Popular Post RidgeRunner Posted November 26, 2018 Popular Post Share Posted November 26, 2018 Hi all! Well, the next emergence from the paint shop is here and ready for your inspection As most, if not all, watchers will know, this is a another build for my F-105D Thunderchief collection. This time she is 59-1749, a F-105D-5-RE as she was during her time with the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron/388th Tactical Fighter Wing, operating from Korat RTAFB, Thailand. The period was 1967 and at that time she was flown by Captain Dennis Wills who named her as you can see – “Mr Toad”. Additionally she carried “Marilee E” on the port side at some point in her service in SEA. Mr Toad was an affectionate name given by Dennis to his son. More about him is captured in the book “Vietnam to Western Airlines – An oral History of the Air War” by Bruce Cowee. Ultimately Mr Toad was lost although the dates when this occurred conflict. The book above states a date in 1966(!) but other sources differ. Who knows? I was drawn to her as the side names were not the typical war-like style and she was also a reverse camouflage machine, meaning that while the approved pattern was maintained some colours were interchanged while being painted at the depot. Mr Toad is different also because all other reversed machines that I've seen images of have a tan nose up to the black radar cone. In Mr Toad's case this was green. I always get drawn to the different and unusual ;). Normally I avoid weapons on models as it really is the aircraft that I am interested in. However the Thud looks just right with a string of M117s attached, hence the build configuration in the case. Here are a couple of in-service shots and one of Dennis Wills. Note that that in the image above she also carried a toad drawing on the starboard side. I couldn't find any original detailed image of this. Fortunately she flew for a long time without this and so my dilemma was eased. Courtesy Dennis R. Jenkins The modifications required to get her to a machine of that era and what I gleaned from photos of her were: 1. Removed the dorsal wiring duct 2. Modify the under-nose sensor/camera housing 3. Build a centreline weapons pylon What did I use? 1. Kit - Trumpeter F-105D Thunderchief 1/72 2. Decals – Xtradecal X72112 national insignia, home produced side names, "Snoopy" on undercarriage doors and serials, Microscale 72-178 and kit stencils 3. Paints – Sovereign Hobbies (Colourcoats) ACUS20 Dark Green, ACUS19 Green Olive Drab, ACUS09 US Interior Green, ACUS18 Tan, ACUS17 FS36622 Gray Humbrol 30 Olive drab, and others. Varnished withHumbrol Glosscote and finished with Satincote. Humbrol 192 Chrome was used for the speedbrakes with the forward and aft sections masked and treated with Tamiya Weathering blue. 4. Weathering – Flory Dirt and Tamiya weathering powders. 5. Aftermarket – Aires seat and cockpit (7239), Master pitot, Aires rear side intakes, Aires ventral fin, Hasegawa ALQ-87 (from Set IV), Hasegawa AIM-9B (from Set III), Brassin M117 bombs, Hasegawa MER (from Set I), Wheels from Aires. 6. Montex paint masks I hope you like her. I have to say that the Colourcoat paints were a delight to apply (I have no connection with Sovereign – just a happy modeller spreading the word). Martin 90 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
replicant Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Very cool, Martin!!!! Cheers, Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 Yowzah! Now, that's one fine Thud, Martin! It was worth waiting for. You got the afterburner petals deployed perfectly, too! 👍 I have been thinking about getting the decals for' Memphis Belle' as she's a pretty nice D-model. Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 (edited) Thanks Tom. I'm very pleased with how she ended up. Thanks also to you, Mike :). Yes, those speed brake petals must be set that way while at rest, as you know. If you tackle a Memphis Belle I'll be following you avidly. If you are going for PrintScale decals be aware of the irregular sizing of their offerings at times. You would better better seeking others, such as Albatross or Cutting Edge. I'm tempted by an Ace of Spades D-model :). I have the Microscale sheet although ?I would, I think, draw and print my own. Martin Edited November 26, 2018 by RidgeRunner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 That’s a beautiful toad you have there. It seems as if we’ve been waiting like forever to see it finished lol! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 11 minutes ago, billn53 said: That’s a beautiful toad you have there. It seems as if we’ve been waiting like forever to see it finished lol! Sorry about that, Bill. Time is short, unfortunately :(....... Hoping all's well with you? Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billn53 Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 (edited) 3 minutes ago, RidgeRunner said: Sorry about that, Bill. Time is short, unfortunately :(....... Hoping all's well with you? Martin All is well but lots of business travel is hampering my build time. I’m currently working on a Ford Tri-motor, it’s in the WIP forum. Edited November 26, 2018 by billn53 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 26, 2018 Author Share Posted November 26, 2018 I've realised that my iPad shows the colours in the images above as being too rich. My PC is quite different, as is the original model. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Courageous Posted November 26, 2018 Share Posted November 26, 2018 I like that! Stuart Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
