Dave100TR

Only just come across this as I'm thinking of getting one of these. This is one of the best built & finished models I've ever seen. Inspiring and daunting in equal measure!!

Beautiful job - stunning painting!

Beautiful!

Hi Ross, great build! I'm at the painting stage of a two seater. Love the Monogram kits! Dave

Hi all, just come across this thread as I'm currently making a Thud. Great build & paint scheme by the way Brian!! I have a book about the air war in Vietnam that has a picture of a Phantom with some of the tan areas painted over in light grey and the caption states that this was not uncommon practice. I've never seen another pic to confirm this but is this grey area intentional rather than a lack of paint?! Looking at the tail of 099 in the picture, there is tan and a small area of grey there, so running out of paint seems unlikely? Be good to know if anyone has a definitive answer! Dave

Lovely work!

Absolute winner there! Love the careful work on the bomb bay especially and the very subtle weathering on the wing leading edges. Great work!

Hi Adrian, thanks for the comment. Yes, give it a go - I guess it will depend on the model but the raised lines on the 102 were pretty subtle and it still worked OK. I use Gunze acrylics thinned with cellulose thinners and that seems to give quite a hard finish to the paint which lends itself to this kind of treatment. Just go slow with the micromesh and use water - that's all I did here. I'm currently partway through a Monogram Thud which has quite complex raised panel lines so am going to try the same thing on that. However, I have been comtemplating painting the fuselage and rubbing it down before I attach the wings as that would make it easier to handle the curves. Thinking about matching up the camo pattern though before I attempt this! It ought to work... Dave

Lovely job - one of my favourite a/c of all time!

Hi all, Thanks for the really terrific comments! Firstly, Jonners, yes - dumbo that I am - it should be Delta Dagger!! Thanks for pointing this out but I don't know how to go back & change the title of the post - can anyone tell me how please? Some info about the markings - yes, Vietnam markings from Superscale sheet 1251 representing F102A s/n 56-1436 flown by Col McNeff of the 509th FIS based at Udorn in 1968. I haven't been able to find a pic of the original a/c so trust the camo pattern is pretty close! I think I probably overdid the stencil markings which were on the sheet. Not sure whether the camo a/c had full stencils and I now wish that I hadn't put some of them on! Kampartiger & Jean - I didn't rescribe the model. That's something I have yet got to get to grips with! I'm not really bothered as I try & give some indication of the panel structure with the painting and I think I've gone some way tyo achieving that here. The other thing I have tried is taking advantage of the raised panel lines by very gently sanding the paintwork with 12,000 micro mesh. Its possible to take the paint off the lines in this way. I did this on the underside: I didn't show this pic before because I wasn't pleased with it - also it shows that I couldn't get the actuator arms on the gear doors to fit properly!! Jean - this is about the only area that I had trouble with in terms of fit. I thought it went together pretty well in general. Sure, you have to take your time and it doesn't exactly fall together, but I enjoyed that! The other problem area of course was the fit between the top & bottom wings which I haven't managed to get perfect. Lots of filler and sanding and loss of detail. Thanks again for all your really positive comments! I had a real buzz making this - now its on to the Monogram Thud!! Dave

Really nice.

Lovely job!

Hi all, I really got hooked on making this kit! Love these Monogram kits - they do take a bit of work but the detail is good and I think they look terrific. Having finished this I can believe how huge the F102 was. Pretty difficult to handle too - how long in the pitot going to last?? Already broken once!! Still unarmed as yet but wanted to take some pics today...

Just come across your build through a Googler search as I'm in the process of completing a Monogram F102 and have a 106 to build. I must say the detail on these kits is outstanding considering their age. As long as you can live with the raised panel lines (no problem for me) I think they stand up to most kits produced today.

Stunning build & beautiful paint job!