Kitty Hawk 1/32 OV-10D Bronco

[BarryW]

it looks to me as if Kitty Hawk is run by an accountant. He has his spreadsheet having set aside a project cost and implementation period and once the budget is spent orders the kit into production regardless.

Look at this

See the location pins on one half, see the holes they should fit into...... no! Well according to the instructions they are there.

I have found several examples of this kInd of thing.

Gluing these together is not a problem but....
The result is this.

I will cement some sprue inside to give this some strength.


The part identification continues to provide additional entertainment.

Her is where I am at with subs done last night.

 

[Vaughan]

Barry you do like a challenge, I'm sure you'll sort all these problems out in your stride. Do you think this will put you off building another Kitty Hawk in the future?

 

[BarryW]

Barry you do like a challenge, I'm sure you'll sort all these problems out in your stride. Do you think this will put you building another Kitty Hawk in the future?

Actually none of this is really major and I am more amused by it than anything. No, I am not put off at all.

 

[Jakko]

To be honest, if this sort of thing were off-putting to someone, maybe modelling isn’t the right hobby for that person. It comes across more as sloppy than actually bad. Now if the parts fit was terrible and the model only looked like an OV-10 if it had the sun behind it, that would be different.

 

[BarryW]

The one thing that is really annoying are the sloppily positioned ejector pin marks. Some are right in amongst detail and I have to assess just how visible it will be before deciding on how or whether to deal with them.

 

[JR]

Barry .
Reading what Jakko has just said make me think I should do something else , that kit would drive me madder than I already am.
I find it so annoying that manufactures dont proof read their instructions, there is nothing more off putting than lack of forethought for the person who has bought your kit and then gives up.
Yes a challenge to build it by all means but not one to understand instructions because they can't be bothered to correct.
No doubt you will make a great job of it. I Shall follow from the back.

 

[BarryW]

I used some sprue to add strength to the centre wing panel.


And - I unpacked my new toy....

For a long time I have been using a nail varnish shaker (c. £30, Amazon) to mix my paint but it finally expired under the strain of MRP's 30ml glass bottles. So I decided to look for alternatives and found this on Amazon:


OK, I could buy 4 nail varnish shakers for what this cost, but at least it does not have a pink badge and my missus cannot pull my plonker over using a nail varnish shaker.... It is also much more robust, does the job quicker and is more versatile. I tried not just the 30ml MRP but also the 60ml primer and Vallejo paint on it and it works beautifully. OK, I cannot just strap a bottle in, switch on and get on with something else while it is shaking but it does mix the paint a lot quicker. This model has a variable speed of up to 3000 rpm which is necessary as the steel aggitators in MRP may otherwise crack the glass bottle. I also learned to hold the bottle loosely as that really helps to improve the shaking motion. A luxury perhaps when a nail varnish sharker would do but I like it....

 

[Vaughan]

Looks like an amazing piece of kit Barry but just looked it up on Amazon and at a £116 that's a few model kits for me. I think I will stick to shaking them by hand.

 

[BarryW]

Looks like an amazing piece of kit Barry but just looked it up on Amazon and at a £116 that's a few model kits for me. I think I will stick to shaking them by hand.

You could try the nail polish shaker as that is only about £22 (not the 30 I said....). and it does save a lot of time. Mine actually lasted a few years. Vallejo fits perfectly under the strap though ‘fatter bottles’ stretch it a bit. . If you don’t want the pink label then there is one, same except the label, for £52 !!!!!!!

 

[stillp]

I paid £12.95 for my nail polish shaker, including postage from China. I think the wait was about 3 weeks. My wife uses it occasionally for its intended purpose!
Pete

 

[Archetype]

Has stirring paint gone out fashion?

 

[BarryW]

Has stirring paint gone out fashion?

Depends what paint you use I suppose. I use
MRP with steel agitators in the bottle. Stirring is so much more fuss and time consuming. I remember in the old days using crappy Humbrol enamels, levering off the lids and stirring away for ages, scraping pigment off the bottom. It used to take forever. Much easier to give the bottle a shake, ideally with a machine.

