murat
T-33 Testors
Mon Mar 24 08:36:19 2003
What are the problems of the TESTORS 1/48 T-33 kit. is it accurate. is it possible to correct and are there any detail sets for this kit?

Ben Brown
Fox 3 Studios is releasing a correction set
Mon Mar 24 18:32:28 2003
Fox 3 Studios is releasing a correction set soon. Here is what Gerry posted on the Early Jets list on March 4, along with pics of the set:

I just recently received the masters for my 1/48 T-33 “correction kit”. They look great, so I’ve given the go-ahead for casting – it should be available for shipment within the next 6-8 weeks (nice Easter present). The kit is made to fit the Hobbycraft/Academy canopy & landing gear; features new fuselage halves & 1-piece wing, cockpit w/seats, control sticks & throttles, instrument panels, speed brakes & intake plates. Essentially, you’ll use the kit stabs, tip tanks, canopy, flaps and landing gear parts. Have a great styrene burning block party with your neighbours for the remaining parts.
If anyone needs convincing, the second image shows a comparison (top to bottom) between the Monogram F-80, FOX 3 T-33, and Hobbycraft (now Academy) T-bird fuselage profiles.
The kit will retail for $39 + shipping.

The pics of the T-Bird set look really good. I’ve built his F-100F and F-100C conversions (my F is over at ARC in the reviews section) and Gerry does good work. I have no affiliation with Fox 3 but I like his products.

Trevor
Re: T-33 Testors
Mon Mar 24 09:19:19 2003
While the Testors kit is accurate in outline, that’s its only strength. Compared to today’s models, the T-bird lacks detail in every area.
The cockpit is Spartan at best. The nose ‘wheel well’ is nothing but a flat, featureless plate and the main wheel well has no top. The flaps also lack detail.
Now, with that said, the Testors kit can be cleaned up quite easily. The flaps can be made from styrene very easily, failing that the KMC flaps (intended for the Hobbycraft T-33) might fit. The KMC resin cockpit could probably be fitted in place and the wheel wells could be made from styrene too.

Jennings
The problem is, it’s *not* accurate in outline
Mon Mar 24 10:08:00 2003
It has a distinct “droop ass” appearance, mainly due to the fuselage aft of the canopy falling away far too much.
Fox 3 is about to do a complete resin correction (which ends up being almost a completely new kit) which should go a long way to fixing the problems.

David O.
I have no problems with this kit..
Mon Mar 24 15:04:51 2003
It is one of my favourite models and collect older versions whenever I find them. I’ll build it and enjoy it sitting on my shelf and not worry one bit about any inaccuracies. This kit came out in the late ’50s and to me is strictly a nostalgic piece. It looks like a T-33 so it must be a T-33, especially in that cool red paint, in the late evening sun.
Now if Hasegawa or Whatevermiya came out with a new version and it failed the Jennings test then I would be pretty upset, especially if the price was $20 plus.

Chris Aleong
Does this apply to the HC kit as well?
Mon Mar 24 10:22:12 2003
Jennings,
I thought this was the problem with the Hobbycraft kit and not the Testors kit. So I guess they both have the same problems? Just wondering.

Jennings
HC’s is a clone of the Hawk/Testor
Mon Mar 24 11:23:35 2003
They faithfully copied every error. The only plus is that is has engraved detail. Otherwise the shapes are identical.

Vic Scheuerman
Not True…
Mon Mar 24 13:36:55 2003
…as I just compared the two fuselage halves; they are different. The cockpit well on the Hawk (Testors) kit is 3MM further ahead compared to the HC kit. For the nose gear well, they meet at the front, but the Hawk kit is 2MM longer. The main wing location is different too. The Hawk kit is 2MM further forward, so that makes the distance from the back of the nose gear well to the start of the main wing quite different. I also note that Hawk has a more accurate profile to the aft canopy housing that is part of the fuselage. It has a more gentle slope then the HC kit effort which is too abrupt. This and the fact that the main gear legs on the HC are about 1/8″ too high are the only things that I corrected on the two HC kits that I have built; otherwise it is one of the better efforts by them.

source: Hyperscale
(thanks to Brett Green for permission)