1/72 YF-105A Thunderchief Conversion

[RidgeRunner]

On 15 February 2019 at 4:13 PM, TheRealMrEd said:

Thanks Martin,

 

Appreciate all the help I can get on this one!

 

Ed

 

Sorry, Ed, but I forgot about this. I will give her another go tomorrow for you.

 

Martin

[TheRealMrEd]

Moving right along, at this stage I've decided it might be a good idea to do a re-scribing of some panel lines.  I'm just using the lines on my drawing as a guide -- I have no way of judging their validity.   At this point I also sanded the re-enforcement panels on the top and bottom sides of both wings  --- but only one side at a time, so that I could see the remainder of the lines on the other side for comparison:

 

 

You can see in the above photo just how little filler putty I ended up with on the model, to this point.

 

Next I started the final work on the items needed to close up the fuselage.  In the next pic, I show the little scrap card "shelves" I glued to ea ch side of the cockpit area behind where the seat will fit, to support a piece of scrap card, cut to size, for sort of a rear "package tray":

 

 

Another item is the wing spar. TGO determined that his best way was to trim the hole larger on one fuselage half and then insert the spare from the outside.  Since the 1/72 scale spar seems different from the one on the 1/48 scale kit, I decided on another approach.  Trapping the spar between the unglued fuselage halves, I pushed the spar all the way to one side and made a small mark on the spar with a #11 X-Acto blade, then, still holding the fuselage halves together, I slid the spar as far as it would go the other way and made another mark.  The space between the two marks is is how much I need to widen the spar, which in my case was only about 1mm, while I expected 3 or 3. (I seem to recall that TGO ended up with 2mm.)  Let me say here that id I had shimmed the initial flapped cutouts of the fuselage to stick  out the the bulge between the fattest part of both ends, this distance would have been more.  So, should you attempt this, don't use my measurement, use whatever is needed when you do it!

 

In any event, I added on piece of scrap card of the appropriate thickness, after sawing the spar in two down the center. I also glued in some scrap plastic card on both sides of the spar as re-enforcement:

 

 

I also prepped the stock kit cockpit.  I had ordered a Trumpeter F-105D resin replacement set, but decided not to use it here. The only non-stock item I did was to scan a picture of the instrument panel in the YF-105A flight manual, massaged in a little in Photoshop, because it had been photographed at a slight angle and I had to correct the perspective somewhat:

 

 

I multiplied this actual picture by 5.333 percent, to scale it down to 1/72.  Then I printed it on bright white paper at 360 DPI on my Epson printer.  It ended up looking okay, but I did have to removed the detail from the kits' F-105D i.P. with a small chisel first.  Then, I just glued it on with white glue, and later a topcoat of flat acrylic.  I'll try to include a shot of the cockpit later  -- if I can remember to do so!  TGO did his larger model with punched-out card and Mike Grant decals, but that's a LOT of trouble in this scale, and where there won't ever be a clear view of the I.P. .

 

Anyway, here's what it looks like after gluing in the nose gear bay, the cockpit with I.P. and the rear "package tray":

 

 

All that remains to be added before buttoning up is the wing spar, which I of course forgot, and had to pry the newly-glued fuse halves apart to stick it in later!  By the way, be sure to glue it in sloping down and forward at the ends, NOT the other way 'round!

 

At last, here it is with the fuselage (what there is of it to this point anyway...) all buttoned up:

 

 

The legends are as follows:

 

A - is where I added a piece of scrap plastic card cut to fit the now-missing tail hook's gap.  A thinner sandwich of card will be glued on after the center one here has dried, fluffing it out to a suitable width before sanding to shape.

 

B -  A strong clamp is used here to force the bottom front of the tail together as closely as possible, as removal of the intake there will require further filling and sanding to shape.

 

C - More scrap fill card of various thicknesses, used to fill the gap along the spine

 

D - The "package tray", and

 

E - the correctly-installed wing spar.

 

And it's drying time again....

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by TheRealMrEd
spelling

[TheRealMrEd]

Well, I'm back again, this time with something more fun than just sanding and filling --- for a little while!

