Mini model 1/100 Series

[NOBI]

Dear All,

I started my mini model series again after I release couple models in this scale (1/100 Spitfire, 1/100 Me-109, 1/100 MIG-21 and 1/100 Tigercat) Now I want to start a thread about my mini model series here.

Next subject of this model is 1/100 F6F-5 "Hellcat". Model is look like in render picture below



Anybody want to try this model before release?

[Robert Woolley]

I would be happy to give it a go Nobi.

Robert

[papermate]

Great, now I have something to shrink to 1/200!!

Papermate

[gomidefilho]

Nobi my pleasure test again for you Very nice a good 1/100 series...

[scissorsandplanes]

Hi Nobi,

Your design looks great. Sufficiently detailed and yet simple enough.

If I would not be designing myself in the same scale (and in 1/300 scale) and would had the time, I would have proposed to test build.

All respect for your models, from one designer to another.

Bruno

[NOBI]

Thanks for all comments, check your PM for the test build :-)

[nighthawk78]

Like the sound of the 1/100 series, especially the spitfire.
NH78

[scissorsandplanes]

Hi Nobi,

although I tried to say I was not going to test build, you send the model to me. I do appreciate and so I started building the model. I used 80g/m² paper.

All goes well (even if I'm not the best modeller on this site). Pieces align very well.

I know this plane is a little tricky since it needs the correct shaping of the fuselage. Especially the spine behind the cockpit.

here are some things I did or noticed. (absolutely not meant as a critique, just as an aid for future builders)

It was not entirely clear for me in which order to glue the inner and outer cowling of the engine, so I messed that up (a rather ashaming gap between both). I noticed afterwards that part 7 probably did not have to be glued inside out like I did and should not have touched part 8 in the bottom in order to give the impression of an air intake.

Perhaps drawing the pistons on the part 4A+ might add to the realism of the model.

The white cocarde part on part 11 seems to be a little too low. Or is it me glueing not straight.

I had the impression that a small cut in the back end tab of part 16 is needed for it to bend a little bit upward. The piece only showed a black line. In the attached file, you will see it as a red line.

I added a little piece of white paper on the inside of the wing reinforcement to keep the upper part together. I feared that the wings would bend downward without this extra part. It is shown in the file as a red dashed line where the piece was added (only on the inside)

I hesitated when attaching the wing profiles since they were pointing in an unexpected direction. After checking the building instructions it was clear that this was on purpose.

I'm hesitating to do the wheels. I'm more into flying versions. So I consider cutting out only the outer parts of the wheels and wheel covers and glue them in position.

I know I'm not the finest builder (the glue stains and gaps and white edges are a testimony of this) and I don't provide building instructions myself, so hear me talking

The model is great and very realistic. somewhat more difficult than my own, but also more realistic. Great job.

Thanks for letting me do the build.

Bruno

[Robert Woolley]

I also made it using 80gsm paper. The fit was very good for me except part 8, the front part of the cowl had a small gap at the bottom. For this part, I think if I cut off the tabs attached to part 4, and butt glued, it would fit perfectly. I did not edge colour any part of the fuselage, but the fit is so good there are no white edges showing.
I didn't use the small part that is joined to the tail, part 12, as I wasn't sure how it fit.
It isn't clear in the instructions that parts 3a and 3b, the exhausts I think, go behind the cutouts on part 3.
I think the under carriage legs would look very good as rolled parts instead of laminated parts.
I liked the way the vertical tail attaches to the fuselage. It was easy to do and not to hard to figure out, though the instructions do not show how.
I glued some scrap tabs along the lines on the spar to glue the fuselage sides to. I had to straighten them out a bit, off of the line to get a nice wing fuselage joint.
The blue colour came out beautifully on my printer, but the black lines are almost impossible to see. I think this is due to me using a very cheap printer.
I am going to make it again on thin card instead of copy paper. I will but join the cowling and the drop tank parts.
I made the fuselage in the following order. from the tail forward to part 10. Then from the centre, part 1 to the front. I attached the canopy to part 1 before moving on to the rest of the front fuselage. I then attached the back to the front.
The left wing is made stock and is straight. The wing tip looked a bit thin, so I tried some tabs in the end of the right wing to beef it up. It looked ok, but I built a bit of a twist into the wing.
This is the first model by Nobi I have made. But based on this I will definitely be buying a couple in the future. I enjoyed making this very much indeed.

Robert

[Don Boose]

Looks terrific. Genuinely captures the look of the Hellcat. Beautiful detail and construction in any scale, and especially at 1/100.

Don