[John P]

Just had to get that off my chest.

I'm finished with a $185 CollectAire A-12 Avenger II resin kit, except for the canopy. Saved it for last 'cause I HATE trimming out vacuform canopies. Never get 'em to fit right. Yup, having that problem here too.

Reeeeeeaaallly freakin' frustratin'!!!

 

[Captain-Raveers]

That sucks John....but as it says under your name "Vacation Needed" :lol:

Trent

 

[Brent Gair]

Yup...I've got a project that is scaring the crap out of me.

It's the Belcher Bits conversion of the Accurate Miniatures TBM 3 (ironically, the original AVENGER) into the AS1 MK3 of the Royal Canadian Navy.

This plane has a huge, vacuformed greenhouse that presents a couple of serious problems: 1)attaching it to the airplane and 2)unmasking it without pulling it it off the airframe (what are the chances of pulling off 20+masks without breaking a seam?).

 

[Trek Ace]

Wussy.

 

[John P]

Also the reason I've never finished the resin Horizon 40s Batmobile - biiiig vac canopy with ill-defined edges.

Half the battle would be solved if people could just come up with a way to vac sharp, well-defined cut lines along the edges. The A-12's is fairly well-defined for about 75% of its circumference, but 1/4 of it blends roughly with the surrounding scrap. And of course, once it's cut, it's not exactly the correct shape anyway At least it's a bubble with no framework!

 

[John P]

This plane has a huge, vacuformed greenhouse that presents a couple of serious problems: 1)attaching it to the airplane and 2)unmasking it without pulling it it off the airframe (what are the chances of pulling off 20+masks without breaking a seam?).

Exactly why I haven't stared my Special Hobby 1/48 A-model Stuka! :lol:

 

[PhilipMarlowe]

^ I'm amazed and impress John that you and others can make ANYTHING from vacu-formed kits, my own experience is limited to the SFMA "Proteus" and "Dark Star" kits back in the late eighties.

After they arrived via mail order, I was dismayed to find they both looked like they were made of two sheets of crudely shaped sheets of plastic. But I broke out some FSM issues and figured "How hard can it be? I'll do the "Dark Star" first 'cause it's so simple"

After about two weeks of trimming, sanding, filling, sanding, and finally painting, I had something that looked remarkably like two crudely formed pieces of plastic glued together....

 

[PerfesserCoffee]

There's just one thing I like about vacuum formed canopies:

NOTHING!

ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!

:devil:

 

[John P]

^ I'm amazed and impress John that you and others can make ANYTHING from vacu-formed kits, my own experience is limited to the SFMA "Proteus" and "Dark Star" kits back in the late eighties.

After they arrived via mail order, I was dismayed to find they both looked like they were made of two sheets of crudely shaped sheets of plastic. But I broke out some FSM issues and figured "How hard can it be? I'll do the "Dark Star" first 'cause it's so simple"

After about two weeks of trimming, sanding, filling, sanding, and finally painting, I had something that looked remarkably like two crudely formed pieces of plastic glued together....

:lol:! Yup, that's been my vac experience too mostly. Thank god for resin kits.

 

[Arronax]

^ I'm amazed and impress John that you and others can make ANYTHING from vacu-formed kits, my own experience is limited to the SFMA "Proteus" and "Dark Star" kits back in the late eighties.

Ah, yes, I remember them. They also did a Metaluna ship and a Martian War Machine (the heat ray was a bear).

I actually like vacuuform kits and have built quite a few (mainly early Comet Miniatures Anderson vehicles and the Sevans Dr. Who figures). Once you figure out the proper way to cut them from the sheet, they go together pretty well. Of course, reinforcing the joints and a lot of putty help.

On the other hand, I share your pain regarding vacuuform canopies. It's no reason that most manufacturers include two vacuuform canopies with their kits.

Jim

 

[abu625]

John:

I feel your pain. One of the reasons I just LOVED Sharkit's new X-44A MANTA (a resin kit) was that you could cannibalize an injection-molded canopy (as well as landing gear) from any 1/72 scale YF-22 Raptor and make it look great. Yes, the kit came with a vac canopy -- which went immediately into the garbage.

(Here are some shots of my build-up. Notice the nice, clean injection-molded canopy... http://www.fantastic-plastic.com/X-44A_MANTAPage.htm)

 

[Carson Dyle]

Did someone mention SFMA?...

These are goofy little kits, but for the longest time, as far as sci-fi modeling was concerned, they were the only alternative to Aurora. As you can see, mine are getting a tad dusty...

 

[rossjr]

OK, what ship is in front of the J2?

John P - I feel your pain, that is why I stayed away from Vacuform kits all together, tough enough to deal with the canopies. I had the same problem with my Viper Cockpit....

 

[dreamer]

That's the Dark Star. Wish I had one. Even in vac-form.

I'd actually like to try a vacuform kit someday, just for the challenge. Canopies, otoh, ya know what what you can do with them canopies...

 

[Arronax]

These are goofy little kits, but for the longest time, as far as sci-fi modeling was concerned, they were the only alternative to Aurora. As you can see, mine are getting a tad dusty...

Oooh, yes. I had the Icarus and the Jupiter 2 as well. I still have my Proteus.

And, yes, you're right. They were the only other game in town.

Jim