 

Next item on the agenda is the turtle-deck, or rear part of the canopy area.  When TGO did his, he glued together wood sheet, sanded it to shape and then pulled a vacuform from that master. In the end, it didn't work out exactly right and he still had to fabricate some plastic parts to make it all work.  Being the lazy modeler I am, I decided to find another way that would hopefully be more simple.  What I came up with is the following:

 

First I took the kit's F-105D canopy and did a little surgery, sawing off the two arms on either side, but keeping the center part:

 

 

Above, only was arm is shown removed,  The single mount type canopy was used only on the first two prototypes and the first 10 F-105Bs.

 

Next, for a donor turtle-deck, I called on an old bagged Testor's/Italieri RF-84F Thunderflash kit. First, I glued the rear windows into place using GS-Hypo cement (watch cement), because it dries clear and can be cleaned up and/or smoothed with rubbing alcohol later.  I have not had much luck using the standard 71% drug store alcohol, so I use the 91% kind, which you sometimes have to track down. 

 

Then,  I sat the modified canopy from the F-105D kit onto the taped together RF-84F fuselage halves, and the using scrap plastic card, I shimmed the RF-84F turtle-deck out to meet the width of the F-105D canopy.  After the glue had dried, I used the canopy to determine how much material to remove from the widened turtle-deck to fit the F-105D canopy:

 

 

I then sawed off the modified turtle-deck from the RF-84F kit, added a little more plastic card on top, and sanded to close to the right shape:

 

 

Next I used a resin casting I had made from an Airfix (or was it MPC?) kit. I duplicated this to add to an Italieri F-84F (which still is not finished...), and made a few spares at the time.  This is the piece on the Airfix kit that fits behind the seat area, but is missing in both  the Italieri F-84F and RF-84F versions.

 

 

This is the part that you see in the rear windows, similar to turtle-decked P-47's, RF-84's, etc. from Republic.  In this case the piece was sawn and sanded, top, bottom and sides, until it fit under the new turtledeck, atop the YF-105A fuselage.  Then,  a small part was sawn out of the top front, to allow the piece to somewhat slide up closer to the YF-105A cockpit rear, and then it was glued using CA to the fuselage:

 

 

TGO made his out of flat plastic scrap, but again -- I'm quite lazy!  Above, the arrow points to the added part, while "A" refers to an odd part, perhaps a hinge(?) added to the rudder.  Her it is smeared down with liquid glue; I'll clean it up a bit later.  "B" shows the now filled-in area where the tail hook used to reside, and "C" shows 3 scrap pieces of plastic added to the front, to help reinforce the nose cone join later.

 

At this point, the rear area was painted inside and out with interior grey (Dark Gull Grey, FS# 36321), which became standard in the U.S. around 1953.  Then, the windows were masked and the turtle-deck was glued to the fuselage with the G-S watch cement at the front and regular liquid cement at the rear, after the front had dried. The GS also helped to fill some of the inevitable gaps:

 

 

It should be noted that I temporarily fixed both windscreen and the canopy into place to determine precisely where, for-and-aft, to position the turtle deck.   At this point, since more drying and sanding lay ahead, I chose to go ahead and add the Hasegawa F-105B nosecone:

 

 

I put regular tube cement on the three nose reinforcing pieces, and used liquid glue all around the join, taking care to align the vertial seam on the fuse and the nosecone with one another.  Only after the fact, did I remember that I had forgot to add any additional nose weight -- hope that doesn't return to haunt me later!

 

Well off to more sanding and drying!  Are we having fun yet?

 

Ed

 

 

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello again.

