Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: Frank3k on March 29, 2026, 10:28:57 AM
-
With some trepidation, I started this kit:
(https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/3/3/3/1646333-59300-57-1080.jpg)
https://www.scalemates.com/kits/mikromir-72-031-lockheed-martin-hopeless-diamond--1646333 (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/mikromir-72-031-lockheed-martin-hopeless-diamond--1646333)
It has relatively few parts, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult of a build. With my experience with MikroMir I knew that most of the build would be fit, sand, test, fit, repeat. The cockpit area, landing bay and exhaust are all multi-part affairs with considerable flash. The main cockpit tub looks like it's enclosed, but the front and back "walls" are actually flash and have to be removed.
I spent a lot of time carefully fitting and sanding the forward edges of the lower fuselage until it all but snapped into place. After adding the main landing gear bays I noticed that they hit the upper fuselage, so it was either remove them and remove yet more plastic, or trim and sand away the sections that contact the upper fuselage. That's what I did, but sanding the lower edges of the bays (where they go into the lower fuselage) would work as well. I also had to do extensive trimming near the exhaust to get the two fuselage halves to mate at the same level:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55174570450_9e7e99fd4a_b.jpg)[
Top view with the cockpit and PE intake grills - which don't fit perfectly, but close enough:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55174346963_0e49886d89_b.jpg)
The real debate has been how much to detail the cockpit. The ejection seat is pretty bland, but it's both narrower and shorter than any modern ejection seat. I even tried a resin seat for a P-80 and it was too tall. I may just end up adding some belts to the kit seat and calling it a day. The instrument panel has been colored with some AK pens and brushed with a pencil. The side panels have only been brushed with a pencil:
(https://live.staticflickr.com/65535/55174570455_d3dafc945b_b.jpg)
Carl pointed out this 3D printed add-on for this kit from AMP (https://www.scalemates.com/kits/amp-resparts-7201-hopeless-diamond-air-intakes-and-exhausts-wheels-bays-cockpit--1661793) that may help solve some of the fit problems (or may have problems of their own). It looks good, though:
(https://www.scalemates.com/products/img/7/9/3/1661793-59300-44-1080.jpg)
The next big show stopper is the canopy. It comes as two flat clear styrene plates. The instructions show the plates glued along the top edge, then dropped into place. That's not going to happen because the canopy sections are about 1mm too long and 1mm too wide at the bottom. A combination of very careful but extensive sanding is required just to get them to barely fit in the provided space. I probably have an hour or more of test fitting and sanding (and puttying) before they fit properly.
The instructions have you trapping the nose gear in the nose bay halves as you build them. We all know this will lead to great unhappiness, so I carved a channel from the two depressions that hold the nose gear "T" axle. By twisting the nose gear slightly, it falls into place.
-
That parts count reminds me of an Aurora kit from long ago. :smiley:
-
I would do this as a UCAV
-
Nice one Frank