 

[Archetype]

Depends what paint you use I suppose. I use
MRP with steel agitators in the bottle. Stirring is so much more fuss and time consuming. I remember in the old days using crappy Humbrol enamels, levering off the lids and stirring away for ages, scraping pigment off the bottom. It used to take forever. Much easier to give the bottle a shake, ideally with a machine.

I was only ribbing. I wrote the message with a winky smiley on the end, but I guess the formatting doesn’t support them.
You’re right on the enamels. The grime at the bottom of enamels is definitely one of the things I don’t miss since I went over to Vallejo!

 

[Jakko]

I was only ribbing. I wrote the message with a winky smiley on the end, but I guess the formatting doesn’t support them.

If you inserted an actual emoji character (not a smiley from the menu at the top of the message text box), the forum software strips them out, unfortunately — for reasons that are completely unclear to me, as they’re valid Unicode characters. I’ve been meaning to make an account at the XenForo forums and ask about that, but haven’t bothered yet.

You’re right on the enamels. The grime at the bottom of enamels is definitely one of the things I don’t miss since I went over to Vallejo!

I actually like Humbrol enamels to paint with, but not the stirring. ISTR I broke more than one cocktail stick on that pigment layer if the paint had sat for too long.

 

[BarryW]

This build continues to amuse, annoy, infuriate in equal measure. Some more progress.

Cutting off two pieces from the sprue resulted in one breaking with one end disappearing into the ether. It was not a small part either. You can see the broken part with the intact one below. These are part of the canopy framing. Provided they are internal, I can have the canopy closed up and it will look OK. I am not sure what to about it if it is external


So I did some test fitting, I won’t tell you the details but the part numbers let you down again.....

It looks OK, they are internal, so I will have the canopy closed up. Not what I intended but at least this can be resolved.

Weight, as supplied, added. I have to cut plastic away to get the weight in place. Including a molded in lump where they tell is to position the block. Perhaps the block was intended to have a location hole. KH’s lack of care showing again.


Now, as for these transparencies. This made me very angry, utterly thoughtless design having a sprue gate on the window of edge.


Not much I can do about that. It will be on the top too. Sums up Kitty Hawk’s shoddy thoughtless product design.

Finally
I worked on the gun pods. Poor execution by Kitty Hawk made it harder than it need be.


I had to trim the bottom of the guns to fit them

 

[BarryW]

I have just had a peek at the Kitty Hawk F5 Tiger that I have in the stash.

It as only a cursory glance but the plastic looks better quality with smaller more refined sprue gates and that is a good sign. I am aware of some issues still with the instructions but maybe they are improving with newer releases. We shall see. In the meantime let’s get in with this Bronco...

 

[Fernando N]

Sorry to read about the issues Barry, hopefully as the build progresses things will be better.
As an avid Bronco fan I'll try to follow along .

Oh this Belgium one always gives great shows:

Have some more pics if you want them.

 

[Jim R]

Hi Barry
Most certainly very different from Tamiya but I suppose you get what you pay for although as others have said the problems are more annoying than catastrophic. Your experience and skills are enabling you to make a fine job so far.
Jim

 

[Jakko]

Cutting off two pieces from the sprue resulted in one breaking with one end disappearing into the ether. It was not a small part either. You can see the broken part with the intact one below. These are part of the canopy framing. Provided they are internal, I can have the canopy closed up and it will look OK. I am not sure what to about it if it is external
View attachment 347691

That looks like it can be replicated with some plastic strip fairly easily. Take plastic strip that’s the same width as the part but thinner, curve it (pull it out from under a ruler you press down onto your work surface) then laminate it while making sure it has the correct curve by comparing to the other part.

 

[BarryW]

I have done a bit more work, slow progress this week.

Another example of Kitty Hawk’s shoddy production.

See this


That bulkhead, no part number but as it is a distinctive shape it should be easy to spot. Not. I searched every sprue three times, including the transparencies and even the pe fret. There is no such part. Not really a problem as I am not planning to have the nose open (as designed by KW).

I have not received the seats yet but thought I would start the interior painting anyway. So I sprayed some primer ready.