 

It's now time to make some tail feathers for this bird.  TGO did his with a combination of the F-105D kit parts, and some more parts from a Revell F-101B.  Since I didn't have a spare Revell F-101B to sacrifice for the job  (actually I did have one I could have molded some parts from, but as I've said before - I'm lazy!), I decided to find another way. Actually, assuming you have a few spares laying about  -- and most people attempting this build would have -- then it gets to be simpler.  First, you need a J-57 rear end, and since these were used on the F-101B, the F-100 and F-102 series, you should be able to come up with something.  Next you need an outer surface or tail cone.  I happened to have an old wing tip tank from the Mach2 B-45 kit that was laying about in the spares box.  I needed a piece about 18mm diameter at the big, end, tapering to about 14mm at the small end, with the whole thing being about 12mm, from front to rear.  So, I marked the needed distances on the tank, and cut the parts off with a razor saw. I allowed quite a bit of extra length on both ends, for sanding to shape, because my saw cuts on curved bits is often pretty bad:

 

 

Above right, after gluing the two parts together and filling the space that would have been occupied by the B-45 wing, I used a small sanding drum on a Dremel tool and some hand sanding to smooth the outside and thin the inside from both ends, to get something scale-like.

 

I had a beautiful resin part left over from the XF-102 model I did earlier, in fact it was the perfect size, after it was sawed to length. However, the tail end of the afterburner was right at the back end of the body, not inset as on the F-105:

 

 

So, I had to sand the outsides of the J-57 casting to fit just a bit into the rear end of my new rear fuselage tail cone:

 

 

The insides of both parts were primed, painted and given a black wash before assembling them together, and gluing to the back of the YF-105A body.  It ended up looking like so:

 

 

After a light coat of Alclad II grey primer, it's starting to look like I might get away with this build after all....

 

 

 

As you can see from the front view, the "wasp-waist" is pretty much gone, and she's starting to look like the prototype:

 

 

Well, there's plenty of detail sanding left, around the cockpit area; there are a few spots where the plastic strips still look a little like boards laid side by side, but I'll work it all out. It'll just take some more time....

 

Back after MORE sanding, priming, etc. etc....

 

Ed

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

She's looking great, Ed. nice butchery ;). 

 

Martin

Edited February 27, 2019 by RidgeRunner

[Cookenbacher]

Impressive!

[TheRealMrEd]

Thanks guys,

 

It's a model I've wanted for a long time.  Just gave up hope on anyone ever giving me an easy way out!

 

Ed

 

[Courageous]

Glad to see some primer on her, looking great.

 

Stuart

[TheRealMrEd]

Hello again,

 

The last couple of weeks I've been upgrading computers both hardware and from Win7 to Win10  -- a move I so far, regret every day!.  Seems like Microsoft wants the air in my tires to communicate with a cellphone on the moon,  watched by 50,000 of my closest friends.

 

All I want is for an operating system to run the programs that I WANT , when I want them,  without hassle!  I could rant on an on, but you get the drift...

 

Also, I've a niggling little cold, not bad but annoying.  As a consequence, I haven't got a whole lot done, but there has been a little progress.

 

The next thing I've done is to take bits of masking tape and to place them in front of the air intakes on the fuse sides, so that I could draw the outline of the intake ramps onto the tape. The little kit ramps have been pretty much filled up to, and we need to add some more material to take their place, which will allow the intake fence to stand a little proud of the fuselage:

 

 

Next, above right, two pieces of around 20 thou plastic were cut to shape, and glued onto the fuselage sides, aligned with the old ramps:

 

 

Next, each wing half was held up to the fuselage in it's correct final location based on the wing spar, and a pencil line was drawn onto the wing half, following the front of the intake molded to the fuselage half.  This area, from the line to the front of the intake, will need to have about a 30 thou piece of plastic card glued in place to fill the gap from the fuse intake, to the intake lip. The better this is done, the less filling will be required inside the intake later:

 

 

Above right, showing the new plastic filler piece being held in place by a clamp until the glue dries.

 

Right here is where the effects of the cold showed up, as I forgot to take an photos of the next step, which was to use the side view to create new intake fences out of around 40 thou card, in the final, rounded shape of the first prototype  ( Note that the second prototype had a different design of ramp and fence, more like the production style ones).  The drawing I had of the side was not exactly correct, as the models' wing depth is greater than that of the drawing, so these are kind of 'eyeballed" to ascertain shape and size.  They are sanded thinner on their outer or forward ends, making the plates more scale-like, but left thicker at the rear ends, to fill the little "gap" on the inner edge of each wing half intake.  Also note that they stand a little proud of the wing, top and bottom:

 

 

Next the wings are glued to the model, with plenty of Weld-On #3:

 

 

Now, off to the paint booth, for glassy black undercoat, and doubtless days more sanding, filling, etc. before the bare metal finish can be applied.

