Revell No. 85-1507: Kenworth W900 Aerodyne

Following are a few notes regarding the model's construction.

Re 'SnapTite' Construction

Much if the model employs a pin-and-socket 'SnapTite' joinery method. Paint introduces a complication, in that paint on pins and in sockets tends to interfere with fit. Often, pins need to be scraped, and/or sockets need to be reamed in order to reestablish fit.

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Snags

Fuel Tank Pins And Sockets

The fuel tank halves are meant to be assembled by way of pin-and-socket connections. Each tank incorporates three such connections.

The sockets are too shallow to accept the pins. Drill out the sockets with a No. 55 (0.052") drill, and the connections will go together fine.

Rear wheels

The spacers, item 51, seem to introduce a wobble to the wheels. One can minimize the effect by nudging the tires about, but one can't get the wheels perfectly true.


Air Cleaners

These are very similar to the fuel tanks, and suffer from a similar, though not quite as severe, problem. Drill out the sockets with a No. 55 (0.052") drill.

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Decal Disappointment -- FRIDAY, APRIL 10, 2020

I like what decals do for a model, but I don't much like applying them. The decal set has an elaborate 'lightning bolt' scheme that I quite liked the looks of, and wanted to apply. However, I could not get the large lightning bolts for the sides of the sleeper to work out. The decals seemed to be oversize for the space available for them, and the decals' 'laciness' defied my attempts to get them in place flat and true. I had to abandon the attempt.

I did apply some of the lightning bolt decal set in a very abbreviated manner. The result is not bad, and will have to do. Anyway, here's the finished model.

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FEEDBACK

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Tamiya 1/48 North American RAF Mustang III

Tamiya Item No. 61047-2500.

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I was given this kit. It's not something I would have thought to buy for myself.


I may have done some aircraft models in my boyhood, but I've done none in adulthood, so I have effectively no experience with aircraft models. They look to me to be a whole nother world from the automobiles and trucks that I'm accustomed to.

It looks to me that painting an aircraft model would be a challenging bit of business. I'm not sure I can afford an airbrush outfit, so I may have to fall back on brush painting, which doesn't really appeal to me. We'll see.

Anyway, on with breaking out components, trimming them, test fitting them and organizing them into numbered and named bins per the plan's construction sequence.

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An Observation -- SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2020

1/48 scale components are tiny! I'm in awe of anyone who is skilled at dealing with such things.

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A Snag: Items A27 And A28 In Step 6 -- Attaching Flaps

Items A27 and A28 each have nubs on them that are supposed to mate with dimples on the wing undersurface. There are no dimples.

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Set Aside

Given my current skillset, I'm in no way capable of building and painting this model. I'll set it aside for now.

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FEEDBACK

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Tamiya Nissan Skyline GT-R, V-spec II (R34), 1/24

An exquisite kit with clear instructions.

Following are a warning, and a deviation from the instructions' order of body assembly that may be helpful.

A Warning

This is with regard to the clear windows, item D8.

The windows come with a sheet of masks that are to be applied to the inner surfaces, so that black paint can be applied to create window 'frames' of a sort. Do not, under any circumstances, use spray paint to do the black painting. Use only Tamiya X-18 semi-gloss black brush paint. Using spray paint will result in this.

The strong solvents in the spray paint bleed through the masks and fog the clear plastic something fierce.

I had to order replacement clear parts (sprue tree 'D') and a masking sheet from my local hobby shop. Had those items not been available, the kit would have been a write-off.

A Deviation

The instructions would have you assemble body components as you go along with construction of the kit. That hugely complicates painting. I wanted to be able to paint the complete body as a unit, so I pre-assembled all the body components. The pertinent components are:

• The body itself, of course.
• The front bumper, item B19.
• The rear bumper, item B18.
• The rocker panels, items B9 and B10.
• The wing mounts, items B14 and B15..

With all of those items assembled, one has a complete body that can be painted all at one go. Pre-assembling the body does not result in any anomalies in the order of construction.

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And here's the finished model.

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FEEDBACK

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