the time and effort it would take to assemble it in the right places. Nothing will be seen as there will be a pilot in there to compensate without loosing too much time with it.
I'm now in the cave and at the bench, so pics of progress later on.

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, after a lot of testing, and according to the best pic i saw of the Bearcat's cockpit, this is more or less how it was supposed to go..



I opted to put in the kit's seat, it's narrower than the PE seat so i tried the sidewalls on, but still had to remove the small gearbox/lever on the side of the left sidewall or else it wouldn't fit. This was all just patafixed in place for a fit test, which it passed, after i cut away a bit of the instrument panel cover on the kit.



The instrument panel is still too deep inside the fuselage, doesn't fit the curve at the top of the cover, but it's in there, i'll try to cover the gaps with some plastic on the back of the panel.
This Airwaves set seems like it wasn't tested before release, nothing really fits as the instructions say it should... maybe it's just me but, i think the whole set is a bit oversize.
As the test went well, i'll now glue the bits in place and paint everything to be able to proceed...

[NARSES2]

Thanks anyway, Chris!  I've read your comments about the Yahu instrument panels and i was interested since then, although i've never seen one for this kit. But something tells me that i'll wanna buy another one of these or a better kit, and i will have a look to see if they produce the Bearcat's panel.

The Sword Bearcat . Comes with some resin and some stunning Thai markings in one boxing. Art Model also box a Bearcat, which I think is from the Sword moulds ?

I just checked Hannants and Yahu don't do a Bearcat, however they do do a fair few which will come in handy in some of my projects that are due up soon  Must admit reminding myself of the range I was surprised. Looks like some pre-ordering for SMW will be necessary

[DogfighterZen]

The Sword Bearcat . Comes with some resin and some stunning Thai markings in one boxing. Art Model also box a Bearcat, which I think is from the Sword moulds ?

I just checked Hannants and Yahu don't do a Bearcat, however they do do a fair few which will come in handy in some of my projects that are due up soon  Must admit reminding myself of the range I was surprised. Looks like some pre-ordering for SMW will be necessary

Yup, the Sword Bearcat has been on my wishlist for some time now, just hasn't been a priority... did and found the same, checked Hannants a bit ago, but found, at least, one or two other sets i wanna get, the Mirage IIICJ is one.

Well, i'm gonna start painting the cockpit of this Bearcat, the PE is glued in place, but i still have to glue a bit of styrene on the back of the instrument panel.

[DogfighterZen]

So, after a weekend spent mostly working because of an event that's going to happen at the Wine Estate where i work, today i took the day off and had some time to get something done on this one...

Glued some bits of styrene on the back of the instrument panel and also, behind the seat to cover the small gaps there and added some small bits of PE from the extras in the Airwaves set to busy things up a bit. After it was done, painted up the whole assembly, but had to paint the main instrument panel separate and glue it on after dry.



I think it's better than i thought it would be, but it won't be seen anyway...



Also painted the engine, although it still needs some attention...



And glued the PE grids, which were too big and had to be trimmed to fit, to cover the intakes...



After the grids were in place, i glued the wing halves together, just have to finish the engine and paint the inside of the engine cowling to close up the fuselage.

[Old Wombat]

That blue got me thinking ( ), if you put "Fosters' Lager" badging on it, you'd have a Beercat!



..... Hat! Coat! Gone!