Old Dog
Well-known member
I'm probably digging my self a hole by going with this choice but I have wanted to do it for a long time so for better or worse here goes, wish me luck.
For those that don't know this kit was done by Trumpeter's "C" team. Forget the A and B team, these guys really made a mess of things. Shape issues, fit issues and oh yes the mad rivet maniac was on the team as well. The rivet issue alone as put me off building this kit for a long time. For the better part of nine months I walked the full length of the Vigilante assembly line to get to my work area and I can say with authority that a mach two aircraft does not have either rivet bulges or divots. From ten feet away you wouldn't notice the rivets except for a fact they are a different color than the skin and after painting they all but disappear. So I have a lot of divots to fill.
When I purchased the kit my aim was to build one of the last series built as those were the ones I made parts for but I'm still wavering on markings as you will see later. This kit is a good example of how to take a pricey kit and make it really expensive as you will see when you look at the after market. I was fortunate to get all the Cutting edge stuff before they closed their doors. I could probably make a hefty profit selling it on ebay now.
If all of this wasn't enough the kit takes me out of my comfort zone on several levels including painting large areas white so I may be throwing up the white flag on numerous occasions. Well that's enough whining and verbiage for now, here are the time stamp photos...
And a look at some of the AM stuff starting with replacement gear bays, Eduard PE, Master pitot tube, late series intakes, seamless intakes, resin burner cans and intake plugs.
Choices for markings and a Nautilus set to make up for a serious lack of internal bracing.
And a Cutting Edge correction set for the forward fuselage and replacement upper tail.
So you can see I'm gonna have my hands full with this one not only with the AM but issues with the kit like this molding defect that runs most of the length of the fuselage.
The fun probably won't start till I finish a couple other builds so check back in a month or so.
For those that don't know this kit was done by Trumpeter's "C" team. Forget the A and B team, these guys really made a mess of things. Shape issues, fit issues and oh yes the mad rivet maniac was on the team as well. The rivet issue alone as put me off building this kit for a long time. For the better part of nine months I walked the full length of the Vigilante assembly line to get to my work area and I can say with authority that a mach two aircraft does not have either rivet bulges or divots. From ten feet away you wouldn't notice the rivets except for a fact they are a different color than the skin and after painting they all but disappear. So I have a lot of divots to fill.
When I purchased the kit my aim was to build one of the last series built as those were the ones I made parts for but I'm still wavering on markings as you will see later. This kit is a good example of how to take a pricey kit and make it really expensive as you will see when you look at the after market. I was fortunate to get all the Cutting edge stuff before they closed their doors. I could probably make a hefty profit selling it on ebay now.
If all of this wasn't enough the kit takes me out of my comfort zone on several levels including painting large areas white so I may be throwing up the white flag on numerous occasions. Well that's enough whining and verbiage for now, here are the time stamp photos...
And a look at some of the AM stuff starting with replacement gear bays, Eduard PE, Master pitot tube, late series intakes, seamless intakes, resin burner cans and intake plugs.
Choices for markings and a Nautilus set to make up for a serious lack of internal bracing.
And a Cutting Edge correction set for the forward fuselage and replacement upper tail.
So you can see I'm gonna have my hands full with this one not only with the AM but issues with the kit like this molding defect that runs most of the length of the fuselage.
The fun probably won't start till I finish a couple other builds so check back in a month or so.
