Clunkmeister

I can’t wait to see you tackle it, Dennis. After proving that the main parts fit well, I’m pleasantly surprised with the fit here as well. I’m expecting the shoe to drop somewhere, but so far, there’s no issues.

I have both Typhoons and the Hellcat, so maybe the Spitty as well? I keep thinking that my eyesight WILL get worse, eventually. Plys, most 1/32 kits are a bunch more expensive than that Spitfire.

I’m in uncharted waters here so I’m taking my time. So far, I’ll I’ve found are a couple of the ribs mislabeled on the instructions. They referred to sprue “F” when it should have been sprue “D”. Other than that, smooth sailing so far. We’ll run through a bit more tonight. A word to the wise: there are a boatload of tiny parts used in the cockpit, so be sure to be very careful when handling them. Otherwise, something could easily jump off the end of the tweezers.

She’s in and out. No idea where else she hangs out at, but I do know she was also on ARC and Britmodeler I believe.

Everything gets added, and it starts looking like this:

Well guys, so far, I’m quite impressed with what I’ve seen. On my Helldiver, literally the ENTIRE model except for the basic exterior ended up being aftermarket 3D printed from Resin2Detail, Airscale, and parts meant for the resin HPH Helldiver. It didn’t start out that way, but it sure as hall veered off within the first 10 minutes on the bench. I’ve promised myself to chill out and try to avoid extra add on parts wherever possible. So here we are, day two, and still not a lick of AM in sight. The cockpit sides start bare, and ribs and longerons get added as we go. Various appliances are added as well, and before you know it, you’ll have a beautiful cockpit. It starts like this: Notice the massive ejector schlong, right in the middle of the action. Thankfully, it’s an easy castration job…

My LHC has one on the shelf for $120.00, less than the price of the average 1/32 kit. Yes, No, or maybe?

Peter, the next few days should tell me all I need to know. The cockpit area is complicated. There’s a boatload of small parts here, and part of me can’t help but think that this interior would look amazing with PE ribs and longerons. It’s nowhere meant as a knock of the kit, but some of HPH’s kits go insane on PE, and these guys aren’t shy of using it. Either way, I’m back on it tonight and I’ll hopefully have it much farther along. No paint on the interior though, at least until the structure is together. Suffice it to say that it’s been awhile since I wanted to build a kit this badly. OK, since they brought out the Helldiver. 🤣

Martin, it looks absolutely real.

Awesome build, Martin. Pure magic! And that Jeep…. Yummm

This should be a very close match for the interior green used by Aichi.

There are NO complete Vals in existence today, although there are a few projects being restored from multiple crashed aircraft bits. Sorta like 99% of the 2 gazillion T-6s fling today, but different. 🤣

I found one very prominent ejector tower in the cockpit area. I took basic care to remove it, and although there are some scratches in the plastic afterwards, I’ll fill it with dissolved putty. The cockpit sidewalls were very cluttered on this aircraft, and it looks like Infinity won’t disappoint, there are all sorts of doohickeys, gigglers, tuckies, even the Machine that goes PING! All attached to the sidewalls.

The fuselage interior sides have a TON of detail, and there are multiple ribs and a few stringers to add on the cockpit sidewalls. I’m happy to say that everything actually fits, and fits well, although I had to adjust the curvature of a couple ribs to ensure they lay flush against the sidewall.

First blood: just for kicks, I cut out and stacked the main extra cost engine components, friction fit, to get a look at how it appears. Tomorrow I’ll stack the kit engine and compare the two. The aftermarket engine looks positively amazing! DETAIL!

So here we are. As far as I know, this is either THE first, or at least one of the very first Val’s to be built other than by Infinity and HPH product testers. This kit looks extremely promising to me, and as a guy who not only has built and finished the Helldiver, but also has the Vampire kit, I can say that quite simply put, this kit FEELS much more substantial than either of the two previous kit releases. The plastic feels and looks a lot like what is used on the 1/32 IBG P.11c, and the detail astounds. I purchased all the extra cost add on kits, thinking that I’ll need them, but the kit parts here really surprised me. In a good way. I won’t be folding the wings, and I’m going to compare the other add on kits with the kit parts, then use what I think is the best. I’d like to take this to the US Nationals in Texas, assuming it’s done in time.

Well guys (and gal). My Hurricane llb build is now at a screeching halt as I wait for a replacement sprue with the landing lights to come from Germany. I have looked at possibly using different lights from the Fly kit, but the Revell kit’s are much different, and, I think, look better. So, in the week or two I’m stopped, I’ll start on the Aichi Val.

Last Thursday, one of the landing lights, all nicely detailed, dropped onto the floor, and despite having completely disassembling my build room to find it, it is long gone. No carpet on the floor, just hardwood, and it’s still simply vanished. I saw it hit the floor and go shooting off somewhere. On this aircraft, the lights are very visible behind their covers, so they can’t be explained away if not there. I guess I’ll try to beg another appropriate sprue from Revell. 😡

I think so, yes. Everyone and their dog are building Spitfires, so away ago with the Val.

Agreed, Phil. This looks like a nice kit.

I’m unsure why the open canopy didn’t get published, but here it is. In person, it seems normal. The canopy is a lot less tall than the Helldiver, so it might look a bit thick, but it’s actually quite nice.

Hahahaha. Nope

I must be the only guy in the world who is not sent into hot flashes by the Beaufighter. To me, it’s cool and all, but I also remember people talking about it as a widowmaker. A very large number of crews set out in one, doing U-Boat suppression patrols, and just plain disappeared. No log references from U Boat Commanders or German radio intercepts, nothing. Liberators may have occasionally been the losers in some gunfights with U Boats, (not normally, though) but they generally made a big enough of a stink that U Boat Commanders were able to talk to their bases.

Martin, I think this kit is gonna be a winner for Infinity. Talk about a license to print money!