Son of Sharkmouth's Delta Dart

[Sharkmouth]

To be honest, I am not sure I should be joining the build as I don't want any prizes. However, it is a good cause and the reason I have made my donation.

To get here, let me start by saying that I posted my sprue photos on another site. They, as usual, pointed out areas of improvement and some stated that the decades old Monogram kit was more accurate.

Well, I contacted an eBay seller about his kits (he has several) and mentioned my plans and provided links. To my surprise, instead of a buy it now invoice, he offered me the kit for free!

I can state that it is true that several areas on the Monogram kit, copyright 1983, are better in shape and details than the Trumpeter, copyright 2014, kit.

My plan is to use the Monogram parts to improve the Trumpeter kit and build the Monogram kit in flight for my son's room. Let's see how far I get.

Regards,

 

[lupanzer]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

... this must bee cool!

Luiz

 

[ErnieS]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Cool! It will be interesting to see how the Monogram parts match up, I have a conversion based on the monogram kit, but if it is close enough to the new one, I might consider using the Trumpeter instead.
Ernie

 

[SA Dave]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

It will be real cool to see you build this one Saul

 

[jknaus]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts


James

 

[moon puppy]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

All eyes are on y Saul, let's git'er done. And send our thanks to your Ebay bud, very generous of them.

 

[MrT]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts



Terry B)

 

[Gator]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

 

[Duke Maddog]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

All right! I get to watch Saul build a model! This will be extremely fun and educational for me! I also built the Monogram Delta Dart for a friend in 1/48 scale. It actually was quite fun and did seem to fit together well. I will be watching this with interest to see how the improvements will look.

 

[Sherman 18]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

 

[Sharkmouth]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Well, during this time, I went into the library to find my Detail & Scale Delta Dart book. I made a decision to build the Monogram kit for my son in flight and about to launch missiles. The Trumpeter kit would have the missile bay closed, as well as the RAT stowed. A comparison was made of the parts from each company to see which would be best.

As you saw in an earlier post, the Monogram kit's wheels beat Trumpeter's hands down!

Main wheels... Monogram on left.

Nose wheels... Monogram on right.

Here we see the Trumpeter main gear bay on top of the Monogram bay which is part of the upper wing structure. Monogram's is not too shabby! I will use it as a guide to detail the Trumpeter part as the Monogram kit will hide the bay once I build it gear up. By the way, the American kit was not designed to be built gear up so modifications must be done.

The Trumpeter missile bay above slightly edges the much older Monogram bay.

The supersonic tanks are almost the same shape. The shackle locations do not match so I need to find out which is accurate. Trumpeter is on top of the Monogram part.

Monogram's cockpit at left looks better and has sidewalls! A kit from 1983 is 'trumping' the Trumpeter kit!

Trumpeter's deeper engine above is the obvious choice here.

The much better shaped Monogram intake trunk can be made to fit the Trumpeter kit but...

Lots of filling and sanding will happen as I try to square the shoulders of the trunk. Note that the part is only placed and came loose so it isn't as bad as it looks here.

Monograms 3 part seat isn't bad other than the molded on seat belts. I will add detail to the Trumpeter seat and see if it comes out better. Luckily, the Chinese kit comes with two seats so I will use one for the American kit. Here we see the sidewalls with the Monogram parts at top.

Instrument panels. It seems I will be making my own as I don't like either. Monogram is on the left. They both represent the tape instruments which is good for post 1972 but the one I want to build for my boy should have Round Eye instruments.

The Monogram kit is far simpler but I still have my work cut out.

Regards,

 

[lupanzer]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Like this thread...the comparision is very interesting

Luiz

 

[ij001]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Agreed, it's interesting isn't it just how 'good' those old Monogram kits really were - I still personally rate their F-105s and F9F as some of the very best 1:48 kits of their generation, and their 1:72 F-4C/D/J still hold up very well against all that have followed since - IMHO .

Great thread, Saul, looking forward to more in due course.

Ian

 

[moon puppy]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

 

[Duke Maddog]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Nice comparison Saul. I like it. I did get a bit confused as to which parts were Trumpeter and which were Monogram in some of those pics. In others, I recognized the Monogram pieces from when I built mine. I'll be watching this with interest.

 

[Sharkmouth]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Well, I did have a slow start. After comparing everything, I decided to build my son's Delta Dart first. Parts have been glued! Photographs to follow later on.

The Monogram kit will get a few upgrades from Trumpeter. Namely, the missile bay, missiles, and ejections seat (Trumpeter provides two of the latter).

Since this build is wheels up, and the kit wasn't designed for it, I need to do some surgery to close all the gear bay doors. The refueling port receptacle insert is a poor fit. Some panel lines have been lost in the process of fixing the area but my son doesn't care. Having swapped Trumpeter's intakes will probably cause more trouble fitting them to the Monogram kit. building it wheels up will allow me to pick and choose the best landing gear parts.

Regards,

 

[moon puppy]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Too early to slap this on ya...

:nopics

so we'll hold it till later.

 

[SA Dave]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Pictures Saul We want pictures hehehehehehehe I just could not resist the urge :drinks

 

[Gator]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

Very interesting comparison. I've been engaged in an old vs new debate lately, but that is for another time. And don't worry, I won't get on you about no photos since I don't have anything yet either.

 

[Sharkmouth]

Sharkmouth's CTA2 Double Delta Darts

I did get a bit confused as to which parts were Trumpeter and which were Monogram in some of those pics.

I have modified the captions to be clear as to which is the Monogram versus the Trumpeter equivalent. I did find some MicroScale decals left over from my previous build so many decades ago. They look usable and I will try them on the Monogram kit.

Regards,