[Shawn 507]

So I finally get my Hellcat from Bad Cat and man am I bummed out. This has the worst cockpit to body fit of all the Dragon hellcats. I can't tell where they went wrong considering the 50240 version was pretty good. I'm gonna have to do some sort of shimming and build up of plastic to get the cockpit to seal up. Such a great livery and such crappy assembly. Man this sucks!!

[lanslide]

Oh man - I'm sorry to here that! Mine is on its way too.

[smartd]

Originally Posted by Shawn 507

So I finally get my Hellcat from Bad Cat and man am I bummed out. This has the worst cockpit to body fit of all the Dragon hellcats. I can't tell where they went wrong considering the 50240 version was pretty good. I'm gonna have to do some sort of shimming and build up of plastic to get the cockpit to seal up. Such a great livery and such crappy assembly. Man this sucks!!

Could you fill gap with a smear of white glue then paint when it hardens? Or is gap too large?

[lanslide]

nice! ...a gap smear...LOL

[mikeb1958]

Originally Posted by Shawn 507

So I finally get my Hellcat from Bad Cat and man am I bummed out. This has the worst cockpit to body fit of all the Dragon hellcats. I can't tell where they went wrong considering the 50240 version was pretty good. I'm gonna have to do some sort of shimming and build up of plastic to get the cockpit to seal up. Such a great livery and such crappy assembly. Man this sucks!!

Any pics on this bird? Or "dirty bird" from what it sounds like....

[smartd]

Originally Posted by lanslide

nice! ...a gap smear...LOL

Well we know where Ianslides' thoughts go.

Old modelling trick for filling gaps, making transparent windows etc. drop of white glue on toothpick, contact all edges of opening/window, draw across and and it's like pulling a blind across the opening. Works like a charm and you can have those odd shaped and tiny openings "glassed in" without using the bifocal "glass" provided by the kits.
Of course that was before all the chemical companies discovered modellers as a source of expanding revenue and bottle fed us with all sorts of specialized goodies and modellers gave up skills for convenience.
Particularly good for canopy repairs.

[Shawn 507]

I'll try to post pics of the headache this weekend. The issue for me is the canopy will not mate up with the rear of the cockpit. The area the canopy slides back on isn't seated right so you can see thru the plane just below the rear window. I tried switching canopies with the VF-27 bird and that helped some, but the gap is still there. So I'll fart around with shimming plastic to get it up to snuff and let you know how it pans out.

[ZS-VAN]

Can't you just send it back Shawn?

[ac4313]

Originally Posted by lanslide

nice! ...a gap smear...LOL

[Shawn 507]

I could, but what are the odds of getting a better one or one thats worse? I like the livery, so I'll see what I can do with it. If nothing else I'll give it to my son. He'd love that! I've slipped a note to HM telling them to get their head out and start taking advantage of Dragon's weak showing. We'll see if they come through with more Hellcats