Stew Dapple

I decided to use the metal undercarriage legs, the kit's plastic ones actually looked like they would be up to the job anyway, but since HobbyBoss had gone to the trouble of providing metal ones it seemed rude not to: So that is pretty much all the remaining bits ready to be primed now, hopefully I'll get that done before the weekend... Cheers, Stew

Yeah I was still jealous, but less intensely so than I would have been earlier in the week And that is all it needs to do. Do it do it do it do it do it.... Cheers, Stew

I'll take your word for that, but I refer you to this review which states that the reinforcement framing was internal. My framing has remained on the outside anyway, since that is where they are moulded. I am prepared to make allowances for English not being your first language, but in the absence of anything to replace them with, please do not presume to tell me what I must do with my model unless you are able to offer a constructive alternative Kind regards, Stew

As I hoped I did get some more done yesterday. First I fitted the tailfins; I can't remember where but I read a review where the builder had found that they suffer from excessive dihedral and he had to go to some lengths to correct this, which rather spoiled his appreciation of the kit. I experienced something similar at one point and found that I was trying to attach the tailplanes the wrong way up - in fairness they are pretty much identical on either side apart from a small square inspection panel which the instructions indicate should be on the topside, I think this might be the source of the problem. I attached the flaps, ailerons and wingtip tanks to the wings: ... and addded the inboard stores pylons which seem to have been a fixture. I did not make the holes for the two outer pylons as all the pictures of the French F-84s I could find showed a clean configuration apart from the wingtip tanks which were fitted in most cases: I masked the canopy hood using the Eduard mask set: ... and the same for the windscreen: I then painted the white tape framing on the hood in Vallejo Off-White, and built and painted the internal gubbins: I then masked that framing so hopefully I won't need to repaint it at the end, but knowing the legendary adhesive powers of Vallejo paint I expect about half of it to peel off with the masking... Finally I fitted the wings and tacked on the canopy ready for priming once the undercarriage is made up: It's qute big. Cheers, Stew

Hmm, Thursday or Friday I would have been intensely jealous of that, but it's been positively chilly by comparison this weekend... Cheers, Stew

Thank you very much John, it's surprising how quickly even a big kit can go together when the parts all fit like Lego Thank you, you are correct Josip, and indeed it is worse than this as the reinforcement tapes were on the inside, so there should be no external framing other than the outer edges of the hood. The wheels do look strangely agricultural in nature, with the sort of tyres you might fit to your jet if you were going to drive it off-road,,, the Fisher Model and Pattern Company did make a set of replacement resin wheels but as they lost their home and business in the Californian wildfires last year I can't imagine they will be available in numbers any time soon. How big an issue these points are is up to the conscience of the modeller; for me they are not deal-breakers but your mileage, as they say, may vary Thanks Bob, I'm not sure what airbrake is included in the F-84E kit, but as I understand it it should be the one with four rectangular slots for most F-84s and the one with multiple circular perforations only being fitted from the F-84G 10-RE (S/N 51-1079) onwards. My principal reference is a fairly old Squadron Detail and Scale book but it looks a well-researched publication and I'd be inclined to trust it in the absence of any more recent contradictory evidence Why thank you mate So here is the main bulk of the innards, with the strangely Heath-Robinson-type gunsight apparatus fitted, and the rear decking: ... and it does actually fit into the fuselage half pretty smoothly: ... as does the jet-pipe and airbrake bay fitted above. I started work on the tailplanes and wings: No drama to speak of there, the flaps as supplied are in the dropped position, it wouldn't be much work to fit them raised though, just a matter of trimming off a couple of pegs. Joining the fuselage halves wasn't quite as simple as I had hoped, something was preventing the halves just clicking together (as they had in the dry run, so it is certainly my fault rather than a failing of the kit) and after adding the nose-gun cover and intake front I needed to add a little filler to cover my sins: Still I'm hopeful that won't be too visible once it is painted up... Finally I added the extended tailpiece and the rudder: ... which is where I am now. Hopefully I'll make some more progress today as I don't have anything else planned Cheers, Stew

No kidding! Good luck though, the mule looked most impressive Cheers, Stew

Very nice job Fubes, excellent metal finish too Cheers, Stew

Good job mate, looks very clear Need to spellcheck 'Hellgrau' though... Cheers, Stew

Hmm, those panel lines are a bit overdone... Good to see some progress on the Spitfires mate, looking good Cheers,, Stew

Gave in to temptation again (the model, that is, the Westie is included for scale): It's a big box and it's packed to the gunwales. Jack doesn't look too impressed though... Cheers, Stew

Once the paint had cured I applied a wash of Citadel Agrax Earthshade to the wheelbays: ... and I stated assembling the various sub-assemblies before giving a splash of Nuln Oil (Citadel's basic black wash) to the gun-bay: Not really sure why I bothered with that as there doesn't seem to be a way of displaying it open, and if there was I wouldn't anyway, but I do get a certain perverse pleasure out of "knowing it's there". I gave the cockpit and seat a wash of Agrax Earthshade and did the detail painting: ... did the detail painting in the wheelbays and airbrake bay: Painted the back shelf and applied the transfer to the instrument panel (and as usual got that slightly skew-whiff - if I did this again I would cut off the side parts of the IP transfer and apply these separately): It should look okay once it is buttoned up anyway *fingers crossed* I assembled the jet pipe: ...and painted the interior parts: So now all I need to do is to fit all those parts inside the fuselage... Cheers, Stew

Excellent result James Cheers, Stew

Hi Greg, I'm going with the Armee De L'Air option provided in the kit (and shown on the box-art); the reviews say the transfers are very good, so I'll give it a go... Cheers, Stew

Thank you Steve, I'm glad you liked it and please don't think you might have seemed rude, I don't imagine you would behave that way Good hunting, I hope you find one with decent transfers, Cheers, Stew