Once again Gordon Stevens' RarePlane model article draw a lot of attention, so here is this other article, also posted originally on ARC a lot of years ago.
"A while ago I turned my modeling attention to two periods of
aviation history that are often ignored or not strongly represented: pioneers
and golden age. But today we will make an exception given two factors: the
prototype nature of the beast and the irresistible lines of the design.
The Skyrocket, first flown on April 1st 1940, is
not unknown to modelers; so suffice to say that the design evolved in a series
of prototypes with ever-growing noses, a sort of “Pinocchio effect” some times
likely to develop in government environments.
The Skyrocket had a Comic-born close relative, the
Blackhawk, with many attractive liveries; but the chrome-yellow/metal scheme of
the prototype was hard to dismiss.
A real jewel, the RarePlane’s 1/72 Grumman Skyrocket kit has
such well detailed parts that equals or surpasses many injection cousins. The
skills and care put into the master of this vac are amazing.
It comes –well, used to come anyway- with metal parts
(landing gear, props), vac canopy and decals, plus illustrated instructions;
sort of a paradigm of the vacuformed model kit.
It is clear that somewhere in the evolution of model kits,
nature (human nature, that is) discarded wonderful options in order to stick to
more mediocre, poorly fitting, scarcely detailed subjects, save some honorable
exceptions. It makes you wonder about other evolutionary choices.
Nevertheless, the kit has its minor faults, more due to the
media than to the lack of care.
Halved parts require some adjustments in order to match each
other, some very minor flaws on the surface have to be corrected and if joined
as they are the wing upper and lower halves will render an oval profile for the
engine cowls support, which is not the case. The fuselage/wing joint towards
the back, where the fillet is, has to be filled, since it leaves a void area.
The cockpit is provided with a floor, seat and instrument
panel, basic but not bad at all. I scratched some detail for the cockpit sides.
Head rest and coaming are molded in the fuselage. Some areas of the kit, like
the wheel bays and the above-mentioned aft wing joint can be improved if
desired. I added some structure to the wells and had to pack-up the wing
leading edges and the engine fairings joints, either because there was a minor
design flaw or an over-enthusiastic sanding. The cowls were, as is often the
case with vacs, a bit smashed at the front, where the plastic is stretched to a
thin wafer. Application of epoxy from behind filling the affected areas cured
the problem, allowing for later drilling and sanding. Same goes for the aft
part of the wheel wells fairings. I stayed with the provided engines, as they
were acceptable. Again, as it is often the case, gluing, filling, filing and
sanding tends to affect the detail of surrounding areas. Looking at the finished
model in the dark usually improves the results.
The time-honored techniques for building vac models are
pretty much known –although seldom followed, used or applied- so I won’t repeat
here what you can find –and shamelessly forget- elsewhere. I’ll just say that
it helps to separate the parts from the backing sheet before gluing :-) "
Bibliography:
-Grumman XF5F-1 & XP-50 Skyrocket, by D. Lucabaugh and
B. Martin
Thank you Gabriel for this viewing. A superb
ReplyDeletebuild that makes all my efforts in providing
the original moulding very worth while.I just
wanted to give the guys a little spice instead
of Spitfires. And some liked it.
much appreciation - Gordon
I think we all are grateful to you, Gordon.
ReplyDeleteAnother great and wonderful build, another masterpiece.
ReplyDeleteReally this model doesn't have to envy nothing for the injected ones and think the detail level is higher. Hope to find one.
Cheers,