General Rockets F4U-X(wing) >> Finished <<

[MarkyM607]

Good Lord! That's impressive!
Still think the undercarriage would be very complicated so it's a good thing you are modelling it in flight

Cowardice. I admit.

To quote Jack Sparrow "he who runs away, lives to run away another day!"

[Zen]

wow... kitbashing at it's best!

[Martin R]

Very imaginative - and it's looking good, too.

Regards

Martin

[Old_Tonto]

She does look the part.

[general rocket]

Good Lord! That's impressive!
Still think the undercarriage would be very complicated so it's a good thing you are modelling it in flight

Cowardice. I admit.

To quote Jack Sparrow "he who runs away, lives to run away another day!"

At school (more than 35 errrr 36, sorry years ago) I could do 100 metres in the low 10's. When I left school I took up competitive drinking instead.

I used the spare front end to supply the replacement for the removed section. Having carefully cut, shaped and filed, the brittle plastic raised its head yet again. So bodge, fill and sand. I had shaped the bottom on both sides to sit over the wing mount, and as the section slotted comfortably into place, the one side snapped off. Hence the more copious filler than I would have liked.

wow... kitbashing at it's best!

No! Bodging at its worst!

[celt]

Bodging at its best ,great stuff.

[general rocket]

With the addition of the tail?...............front tail?........elevators?
Given a slight diahedral, purely because it looked "meaner" than the correct level.

The engine cowl has been shortened and will serve as a mount for an external engine. The "engine" from the novo kit has provided the mounting plate, which will provide unseen greeblies.

The cowl in place,

[celt]

Its looking very futuristic but plausible if that makes sense

[gnomemeansgnome]

I am liking this more and more, and honestly it looks as much like a Star Fury from Babylon 5 as an X wing, so all good.

[general rocket]

With the addition of our little friend, we can tell which way round it should be. I decided not to use the kit pilot as an airfix pilot is smaller and so gives a little leeway. The hump behind the cockpit is cut from the spare fuselage, and filled and sanded.

The canopy did not quite fit and so I needed to cut into the fuselage to get it to sit better, and then the gaps filled. As she stands in the picture, the filler needs cleaning up.

[Old_Tonto]

I love it. Really great idea very well executed.

[gnomemeansgnome]

Looking good. Where's the R2 unit?

[Stuart]

Now THAT is cool!

[general rocket]

I'm sure you know this feeling!

Just clumsiness I'm afraid. Not helped by the fact it was mainly filler holding it in place.
So back out with the glue.

The propeller is from the kit, the engine an after market item, and placed exposed at the rear to mirror the position of the engines of the "real" X-Wing. I would have prefered a "corncob" purely for impact, but could not find one.

The orange and red flashes are also to mirror the markings on the Star Wars original.
The roundels are from the kit, the lighter (N.Z.?) chosen as the darker would have dominated, the lighter being visually more sympathetic. The fuselage roundels are deliberately placed at an angle as I thought the machine would appear to be slightly nose up in flight. I used only the smaller of the roundels from both sheets for aesthetic reasons. The decals, like the plastic where a little on the brittle side, but I went with it hoping for a damaged in service look.
The aerials and pitot are from the spares box, as the ones from the kit all broke when I tried to remove them.

And now, Sneaking under the wire at the last moment, the finished model.













The stand taken from an unbuilt Frog kit, appropriately enough.

A fun build not to be taken too seriously.
I have built 3 Novo kits before Vickers Vimy, pretty dreadful.
Gloster Whittle, I bogged that one up.
Coaster, built up nicely.
S.W.M.B.O. mentioned this build to a friend who was adamant that Novo kits are/where better the indicated by my experience of this and the three above. I've not built one since 1982 (or maybe earlier) would anyone care to comment?

[fredk]

I like it very much.
Totally crazeee.
Of all the Novo kits I've built - not very many - about 3/4 of them the plastic was brittle, with loads of thick flash; as if the moulds weren't even closed properly.