72modeler Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 10 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: Thanks Tom. I'm very pleased with how she ended up. Thanks also to you, Mike :). Yes, those speed brake petals must be set that way while at rest, as you know. If you tackle a Memphis Belle I'll be following you avidly. If you are going for PrintScale decals be aware of the irregular sizing of their offerings at times. You would better better seeking others, such as Albatross or Cutting Edge. I'm tempted by an Ace of Spades D-model :). I have the Microscale sheet although ?I would, I think, draw and print my own. Martin Oboy- thanks for the heads-up on the Printscale decals, as that was the sheet that I was looking at. So I guess I should try for somebody else's, Martin? Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
airbus320 Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 Superb Thud!! Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vultures1 Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 Outstanding F-105! Great work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 Very nice Thud, really captures very well the appearence of the 105 in the Vietnam war Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 Thanks Giorgio. I was very impressed by the Colourcoat paints. They went on beautifully, well almost! The dark green had an issue and refused to be thinned and airbrushed evenly. I think it must have been an odd bad one because the others went on like puffing silk on to the model :). As an enamels user I will be adding more to my paint stock! Martin No, I have no connection with Colourcoats or Sovereign. I just value good products and spread the word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted November 27, 2018 Share Posted November 27, 2018 Very nice Thud Martin. Knowing your love of the aircraft are you planning n building a model of every aircraft built? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 27, 2018 Author Share Posted November 27, 2018 (edited) Hi mate! Well, I had considered that :). My challenge is 1) finding time and 2) finding the space for display. :). I would like to build a Combat Martin F-105F - for obvious reasons -and an 563rd TFS/Ace of spades F-105D but I have a huge pile backed up right now. The sister build to Phase 5 is a RF-101C as you will see in WIP currently ;). After those I must get my Sword Furies and RF-84Fs done.... Oh, and the RV MIG-21UMs, the Tamiya F-84G, the Modelsvit Su-22M3, the two KP MIG-21PFMs (as Indian FLs), the Eduard MIG-15UTI, the Tamiya F4U-1D.......... And then, who knows! all the best, Martin Edited November 28, 2018 by RidgeRunner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Britman Posted November 29, 2018 Share Posted November 29, 2018 Guilty of missing this one. Years ago I would build anything "Vietnam " but now it's 1/144th airliners / transports and biplanes! Keith. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted November 29, 2018 Author Share Posted November 29, 2018 I am similar, Keith, having built many 'nam models in my youth. I've only gone for this one because of the type and the markings. I'm trying to pick out training, test and trials machines nowadays. More to come ...... Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted November 30, 2018 Share Posted November 30, 2018 Martin--This Thud is awesome! The paint job is awesome & I really appreciate the work that went into back dating this model. One part of the model which stood out to me was NMF on the petals--what did you use? Also missed how you scratched centerline MER--my apologies if I overlooked it on this thread--one thing I know is that this model has been researched fully--again well done! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 (edited) Hey Erwin! Thanks for the compliments. :). As I said earlier, the paints (apart from a rogue dark green) went on like silk. My method is to draw out the pattern on paper, cut out the shapes conformally and then apply them by cutting out voids in the centres of the pieces and stick them down with Tamiya tape through the void. That keeps the edges very close to the model surface and so gives a very fine feathered edge. The petals were first airbrushed chrome steel (Humbrol enamel 191). Then I marked off the centre sections and used Tamiya weathering blue on the forward and rear bands. Then I used Tamiya Weathering Oil Stain as I thought appropriate, trying to match the image I posted of her from the rear three-quarters. The MER was from a Hasegawa weapons set. It was painted aluminium and washed with very thin black. The centreline pylon was marked out from a Warpaint publications drawing and cut out of thick plastic card. Does that help? Martin Edited July 6, 2019 by RidgeRunner 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VT Red Sox Fan Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Martin, you nailed it as usual 🙂 thank you for the info--I appreciate the NMF background... cheers, Erwin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Joyce Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Wow, that's one gorgeous build! I don't have an F-105 in my stash yet but when I do, yours will be an inspiration for my model. Cheers, Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted December 1, 2018 Author Share Posted December 1, 2018 Thanks Mark. Much appreciated. Martin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
opus999 Posted December 1, 2018 Share Posted December 1, 2018 Beautiful! it looks very realistic! Thanks also for providing all the detail about what you used and your reference photos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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