**** DONE: Curtiss P-40M Wairarapa Wildcat FO Geoffrey Fisken Commonwealth GB

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Thanks guys, but my opinion of the quality of this kit is quickly taking a dive.

Still waiting to hear from Eduard (Right, that's going to happen) I did some test fitting of the wing and discovered a fit worse than any kit I have ever made (and that's a lot). The gap between the wing and the fuselage rivals the grand canyon.

As I have see it I have three options:

1) Use large fill strips which will be hard to make look acceptable.

2) Use spreader bars to widen the fuselage so the gap closes. Unfortunately I used a large amount of super glue to cement in the cockpit floor which will have to broken apart as it locks the wing roots at there present width.

Either way It doesn't look like I'll have the time to waste waiting for a response about the wheel wells anymore and will have to make up the wings and get started on a fix. I have a bad feeling that this won't be the only problem I find before this build is finished.

 
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Holy crap! That's just wrong! Did you by chance over-clamp the fuselage to make the cockpit tub fit? Doesn't seem like Eduard to leave a canyon like that.

The CA can be dissolved with "debonder" which should be available where you buy your glue. Once that's done, I'd go the spreader route. The other thing is to be sure you get the right dihedral to help close the gap.
 
I didn't clamp the fuselage at all. It fit together real nice and I slid the cockpit in from the bottom the next day after I had dressed up the joint, and I didn't hold in the fuselage sides in at all when I glued it. I guess I just assumed it would be the right width for the wings based on my experience with Eduard kits. I guess I should have checked the fit right after I had the fuselage halves glued up. I think I will go with the spreader bars. I don't feel like doing all the filing and sanding that would come with the filler strips.
 
Heavens Glenn, I'm astonished and amazed at the size of that gap. I think Andy has hit the nail on the head and you seem to be on the right track as it looks like a couple of spreaders will bring the sides out just enough. Good luck mate.
 
Thanks for the help guys.

It took me over an hour to break loose the bottom of the cockpit using CA de-bonder, cutting, and brute force (I broke an xacto blade). I installed sprue spreaders fore and aft of the cockpit tub after a lot of trial and error th get the lengths right and here is what I ended up with.

Picture 1) The spreaders installed
Picture 2) The gap after the spreaders. The wing had no dihedral at this point.
Picture 3) The joint after I put the proper amount of dihedral on the wings. It will still be some work blending it in, but nothing I can't live with.

As you might have seen in the pictures I've glued up the wings so I have officially given-up on Eduard getting me the proper wheel well insert.

 
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Great save Glenn. I'm sure it's going to look great in the end.

FYI, I read this text on another site describing this build:

The instructions indicate that the cockpit floor should be glued to one side of the fuselage early in the construction process, but test fitting revealed that it can be inserted after the fuselage is assembled. I chose this route, as it was much easier to get the fuselage halves aligned and cemented without the stress added by the spreading action of the cockpit floor. This approach also made it easier to get a good fit at the wing root, by adjusting the width of the cockpit. The wing-fuselage fit is nicely engineered, and if you get the cockpit floor sized properly, it drops right in. I had very little filling to do except at the complex join at the leading edge, where the undercarriage fairing is also involved.

And another:

You must put in a spreader bar fore and aft of the cockpit after you have assembled the fuselage halves, or you will turn the air over your workbench a deep and impressive shade of dark purple when you go to fit the wing sub-assembly to the fuselage sub-assembly. I cut pieces of sprue 3/4" long and mounted them as you see in the accompanying photograph.

I find it very helpfull to Google the kit you are considering before buying or launching into the build as there are some really good "heads ups" in these articles.
 
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I will have to look up my next build first Andy. That second quote sounds just like the trouble I was dealing with.
 
That is one hell of a recovery. I would have just put plastic shims in, set my dihedral, glued, trimmed and puttyied. Your result will look phenomenally better.
 
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