Darren Roberts Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Here goes my attempt at the Kittyhawk 1/48 F9F-8T Cougar. I'll be building it OOB, though I don't know which set of markings I'm going to use yet. I may wind up using resin ejection seats if I do the Vietnam version. I can see why some people have gotten frustrated with this build. It's not the engineering, it's the plastic! Here's a shot of the intake two hours after gluing. I took the tape off and the seam popped right open. The fit of the forward fuselage to the wing section isn't too bad. I needed a bit of filler, but nothing horrible. The best approach to building this is to view it like it's a limited run kit. It's still as good or easier of a build than the Collect Aire resin kit. The fit of the forward fuselage halves is excellent. There is no filler used at all. The stock cockpit isn't bad. I would venture that Eduard will come out with a color PE set which will make it look better. Overall the kit is sweet and sour. The surface detail is outstanding and the fit seems to be decent so far. However, the plastic is extremely hard to work with. It's brittle and soft all at the same time. I tried to bend the intake slightly and snapped a big chunk off. Also, thin parts, such as control sticks and such, tend to break when cutting them off the sprue. While on the topic of the intakes, there is no intake trunking and one intake opening seems to be larger than the other. I was going to make intake plugs, but I want to make sure my taking a chunk out of the intake didn't screw something up. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Looking forward to this. Keep it up. What kind of glue are you using? John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Good old Testor's Liquid Cement in the black plastic bottle. It's never failed me...until now! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Good old Testor's Liquid Cement in the black plastic bottle. It's never failed me...until now! Agreed! I am also not ashamed to say that I still regularly use Testors tube cement :o ! Well done Darren...please keep us posted . Don. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) Darren, I will be following along with great interest, as I've been counting the days till all three Grumman jets are released. I saw your original posts in the other thread, and I was some what concerned that the intakes popped when you removed the tape. Was that the only glue issue you've had so far? As for glue, I only use Tamiya Extra Thin and their liquid cement (Orange cap). Joel Edited July 24, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChippyWho Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Many thanks for this thread -watching with interest! And can't wait to see what Grey/White markings Furball has in store... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Darren, I will be following along with great interest, as I've been counting the days till all three Grumman jets are released. I saw your original posts in the other thread, and I was some what concerned that the intakes popped when you removed the tape. Was that the only glue issue you've had so far? As for glue, I only use Tamiya Extra Thin and their liquid cement (Orange cap). Joel The trailing edge of the wings also popped open. I couldn't get the wing fold area to glue in either. You'll notice a piece of the wing fold missing. That's where it kept falling out. I tried to bend it to get a better shape and it snapped. I just went ahead and didn't put that piece in. Really and truly the only thing bad about this build so far is the plastic. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 (edited) Darren, If the plastic is that bad, it will make for a very difficult build, as one will never know if the parts will be fused together, or pop apart. Joel Edited July 24, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ST0RM Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 I had something similar happen way back on my Italei F-22 build. The plastic wouldnt take the glue. Stupid question, but did you wash the plastic before building? I've had some funky mold releases affect my builds like this. Jeff Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 I had something similar happen way back on my Italei F-22 build. The plastic wouldnt take the glue. Stupid question, but did you wash the plastic before building? I've had some funky mold releases affect my builds like this. Jeff Not a stupid question at all. I did indeed. The plastic definitely has a "limited run" feel to it. If KH would use a different plastic, I think a lot of the negative feedback would disappear. The kit itself is very well done. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I wonder if that Plastruct Plastic Weld is called for here? I suppose epoxy would work on the worst case... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
AnthonyWan Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Where'd you pick this one up Darren? I haven't seen it in the shelves here in china yet haha. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Good old Testor's Liquid Cement in the black plastic bottle. It's never failed me...until now! To save some of us some aggravation, please try some other brands like Tamiya and let us know.... Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) I will have to try something else in the way of glue. I decided to use Apoxy Sculpt to reinforce the top of the intake/wing fillet area and to also make intake plugs. In the process of doing that, everything that I had previously glued together fell apart. The only thing intact is the front fuselage. Kittyhawk has got to do something about the plastic they use. I don't say this very often, but it sucks! The shame is that the overall model is really nice. I'm letting the Apoxy Sculpt cure and then I'll take pictures and post where I'm at. The battle continues! I will persevere! Edited July 25, 2014 by Darren Roberts Quote Link to post Share on other sites
jgrease Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 For a brute force adhesive, what about MEK? I have yet to see a plastic that MEK won't fuse. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 For a brute force adhesive, what about MEK? I have yet to see a plastic that MEK won't fuse. I might just have to resort to that. I'm going to give Tamiya Extra Thin a try first and see what happens. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 And this project is now a big, hot mess! Everything has now, literally, come unglued. Oh well, I'll press on and overcome. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Joel_W Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 (edited) Darren This is getting worse and worse. Have you tried the Tamiya Extra Thin yet? Joel Edited July 25, 2014 by Joel_W Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 25, 2014 Author Share Posted July 25, 2014 Darren This is getting worse and worse. Have you tried the Tamiya Extra Thin yet? Joel I need to go to the LHS and pick some up. I have successfully used CA glue to put the cockpit and front fuselage together. Also, my reinforcement parts came out quite nicely. I'll make molds tonight and cast them tomorrow. Once those are in, I can proceed with the rest of the fuselage. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Gene K Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Also, thin parts, such as control sticks and such, tend to break when cutting them off the sprue. I replied to Darren here suggesting the use of a heated Xacto blade. Gene K Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 Egad ... what a revolting development! I've never seen or remember a plastic kit molded from traditional plastic have this problem. For resin kits, I use CCA and never a problem. Could it be, KH used a very inexpensive plastic and this is the result? To be honest, at this point, I would be leery to buy and build the kit, for fear of what might happen down the road. Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Is anybody else building one of these? Might this be a bad plastic batch? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Darren Roberts Posted July 26, 2014 Author Share Posted July 26, 2014 Is anybody else building one of these? Might this be a bad plastic batch? That's a good question. Hopefully someone else will launch into the kit and post some feedback. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Iain 32nd Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 That is odd... Have you tried Plastic Weld? This is amongst the 'hottest' solvent glues out there in my experience and might work? Iain Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Peterpools Posted July 26, 2014 Share Posted July 26, 2014 Hi Iain Agreed about Plastic Weld being a very hot glue but the basic question is why won't the plastic respond to good old Testor's liquid cement? Just doesn't seem right. Peter Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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