Pantherhawk27263

I've had connectivity problems with this site that have kept me from posting more photos. I have added the wings. Next up was some more filling to the hump. Next up was assembling the fuselage halves. I am using Tamiya rattle can white for painting the white parts. The hump looks better after some more sanding. Next was adding the hump to the fuselage. After that it was time to add the wings. On to more filling and sanding. More seam filling on the top side. Sometimes I have to let the queen of the household sit in her throne. My roommate's cat, named Babygirl, decides at times my chair is the best place to sleep.

The "Survival pod?" text is one of the funniest things I've read in a while.

Thanks!!! I figured that's what they were but it is so hard to see them in photos. I was amused to see they would get broken off in real life, just like I expect them to on my model if I use them.

I'm building the 1/48 Monogram A-4E Skyhawk and came across these things (I have circled them in red) in the instructions. I can't find any pictures of an A-4E where these can be seen to verify they belong on the model. As they are butt joined onto the kit they will easily break off later. Does anyone know what they are? I'm guessing they are some type of RWR or ECM.

I haven't done a build thread for a while and this seemed like a good candidate. This build sprung out of the local model club's contest last November. We had a category for classic kits pre-1979 and one of our members complained afterwards that there were no Monogram or Revell kits entered in this category. As I had this 1977 release and the 1976 Monogram F-86 Sabre in my stash I decided I would build one them so we would have at least one Monogram kit in the category this year. I bought both of these kits from my Dad's hardware store in the 70's. They have been in my stash that long, almost 50 years. I have moved them from Iowa to Texas, to North Carolina and back to Texas again without building them. Now, I need to finish this one by early November, along with at least one other kit, and hopefully an additional kit for our contest. I have always been a big fan of Monogram kits. For their era, they just had the best level of detail available, in my mind and they were available at a great price. Many people have complained about their fit, and I will agree it is not always the best, but that was pretty much standard for most kits back in the 60's and 70's. To start off I primered the pieces on the sprues and started to cut them off after they dried. Remarkably, the fit of the intakes was quite good, but still needed some filling and sanding. The hump for the spine DEFINITELY needed filling. It seemed like the edges were actually beveled instead of flat, guaranteeing a gap when assembled. I was also not impressed with the attachments points of the wings to the sprue. After trying to saw this side off I just used a knife on the other wing and scored repeatedly until it came off. After the first round of filling and sanding on the hump, more was called for. Another unfortunate thing is a seam right through the light on the spine hump. While that was drying I started the first coats of paint on the cockpit. The view of the intakes after filling and sanding. I may need to add something to blank off the view into the fuselage as it is wide open. I may try just painting the interior black. I painted the cockpit interior, added a wash and did the first round of drybrushing. i also added the nose gear well and some weight to avoid tailsitting. There is still more painting to happen here. .....and the other side. Next I glued one wing on. I may wait to add the other after I have glued the fuselage halves together and attached this to the fuselage. That's all I have done so far. I am impressed at how quickly this kit should go together. it's not as complicated as I thought it would be.

That is a real beauty Russ. Excellent work. You mentioned a tube of filler, did it really need a whole tube?

What a beautiful Phantom! Great job!

Wow!!! Fantastic job, it looks amazing!

Excellent work!! I recently did the same kit in camo. I just love the Deuce in the Viet Nam camo colors.

Absolutely wonderful work on a classic kit. I have never had the urge to build a Viking but after reading your under construction and seeing the finiahed product, I might have to pick one up in the future.

Lovely work on an old classic, Adrian. I think the Thud is a very elegant aircraft and you have done it justice. Well done!

Beautiful, both the kit and the job you did building it.

Marvelous work, that is a gorgeous Toom.

Nicely done, that's a beauty!

Superb Scooter!! I love the A-4 in Israeli markings. I think they are the best looking A-4s.

I am going to do the same thing with mine, SEA scheme. I'm glad to see that it urns out nice.

Very nice work, it's a beauty! I have one in my stash and have been contemplating if I should build it and start a blue Navy jet run of Grumman cats after it, along with a Banshee.

That's a real beauty. Great work!!!!

I have one of these in my stash. It's nice to see how beautiful it can turn out. Excellent work!

That's a beauty, Russ. Fantastic work! I seem to recall reading about Mad dog's exploits in the book "...And Kill MiGs!"

Lovely work and VERY eye catching. Great job!

I will certainly let you know if I need anything. Thanks!!!

All righty then, it's back to work on my P-47D for my wife. After the disasters and repairs I needed to make (all caused by me!) I took a break from working on this. As you can see, I have repainted the invasion stripes. At one point I tried using the overlooked kit decals for my new stripes, but they were too thick and difficult to work over the shapes on the lower fuselage. This meant I had to repaint them. You can see the difference in how far back the stripes go in the first photo compared to the second. Now I had to reapply new decals. I was able to find a Microscale sheet for these markings and ordered it. As it turns out, I felt much better about the blue on the national insignia from the replacement sheet than I did about the Academy ones. The Academy decals looked a little too light. Here is the beginning of the application of the new decals. Notice there is room for the rear letter code! Here's the other side. Now it is just a matter of adding a wash to highlight the panel lines, adding the propellor, radio mast and removing the masking after a flat coat. Thanks for following!!

They did have the day glo bands, but also had a time without them. I am probably going to chicken out on trying to do them as most photos I've found do not have them.

Excellent work!!! This is one of my favorite kits of all time. I have built a number of them over the years and yours is a real beauty.