1/72 Hasegawa SV-51 Step-by-step

[Dobber]

Jinnai, I'm also building a SV-51 now, painting as a blue camo Flanker( I can't stand the NORA paint-scheme.) I didn't have the problem with the nose cone fit that you are having but I know what you mean about some seams. I pretty much have all the major parts completed just havent glued them in place yet. Problem areas that I've noticed with my kit are the wing roots and where the legs attach to the fueselage. Mainly the later. I have a question for you and the rest of our Guroos(spelling ) since the Aircraft transforms and alot of the parts have to move, is having a seam show really that bad or would it be more realistic since some areas have to move SO drastically?

I agree that the feet are a bit of a pain in the ass, and I've also noticed that the VTOL cover is a little too wide for the fuselage, (when in the closed position.) I'm loving your step by step, I'm a little further along (been working on it for a few weeks now) I also can't get over how big this plane is!!! I love it but part of me thinks it might be just a bit TOO big!!! What do you think?

Keep up the great work!!

Chris

[Gerwalker]

I have some questions and sugestions:

a)I was studying my SV-51 kit (Hi Gorgon!! ) and found that it wouldn't be difficult to make a gerwalk version (I mean semi-gerwalk mode with the arms not unfolded) What do you think?

b)For the VTOL intakes I would suggest to study pics of the F-35 VTOL system.

c)For the exhausts I think these pics I took of the X-31 Vector at the München Schleissheim Museum could be used as color/texture references:

[Gerwalker]

This a detail of the vectoring paddles made of graphite epoxy:

[Jinnai]

Dobber, I think my fit problems around the nose are solely because I raised the landing gear. Either it's that, or I failed to get the parts aligned properly when I originally glued the nosecone together. But, I've gotten that part fixed up now (I did a test prime and retouched up with Mr. Surfacer 1000) which I'll show soon. I scared my client by spraying Mr. Surfacer directly onto the clear canopy. ^_~

As for seams, generally what I do is if I'm confused about a seam, I'll consult the painting guide as to where panel lines are, and if that doesn't help, I'll consult the finished pictures. Perfect example of this: the instructions show that there's a panel line running down where the nose attaches to fuselage, but on the finished kit it's not there.

It's really up to you. I haven't decided if I'm going to fill the seams where the legs join the intakes, or use them as panel lines.

As for turning this baby into Gerwalk, I have a mate working on it now, and it's quite, quite easy. Just make sure that the exhausts and the feet are lowered by about 5mm on the interior housing they attach to. Otherwise it'll look stumpy.

[mighty gorgon]

c)For the exhausts I think these pics I took of the X-31 Vector at the München Schleissheim Museum could be used as color/texture references:

Nice photos!!! Are you goingo to assemble the SV-51? Or It will hit your already LARGE building queue???

[Akula]

I can't wait till I get mine... but I think i'll do a slightly personalized version of the DD Ivanoff scheme... what are the dimensions of the kit (other than "freaking big-by-freaking huge!")?

[Jinnai]

Whoops.. double.. please delete.

Edited April 24, 2004 by Jinnai

[Jinnai]

I'm back with more progress..

I actually could have posted this last week, however having an active social life took it's toll on me, and I ended up going out more on my last week of holidays than sitting in front of the computer.

Forgive the blurred pic, I really need a tripod, and I'm a smoker. So naturally I have the shakes. Shown here is the fuselage and legs with my Mr. Surfacer painted on for seam filling. I've used a lot around the nose to get that area flush, and at this point I had no worries about sanding near those raised areas.. didn't last for long though..

On the legs I've also put a bit of Mr. Surfacer 500 over the landing gear doors to keep it flush, and eliminate a rather large gap that was apparant after gluing.

[Jinnai]

And I didn't realise how much those nose would annoy me..

I'm not 100% sure on how the fit turned into something so bad, but as I stated earlier I had about a 2mm gap between the nose and the main fuselage. I'm fairly certain it was due to closing the landing gear, but I can't be certain. The way the lower fuselage is attached to the upper piece can cause fit problems, but I did dry fits with the nose the whole time I was gluing, so really.. I'm not sure what caused so much trouble.

I've sanded back to 1000 grit here, starting with 400, wetsanding the whole time. This was.. HELL. Pure and simple. That, and I was very scared of sanding off the raised detail.

