The Marui 1/36 kit has....well, not defeated me, but frustrated me enough for the moment. But I have a bee in my bonnet about getting one built, so it's up to the next scale. I have two of these kits - one that's been started (by somebody else, I hasten to add..) and one that's near enough mint in the box, and I'll be tackling the latter. The reason for this is that I want to do it from start to finish, and it'll need a few mods along the way.
The aircraft I'm modelling is VH-FJA. It's the last of the pre-production prototypes, and owned by a gent who keeps it at Riddel airfield, about 40 minutes drive from me. I was privileged the other weekend to go and see it, as well as another flying example, VH-FJY, and another in pieces, VH-FJX.
The differences between the pre-production and the production aircraft (and the mods I'll need to make) are as follows:
Fixed-pitch prop - I'll be looking at casting one from my Cessna 172 kit. Not sure about changing the spinner yet..
Lack of forward undercarriage fairings - these will simply be removed from the underside of the wings, and any holes filled in.
Narrower undercarriage fairings - not quite sure how I'll tackle these yet..
Different control yokes - the ones in the kit are kind of an open "u" shape, whereas on the aircraft they're closed. Not sure how to tackle these either, but I'll think of something..(I hope)
Different throttle setup - I'll need to check this out on the real aircraft again (unless I managed to take a photo last time), but I've got a feeling it's similar to a Cessna
Different elevator mass balance - on the pre-production aircraft, the mass balance extends to about half-way along the stabiliser whereas on the production aircraft it's full span.
Decals - gonna have to make and print my own....well, get my own printed!
I've got a feeling there may be a few more, but these are the main ones.
I'll also need to look again at the interior, specifically the seats and harnesses. The seats of the real deal have covers over them, and the harnesses appear to be 4-point.....nothing like what's in the kit!
Wish me luck, gents....I'm gonna need it!