 

Don't wait up for me, as I will probably be a while...

 

Ed

[Terry1954]

Just caught up on this whole build Ed. Some very impressive surgery here and I especially liked the idea of using the slightly modified RF-84 turtle deck .......... genius!

 

Will follow now with much interest.

 

Terry

[TheRealMrEd]

Thanks Terry,

 

In my case, laziness is the mother of invention!

 

Ed

[RidgeRunner]

How's she coming along, Ed?

[TheRealMrEd]

Finally got done with all the sanding and re-priming.  Just shot on the first coat of Alclad II, and only one small sanding defect to correct.  I expect to start the painting of various shaded panels and other colors today -- should have some updates later in the week.

 

Ed

[RidgeRunner]

I'm looking forward to seeing this one . Did you consider building the test AAR pod for th YF-A too?

 

Martin

[TheRealMrEd]

Haven't seen any pics of that Martin... what is it exactly?

 

Ed

[TheRealMrEd]

Well, back again!

 

After (sort of) surviving a cold, having to run two new landlines for the phone inside the house, and a failure of my trusty, many-years-old chest freezer in the garage, I finally got a chance to do a little modeling!

 

As stated last time, I had to go through several rounds of black primer, sanding, black primer, etc., I finally got around to putting an overall coat of Alclad II Polished Aluminum BMF paint on the model.  The Polished Aluminum is much too shiny for the finish that I want to end up with on the model, but it helps to show all the tiny flaws in the finish.  After the fact, I began to wish I hadn't gone there!  Be that as it may, since I will never build another YF-105A in THIS life, I want to do the best I can. It won't be perfect, but I'll try...

 

Before showing the model, I want to digress onto a subject that a few younger modelers say they no nothing about -- or are afraid to try; the use of Parafilm "M" for masking various (usually delicate) finishes.  So, I will explain how I do it, and maybe someone else can find some comfort in the process.

 

First, the product.  While it is available in smaller rolls from hobby shops or Micro Mark, I found that I was hooked on it after two rolls, and decided to buy what will for me, undoubtedly be a lifetime supply.  From Amazon, I ordered a 2" x 250 foot roll, for about $28.00 US. Since I use about 10 inches on an average model, and maybe two feet on a really complex masking job, this should last me a minute.  The stuff comes in other sizes, but this is about the largest width that I can handle comfortably:

 

 

I usually cut off a piece from the roll that's about 1-1/4" tall (remember it is 2" wide).  The hardest thing I've found about using this stuff is separating the backing from the film -- they are both very thin!  I usually just "dog ear" one corner with my thumb, or use an X-Acto blade under a magnifier to split the two apart.  In the past, I have stuck a piece of masking take to either surface, to help pull them apart. You'll have to find your own way.

 

The reason for the 1-1/4" is, that's the length of my thumb.  You use your thumb and forefinger to grasp each end of the film after removing the backing, and then you stretch it out about 3-4 times it's own length:

 

 

Then, as shown on the right above, I just lay it on my desktop (purists might use glass) and chop off the parts you were holding while stretching, on either end.  The reason that you have to chop these off is that the un-stretched parts you were hanging onto will not adhere. Stretching the material activates the "sticky", which is only a very light waxy feeling sort of stuff that causes no issues later.

 

Anyway, after going through this procedure for every piece that you use, the Parafilm "M" is laid on the model as needed, taking care that there is enough surrounding the working area to catch paint overspray.  Here, I have applied it to the top wings of the model, and various other areas that need protection:

 

 

Next, I took a new #11 X-Acto blade and cut around all the areas that I was going to paint.  The excess film is removed with a finger nail, the tip of a piece of plastic sprue, sharpened to a chisel point, or in my devil-may-care approach, with the tip of said X-Acto blade.  The plastic sprue is highly recommended, as it is far less likely to scratch the finish  -- but hey, you're a gambler -- right?