[Jinnai]

So I thought I had the nose flush, at least.. it looked like it to me. Same with some other areas. So the only way to be 100% certain was to do a prime. Usually I won't prime until all other areas of the kit are ready, but (except for the weapons) nearly all the parts have very minor sanding/filling to be done, the main fuselage is what is giving me trouble.

Primer is Mr. Surfacer 1000 spray. I save the 1200 for my miniatures now.

[Jinnai]

And sure enough.. the primer coat shows all. The nose isn't flush, on top of that, there are still seams between the raised detailed panels that need more work.

I'm really scared at this point of sanding off the panels. I was half tempted to scribe around the panels, then not care and sand them off, and replace later with plastic sheet. But then I'd be admitting defeat, and I won't let this kit kick my arse.

[Jinnai]

Another problem area that I thought I had eliminated.. I need to find some way of removing that seam in the middle of the circle. The photo hasegawa provides on the side of their box has that seam shown, and naturally I can't leave it there.

[Jinnai]

The same nose problem, just on the other side. Time to break out the Mr. Surfacer 500 again.

[Jinnai]

So since the nose was giving me so much strife, while Mr. Surfacer was drying I thought I'd tackle an issue that arrived with this kit: the little wingtip broke off in shipping, and it was nowhere to be seen inside the plastic bags that held the sprues inside the box.

I thought about approaching this from several different angles, when I realised that the easiest way to replace this was so simple.

[Jinnai]

We all have spare sprue lying around, why not use that sprue?

I stuck to the old fashioned way of making antennae, by heating up sprue with an open flame, and gently stretching it out to the desired thickness. It took a little bit for me to get the correct taper on the point, but I kinda got it in the end.

[Jinnai]

And here's the (almost) finished result.

The part needs sanding slightly to give it a bit more rounded appearance, and have the little bevel scribed into the part that joints to the tip. I may just tear this tip off, and strengthen it with CA and 1mm rod. Not sure if I will yet or not, depends if the part snaps off again on me. And it has once already.

BTW, my fabricated part is on the left, the kit part is on the right. Can you tell?

[Jinnai]

So, the Mr. Surfacer was dry, and straight away I hooked back into getting this area fixed up. I made a small sanding instrument to get into that smaller area by folding open one paperclip, and cutting a strip of 400 grit sandpaper that was about 7mm wide. This fit between the raised detail perfectly, and made it easier for me to sand in that area.

Kudo's to Mikado-sama for helping me with that.

So I finally got this part flush. Time to do another test prime, to make sure. Then, rescribing.

More to come. Damn work is keeping me busy already.

[David Hingtgen]

Honestly, I think your wingtip antenna looks better than the kit's. Maybe you want to break the other one off and replace it?

Seeing this build-up makes me want to build a Flanker... (my local shop has a Hase 1/72 one with very neat decals, but $40 full retail is a LOT for any 1/72 plane)

[newca]

David, go for some Revell Germany new release 1/72 Flanker, a Hasegawa rebox, all metal parts were replaced by plastic, so the price won't be That high.

Just make sure you don't get the "wrong" old Revell issue.

[David Hingtgen]

Thanks so much! After checking online, it seems the new Revell one even has the markings I'd like to do. (Ukranian AF, airshow demo colors). Now I just have to find one... (many of the more recent Revell kits seem impossible to find--they're everywhere for a few weeks, then utterly disappear--like the new F-16C kit)

[mighty gorgon]

Thanks so much!  After checking online, it seems the new Revell one even has the markings I'd like to do.  (Ukranian AF, airshow demo colors).  Now I just have to find one...  (many of the more recent Revell kits seem impossible to find--they're everywhere for a few weeks, then utterly disappear--like the new F-16C kit)

You can also try the Airfix 1:72 Flanker B. It shouldn't be expensive, has recessed panel lines and according to Ken Duffey is the most accurate, even if it has sloppy fitting. Also Heller Heller reboxes the same plastic.

Regs,

Gorgon

[Akula]

dod you mask that conopy before you primed?? cause it doesn't look like it to me!

How would you get Mr. Surfacer off of it?

[David Hingtgen]

Despite the fact that I am obviously rather anal about aircraft details/accuracy, I have learned over the years that the number 1 thing that annoys me in kits (unless it's so inaccurate it's just sad) is BAD FIT. I refuse to buy poorly-fitting models nowadays. Fit is the only thing I'll sacrifice accuracy for--which is why I buy mainly Fujimi F-14's, not the Hasegawas. I will sacrifice a little accuracy for a lot of fit. (not a lot of accuracy, but a little).

