Ben Builds - The Recon Group Build - F9F-8P Photo Cougar Ep.4

[@ThatMofoDamon]

Looking mighty fine Ben. Nice job taking care the gap issues. Thanks for sharing my friend, take care and keep up the good work.

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you! Those gaps were brutal, but I was finally able to muscle them into place. I hope that we have turned a corner, but I still have the camera nose and the wings left to go. Who knows how those will be. See you on the next one!

[@ThatMofoDamon]

@@BenBuilds lets hope for the best.

[@vmoney9106]

Some great skill on display in this episode. You used a lot of great methods to fix the deficiencies of this kit.

[@BenBuilds]

Thanks! This kit is coming along, but man is it fighting me. lol I can't wait to get it done. Lots more work to do.

[@bigcharliesmodelgarage296]

You have more patience than l would building a plane with the gaps they have. Great work Ben. Build on. I'm Learning how to fix the problems.

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you, Charlie! This is a challenging kit, for sure. I just could not get rid of all of the gaps, but I was able to minimize them a lot. I wish this was an easier build lol

[@robbo1068]

The fight is on but you are hammering those issues with aplomb, Ben! I understand the poor fit issue requiring substantial filling and sanding. I'm having major issues with a 1/32 Special Hobby G-50-II....lots of gaps but with the wing rather than the fuselage....and the step is on top! I've sanded, I've filed, I've jiggled, dry-fitted, refitted, more sanding etc, etc, etc and still a step. I think I need to put this one aside for a few days before I end up binning it! Anyway....you always provide reassurance in the positive way you tackle problems so I'll take your advice and persevere (after a few days away from it). Robert

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you, Robert! I can relate, no matter what I did, I just could not get rid of all of the gaps and steps. It is a shame, but I have some ideas up my sleeve. We'll see if they pan out. That is a shame to hear about your G.50! Hang in there, take a breather and see how you feel. I am sure you can knock it out of the park. See you on the next one!

[@ronstewart9792]

Looking great Ben. Liked the way you plugged the holes. Learned something more from you. Ron

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you, Ron! Some stretched sprue works wonders for things like that. And since it naturally tappers when you stretch it, sprue can work for a variety of hole sizes. That way, I don't have to measure things out, I can just eyeball it. Plus, my Tamiya glue should fuse it all together and make a pretty solid join.

[@jeanmarcgalzy7747]

Bonjour mon ami 👍😀Hi friend Great build 👍I enjoy watching your job 💪Congrats buddy good morning of France 👍😀🇫🇷✌️

[@BenBuilds]

Merci beaucoup mon ami! I am very happy you are enjoying the videos! And greetings from America. Hope to see you on the next episode!

[@MadGeniusProductions_MGP]

Really amazing work on this bear of a kit Ben! I applaud your patience man lol. I would have trashed it by now. It's going to look great when you are done

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you Joe, I really hope I'm going to be able to get this one finished. Still a lot of work left to do, but it's moving along. It's a shame that this is the only game in town if a person wants to build a cougar. Same thing with the Fury, Kitty Hawk the only game in town.

[@seamybmw]

Nice work Ben sometimes you need patience's of a saint fair play to you

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you so much! With any kit, especially Kitty Hawk...I really do try to take my time, stay calm and take lots of deep breaths lol This stage was worrying me a bit, but I got it together in the end. Thanks for watching!

[@BasicModelling]

...and as always the video was very good! I have never used styrene as gap filler, preferring Squadron white and green fillers, or PVA glue, which has a lot of good uses when it come to modelling! But I may well give it a go, if the need occurs on a build. :) :)

[@BenBuilds]

Thanks, Rob! I find that a bit of styrene in larger gaps (like these) usually helps me to use less filler. The styrene acts as a stop for my later putty or CA glue. I love PVA for canopy and clear part applications, but I've never used it as a filler, that sounds interesting. Will have to keep that in mind. The cougar is moving along now!

[@duncanling2127]

Great work Ben I wish my brain worked like yours :))

[@BenBuilds]

Thanks, Duncan! This is a challenging kit, but I really like the cougar so I feel a bit more motivated to push on. Otherwise, this kit might get the best of me lol.

[@BasicModelling]

First... but now I will watch the video.. :)

[@BenBuilds]

Hope you enjoy!

[@BasicModelling]

@@BenBuilds I did, as you can see in my second comment.. :)

[@65TossTrap]

First, thank you for this informative video. I have a question. I glued kit part B3 (starboard inner wing) to the fuselage base E22. I am not sure if the I got the angle of the inner wing correct and am concerned that the intake will be too high or misshaped. B3 has two braces that "seem" to touch the top of the housing of the main landing gear (B6). I am not sure if those braces from B3 go directly on top of the main gear roof or the little "wall" that arises vertically. If I screw this up the whole wing assembly has to be broken down, and rebuilt. Terrible engineering by Kitty Hawk and another reason their kits are no longer available. Any suggestions welcome. Thank you.

[@BenBuilds]

Thank you so much for watching Dee Jay! This is a difficult kit and it's engineering is vastly inferior to the majority of the models I have built. Kitty Hawk's newer kits, like their fj3 and fj2 are better, not perfect but they are better than this particular product. To comment on your situation, if I remember correctly, I also had trouble with parts B3 and B4. I had to custom make my own braces, for the inner edges of B3 an B4, where it connects to the fuselage bottom, part E22. I ended up using small sections of sprue that vertically supported the inner edges of B3 and B4, with the lower fuselage half E22. That helped me to maintain the intake angles and give the area more rigidity, when trying to install the tops of the fuselage. Without those homemade supports, I kept breaking my seams along the trailing and leading edges of the intake section and that would collapse the intakes. I also ended up using the fuselage and it's connection tabs, as a guide to help position the B3, B4 and E22 sub assembly. Honestly it was a very complicated and difficult area to build and mine aren't exactly perfect. I think Kitty Hawk could have solved a lot of this issue by giving us intake trunking that was all one piece. Would have added extra rigidity and would have looked a lot better. As it is now, the intakes are basically hollow openings into the fuselage. I am sure you already do this, but I would recommend dry fitting all of your parts and assemblies, multiple times before you commit to glue. That really does help in figuring out the best way to assemble this beast. Also, depending on the version you are building, the gun version of the cougar did not have the splitter plates, in front of the intakes. I believe only the photo reconnaissance version had those. Don't know if it's helpful, but that was a surprise to me, when I did my initial research to build this model. I hope that helps a little bit, it was a difficult build, but it looks good in the display case, so I can't really complain. Take your time and definitely add in some homemade supports along the inner edges of B4 and B3, that will help straighten everything out and keep it in place. I hope that makes sense, let me know if I can offer any more assistance. Happy building!

[@65TossTrap]

Ben thank you. I went back and looked at my results, and I think I have the right angle and fit. After 30 minutes of fidgeting I laid the kit part in a puddle of super glue that I'd forgotten about during the build. To rectify the problem during my panic I pulled out some debonder and proceeded to melt some nice detail. I think I need to slow down and use only Tamiya glue, as the super glue, as applied, is a problem. Thank you again!

[@justarandomclonetrooperwit8119]

Huh,so theres a conversation starter for the other cougars at Applebees. *WHAT, YOU THOUGHT I WAS TALKING ABOUT THE PLANE?*

[@BenBuilds]

The way this kit is going, it is most definitely a conversation starter. lol I can't wait to be done with this one. Thanks for watching!