 

Here's another view that may or may not help.  I've always had fits photographing NMF finishes...

 

 

Next an underside view:

 

 

Here - a word of CAUTION!  Never try to mask the whole model to shoot everything at one session. It rarely works, unless it's a very simple paint scheme.  It is far better to think in layers or sections.  Here, I'm doing the wings, tail, and a couple of small features on the fuselage. When dome with this, I'll peel off the masks, re-mask for shooting the fuselage (masking the wings) then later re-mask just the smaller panels or details of contrasting colors.

 

While hard to see in the next picture, I shot the leading edge slats with Stainless Steel, and the main wing spar type areas with dark aluminum:

 

 

With all the Parafilm "M" masking removed, I'm left with this:

 

 

And this:

 

 

So, ahead I have more rounds of masking and painting. When done with the bare metal, I'll come back and mask the anti-glare panels, intakes, etc with solid enamel colors.  All this take a while, so stay tuned.

 

Ed

[quangster]

I arrived at this stupendous thread in the footsteps of Martin the RidgeRunner.

Ed, you're a genial modeller with a fearless heart and an intrepid mind.

Hats off, sir

 

Quang

[RidgeRunner]

Nice, Ed. i like it. I'll get an image to you of the AAR pod and boom.

 

Martin

[billn53]

Thanks for the Parafilm tutorial. I've just started my next build (B-58 Hustler) which will be my first major NMF endeavor, and anything that will help make it easier is deeply appreciated. 

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi Martin,

 

I finally figured out that you were referring to the Air-To_Air Refueling or "buddy" Pod.  Since I've only seen pictures of that on the #2 prototype (FH-099) and I am building FH-098, I won't be doing that for this build.  Looking forward to yours, however, as I know you fancy the bright schemes, and the A2A picture certainly shows two of them!

 

Thanks Quang!  Ay my age (75 yesterday) I really don't have much to lose, and as I've said, I waited for the kit manufacturers and they never came through!

 

Hi Billn53, the next update will have another Parafilm "M" trick featured, so stay tuned!

 

Ed

[TheRealMrEd]

Well back for some more -- barely!

 

I continued on with the NMF, turning to the fuselage.  As I can find not accurate drawings, and the B&W photos don't help a lot, most of the painted panels are spurious, but I wanted to not have a solid color NMF finish, so there you go.  I'll explain about the tape a little later:

 

 

With the masking materials removed again, we're coming right along.  The polished panels will probably turn out a little too loud, so I'll probably end up with a thin aluminum wash spray overall to blend everything together  -- or, I might just let the semi-gloss topcoat do it -- or maybe both.  We'll see.

 

 

With the NMF looking good, it's time to think about the Olive Drab turtledeck and anti-glare panel.  First thing is to apply a layer of Parafilm "M" over everything in the area that does NOT need to be painted green, including the windscreen and main cockpit (the opening part):

 

 

Next, your favorite brand of masking tape is laid right OVER the Parafilm "M".  This assures that the tape CAN'T lift any paint, and the Parafilm "M" layer, if pushed down tightly to the model, will prevent any bleed-under.  Then, the Parafilm "M" is cut with a sharp blade, carefully along the edge of the masking tape. A little practice might be wise if you haven't done this before.  The trick is to use light enough pressure to cut the film, but not to necessarily engrave new panel lines!  The Parafilm "M" is then removed from the areas that are to be painted green, and you just shoot the paint.:

 

 

 

There are times when nothing beats masking tape for a smooth, swoopy line, and this is one of those times.  The tape was also used over Parafilm "M" earlier, when masking panels circumferentially around the fuselage.

 

Unfortunately,  the above photo also shows the result of my having violated the Cardinal Commandment of BMF or NMF finishes, which goes something like this:

 

"ONCE THOU HAST POLISHED THE UNDERCOAT LAYER TO A FINE GLOSS ACCORDING TO THINE DESIRES, THOU SHALT REFRAIN FROM EVER TOUCHING THY MODEL WITH THY BARE HANDS, BEFORE THE APPLICATION OF THE DECALS AND FINAL TOPCOAT, ELSE THOU SHALT BE CAST DOWN INTO A PIT OF ENDLESS REFINISHING!!!"