And I have hated every Airfix I've ever built, and do not plan to ever buy another. I'm sure they make a decent kit somewhere, but I've yet to encounter one. (Their 1/144 L-1011 was almost decent)

[mighty gorgon]

And I have hated every Airfix I've ever built, and do not plan to ever buy another. I'm sure they make a decent kit somewhere, but I've yet to encounter one. (Their 1/144 L-1011 was almost decent)

I've built the Airfix Buccaneer and I can assure you I've seen Col Kurtz "horror". However, some years later, I still love the model.

R,

G.

[Mechmaster]

And I have hated every Airfix I've ever built, and do not plan to ever buy another.

I stopped buying Airfix kits in 1984, thats when I bought my first ever anime kits, Imai Macross kits as it happens, and realised that models really didn't have to be as bad as Airfix stuff.

Jinnai, keep up the good work, I don't have the SV-51 and may never buy one but I'm still finding your build-up very interesting. I'm also amazed at how clean and tidy your work area is, mine looks like a disaster area.

[David Hingtgen]

I honestly think the massive amounts of old Monogram and Airfix kits here in every US hobby shop is part of the reason lots of kids don't get into modelling. They should just be banned. Most "beginners" just walk into a hobby shop, wanting an F-14/15/16/18. 90% of the kits will be cheap ones, and they buy those, while the $20-30 Hase/Fuji/Tamiya sit on the shelf. The encounter horrific fit and basic molding problems, and never try again. If people started with Tamiyas, things would be different. (Tamiya beats ALL for fit)

It's like the opposite of how it "should" be---beginners need high-end kits so they can learn how to build, while more experienced (and masochistic) people can buy the cheap kits and add a quart of putty to them...

(Sorry for the hijack/rant, but I do feel I wasted a lot of money, time, and effort on bad kits when I was younger---all my Hase's and Fuji's turned out better, but it took until I was in my teens to realize the good stuff came from Japan, and cost more, no matter how Airfix-Monogram-Revell-centric the local hobby stores were)

And then there's the whole "you mean there's OTHER paint/glue/tools besides Testors?" great discovery.

[mighty gorgon]

Seeing this build-up makes me want to build a Flanker... (my local shop has a Hase 1/72 one with very neat decals, but $40 full retail is a LOT for any 1/72 plane)

David, it was you complaining that you would not pay the bucks for a Hasegawa kit... (I promise I end this here).

Edited April 25, 2004 by mighty gorgon

[David Hingtgen]

I wasn't aware there was any sort of argument going on. Sorry if you interpreted my comments that way.

[Gerwalker]

So since the nose was giving me so much strife, while Mr. Surfacer was drying I thought I'd tackle an issue that arrived with this kit: the little wingtip broke off in shipping, and it was nowhere to be seen inside the plastic bags that held the sprues inside the box.

I thought about approaching this from several different angles, when I realised that the easiest way to replace this was so simple.

Mine also came with that tip broken!! Fortunately I found the little bastard into the bag.

[Jawjaw]

Nice save on the wing tip. At first glance, I thought the non-broke one was the one you repaired.

[Mule]

Not to make your life harder or anything Jinnai, but isn't that nose seam supposed to be there? That is where the nose folds back in battroid mode.

Edited April 28, 2004 by Mule

[Mule]

You can also clearly see the seam in fighter mode.

[Akula]

hmm... looks like it disapears when it's in battroid form (I can't see it when I watch the episodes...) ... but yea... there should apparently be some seam there.

[Jinnai]

It's not supposed to be a seam, it's a panel line, since the nose folds back in on itself, like the YF-19.

At first I didn't think it was supposed to be there. It wasn't until after I started looking around more, that I noticed it was supposed to be there.

But, go back to my first pages, and I state that there is a displacement between the nose and the fuselage. I had to sand that back evenly, so I filled the gap while I was at it.

I'm in the process of rescribing the line, like I am with rescribing the landing gear doors. But work only gives me a small amount of time to model, and presently I'm sitting at home right now with a bad case of pink eye, and one eye is completely shut tight with crap, so I can't do much right now.

[Mule]

Not knocking your work, I just wanted to point out that there should be some kind of line there. I'm runing into the same issue with a Hasegawa F-18E. Some of the joints are along panel lines, but have gaps that in scale would be several inches wide. They get filled in and rescribed. Unfortunately, my scribing abilities are so-so at best. In some cases, I think I could get better results with a chainsaw.