"Big Blue" - Stahlharts' Blue Angels F-18

[airdave]

As I stated in another thread, I am attempting to build a "big" Blue Angels F-18.
I had planned to scale up and try a second build of the Paper Replika F18
but when Stahlharts F18s appeared, I was swayed...

Now before I start bitching and moaning, which I will do, let me clarify a couple of things...
Every kit has its weaknesses and flaws.
Every kit has its bad points and good ones.
Not every kit is designed to be scaled up or scaled down properly.
One man's "easy" build is another man's "difficult" build.

Stahlharts designs are amazingly well thought out, I think and for "free" kits, they rival some of the best "pay" kits out there.
Yes, they are far from perfect, but thats where the builder has to step in and take up the slack.
Show me a kit that doesn't require some skill, some ingenuity, patience and understanding and a little extra effort to build it "just right".

Anyway, enough of my annoying preaching....


The biggest issue I am experiencing with my over 200% upscale, is enlarged errors and fit issues.
Small gaps become immense ones!
Minor alignment issues become ess bends on mountain highways!
The lack of internal structure, formers, etc is not helping the enlarged scale.

Following the instructs, I start with the rear fuselage sections.
No gear...I just want to keep it simple and make a hanging "in flight" version.



This part required three rebuilds as I figured out the scale up issues and distortion problems that would occur.

Eventually I settled... and moved on.
Theres only so much fighting I can do with this, I have to be satisfied at some point.
The overall effect is good, just have to be careful in some areas to avoid buckling or denting open panel spots.




Keeping the exhaust parts aligned was the trickiest
as was fitting the separator strip and catch hook assembly..
I finally allowed it to 'float" a little, to avoid any further distortions by trying to get it glued down everywhere.