 

In my case, I had just handled a paper towel with some lacquer thinner on it, and forgetting my white cotton gloves, I picked up the model by the right wing, whereupon and instantly, the thinner residue on my thumb burned straight through the Alclad II and left a big, fat thumb print on the model, even into the black undercoat....

 

So, gentle reader, let me remind you -- go to a drug store, a stocking model shop or your local High School Band Leader  -- or on-line and buy the cheapest white cotton gloves you can find, and use them forevermore!  They will get mungy over time, but just toss them in with your white laundry and ignore any stains from previous paint jobs.  They will still work fine..  Thus endeth the Lesson!

 

After some sanding with 8000 and 12000 grit sticks, here's the result of my first attempt at repairs, as well as a little touch-up of some other rough spots that I'd previously overlooked:

 

 

A little more Parafilm "M" to protect the OD painted turtledeck:

 

 

After a spritz of paint, there's still a little fingerprint left, so it's back to 4000 grit, then 8,000 and 12000 again...

 

 

Hmm, a couple other small spots to correct.  Luckily, the Parafilm "M" will allow endless masking and re-masking, and I'm probably gonna need it.

 

See you when the atonement is made!

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

I feel for you Ed. Today I airbrushed the Metalcote Polished Aluminium on my F-104A after painstakingly masking all my International Red areas. When I removed the tape in one area it lifted the International Red. Not only that but I have another mark on the Int. Red nose that I've had to clean back and will need to respay tomorrow - white undercoat and then the red..... As you know,dayglo is not easy to repair! . The Kamoi tape I used was just too strong!

 

Martin

 

[TheRealMrEd]

Martin -- I strongly urge yoy to consider Parafilm "M" for these very reasons!

 

Ed

[Stalker6Recon]

On 2/12/2019 at 4:05 AM, TheRealMrEd said:

  I like to try to provide photos, drawings or even full-size templates, so that the next modeler can just move along. 

Now I am new here, and this is what I had hoped to find, my instincts were right. I don't live in the USA anymore, having chosen to live in the Philippines, for many reasons, including climate being better for all my bone injuries of the past (and future as more spine surgeries courtesy of the VA are going to happen when I can't cope with the pain anymore, grrrrrrr, I hate surgeries).

 

Anyway, back in the 80s when I did my last build, the modelling community seemed much smaller since there was no internet. I worried that the hobby (which is now an art) was going the way of the dodo bird. Now that I am able to build again after thirty plus years of waiting, I worried that it had all but vanished in the USA. I hope that is not the case, and more hobby stores are opening, versus closing. Sadly, in the Philippines, there are very few stores I have found, worse, they have extremely limited stocks. I must order just about everything I need, and that gets expensive quick.

 

I am glad that this forum, and others like it, are there too continue the art and pass it along to the new guys like me. Can anyone say "fifty year old rookie?".

 

I am thoroughly enjoying this build log, even though it is not my genre, I know it will be invaluable as a learning tool, plus its fun. The amount of research put into your builds astonishes me, but as the somewhat wiser man today, I am already slowing things down, not rushing to finish my first build, rather trying to gain the knowledge and the tools to build it as best as I can for my return to the art. That alone shows some level of maturing, but I can still act like a child, for good or bad sometimes.

 

Anyway, thanks for passing this along!

 

Anthony

[Stalker6Recon]

On 2/14/2019 at 1:19 AM, TheRealMrEd said:

Next time,

  

Ed 

Its at this point that I have thrown away all my models, given my airbrushes and comressor to the kid next door and given up on modelling altogether! How in the world did you learn how to basically remove half the fuselage in chunks and put it all back together, I will never understand. Did you begin cutting up kits early on? Or did you find that a straight OOB build was not challenging enough as your skills improved? I did not even know a kit could be altered in such drastic ways, let alone put it back together!

 

You really should change your screen name to either Dr. Hannibal Lector, or Dr. Frankenstein, two of my heros of course. (yes, I am a little on the dark side of life!)

 

Okay, back to the build.

 

Anthony