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Playing in the Sandbox Group Build Sept 1, 2024 - Jn 1, 2025

Special Hobby Whirlwind


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Thanks Kev, much appreciated and sometimes misery likes company.  it's just a shame, SH doesn't get it that accurate instructions are so valuable and a key aid in helping the builder work their way through difficult assemblies without frustrations and would surely save a lot of kits from the SOD. I've taken the offending assembly apart numerous times, over countless hours until l figured it out. 

 

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12 hours ago, BlrwestSiR said:

Peter, while I was waiting for the seats on my CF-104 to dry I couldn't help but break my copy of the Whirlwind out and I think I've found the issue. 

I taped together one pair of nacelles and then fitted the corresponding bulkheads. I used G1 and G4 nacelles and the bulkheads are G3 and F35. 

PXL_20220828_223521352.thumb.jpg.334ff4b57a2b2ccff7b38fb35f9fd4db.jpg

The problem to me is the tabs on G3 (and the opposite side G23). They don't allow the bulkhead to sit where it needs to. They need to be cut back a bit to fit properly. I modded G3 and it's on the bottom with the stock G23 on top for comparison.

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Here it is in place without any glue, just the tape holding the nacelles together.

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From the inside. 

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With some glue and a bit of pressure the fit should be even better. 

I hope this helps you out. 

Carl

Carl,

Thanks so much for taking the time to uncover the problem and the solution. That's exactly the fix and procedure I came up with and I also found trimming the lower portion of the locating rib flush with the nacelle wall also helps a bit as well. I'm just guessing but part G3 might be slightly different over a span of kits as well being a limited production kit.

For the life of me, SH had to know they had a fit issue and should have noted it in the instructions. Seeing this, there is no way they could have test built the Whirlwind prior to doing the instructions or at the least added a correction sheet to the instructions. At first, I was a bit leery to cut the tabs back as this is one of the attachment tabs for the gear but after trying all sorts of fixes, this was the correct fix.

Thanks again for all your help, so greatly appreciated and for easing my mind about the solution. Seems so simple now but so frustrating when noting fit. 

.  

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Thanks Gaz

Absolutely is a tape and test fit kit and I normally will test fit before painting. Since I was already air brushing the inside of the wings, I thought I would just keep going with the main gear wells and bulkhead to save a bit of time and cleanup. I now know, not to take anything for granted as far as part fit and the instructions go.

 

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Hi Oliver, welcome to the party.

Not a bad kit of a great subject and if the instructions were up to par, a good deal of the frustrations would never have been an issue. Having built the Tamiya Mossie, I thought exactly the same and am planning on displaying them side by side in my display case.

 

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Hi Dennis

Will continue to keep plugging along and the Whirlwind will cross the finish line - just need to keep going slow and testing as I go - just can't take anything for granted. Thanks for the reference pics - just can't have enough.

 

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Peter,

the landing gear was the greatest challenge of the whole kit, very fiddly. So take all the time it needs! I have a secont kit in my stash, to be built in offensive camouflage. Have you already decided which scheme you will take? I presume from your signature it will be HE-J? If so, be aware of the lower right stabilizers colour as in my opinion this is not black as in the instructions. Probably SH missinterpretet the picture Dennis sent above with HE-J banking on a sunny day to the right. You can see also the sadow of the right engine nacelle on the outer wing panel. Period instructions only called for the left wing to be painted night! I personally assume this ist the shadow of the vertical tail as I fount no other pics showing a dark right stabilizer. But: Just my guesswork!

 

Cheers Joachim

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3 hours ago, Peterpools said:

Thanks Kev, much appreciated and sometimes misery likes company.  it's just a shame, SH doesn't get it that accurate instructions are so valuable and a key aid in helping the builder work their way through difficult assemblies without frustrations and would surely save a lot of kits from the SOD. I've taken the offending assembly apart numerous times, over countless hours until l figured it out. 

 

They should take a look at some of Tamiya's instructions to see how it's done.:)

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Thanks Kai, I'm making progress and getting around the roadblocks. Just seems to me Special Hobby needs to devote more time to the instructions after they test build their kit a few times and note what parts need to be corrected by the builder.

 

 

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TEST FITTING PART 1

With all the major assemblies now glued up, it was time for some serious test fitting to see what lay ahead.

The Fuselage: The major seam between the two halves required a lot of sanding as alignment was fair at best. I tested the seams after sanding with a Black Sharpie, followed with wet sanding though 2000 grit and where thin black lines showed, those were very thin cracks in the seam that were filled Extra Thin CCA. When dry, wet sanding once more and all was good. The black lines remain as they are sealed in with the CCA.

The engine/main gear nacelles were assembled and the seams work was done as with the fuselage. I found using the bulkhead trimming method Carl and I came up with worked very well and I was able to install the front and rear bulkheads after the nacelles were assembled, seams filled and wet sanded, making life a lot easier.

The wing needed some of TLC, initially glued up with Revell Contacta Professional Glue and then followed up with Tamiya Extra Thin. Lots of taping and clamping was needed to keep everything tight and aligned while the glue setup for a good 24 hours.  

The photographs show the Whirlwind taped together, testing the fit of the assemblies, showing where and approximately how much tweaking, filling and sanding lay ahead. The top of the lower portion of the rudder was short and needed some Evergreen Strip to fill in the gap. The upper rudder doesn’t fit well either and surely there had to be a better way to mold the parts.

As I progress through the build, the Whirlwind is showing just how big she is and will be destined to sit beside the Mossie in the display case. Making slow but steady progress, while the build mojo is running strong.

mJyQPC.jpg

hRd6jH.jpg

Bulkheads are in and I'm one happy camper.

 Xb2xDp.jpg

mJyQPC.jpg

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Ernie much appreciated.  Truly and elegant airplane and just a shame she never was given Merlin's. The Whirlwind actually isn't a difficult build and the only real issues I've encountered have been due to the poor instructions, which look great but once inside, fall short in aiding the builder.  

No question, after your helldiver build, the Whirlwind will be a piece of cake.

 

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