At work this morning I spent the first two hours building what could be one of the worst fitting injection kits from my stash. At the Huddersfield show 4 years ago I picked up a rare kit from Taiwan toy maker Kiddyland, the 1/72 scale Ching-Kuo F-CK-1.
It's a stinker on a level with early Amodel kits. The kit itself was poorly stored before I bought it - the rigid top opening box has been squashed inwards and the decal sheet was stuck to the instructions. It may have been in a hot attic as the main sprue is bent.
I've got the top and bottom fuselages clamped together in 3 places and the gaps are showing up badly. Wisely I put the engine exhausts in at the same time to act as a former to prevent me bending the rear fuselage in case the clamps were too tight.
Plastic wise the moulding is good in places with a little detail but the fit is awful. A 1mm edge is showing on all the parts that fit together - like the intakes that sit proud of the body instead of flush. Whoever designed the cockpit parts didn't talk to the instructions designer because there is no way the instrument panel fits where the plans show. I can see a gap in the tail.
On the positive side we get a pair of pilot figures - which is odd as it's a single seat fighter.
Anyway, one guy is in seated pose for flying and the other is standing holding his helmet Tom Cruise style. I think these may have been copied from a Tamiya mould.
Work will continue....
