3rd and Final Revell 1/48 F89C Scorpion-FINISHED!

[LorenSharp]

For my 3rd and final build in this GB  I have chosen  a 1/48 F-89C Scorpion from Revell.. To make it a little colourful after the Sea Vixen I'll do it as stationed at Thule Greenland with the 74th Fighter Interceptor Squadron. I don't know I'll be adding many "Extras" in the printed Dept. we'll see how it goes. I do know I'm swapping the 20mm moulded in cannons for brass rod and I'll used Alcald for the finish.

So, lets see what we can come up shall we?

[Alex Gordon]

There's a lot of that looks very familiar.If you haven't seen my attempt at it you might want to know about the few niggles before starting.The good bits are really good,the bad bits are not that bad,enjoy the build. 

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Alex I will.

[Col.]

Welcome back Loren  This one will make an interesting comparison companion to your XF-103

Edited February 4, 2021 by Col.

[LorenSharp]

Thank you Col. And a nice comparison and companion to  Alex Gordons and Chrisj2003's F-89's. Although theirs are later , beefier versions. I wanted to do the high Vis Arctic look on B-36 a while back but took a different route with that. So this should be fun. And by the looks of the kit not a whole lot of additions but there are a few corrections. This is one of the better Revell releases I've seen in a while.

[LorenSharp]

Moving on, A little work on the office is in order. First off I added a thin piece of brass rod to act as a scope shroud. this version didnt have the scope in the back for the RIO, although there were constant changes throughout the different Marks.

The I noticed when assembled you could see the back side of the RIO's panel. in the images I have you can see the dial casings and the wiring sprouting from them. so a little bit of rod and some thread and everything is all wired up.

 

[LorenSharp]

Assembled together and a dark wash to bring out the detail a little.

After I get the fuselage painted I'll add the blast shroud that covers the wiring.

I also took Alex's advice about the missing rear bulkhead behind the RIO. I used a contour gauge to get the shape then cut a piece of card stock to fill the hole.

 

[LorenSharp]

Going over my refences I added a little bit to the bang seats. mostly the ejection cabling and cylinders. cylinders from plastic rod and the cabling from .3mm silver beading wire.

Took a pin bit and drilled out the holes on the RIO's foot pad and for whatever reason the seat harnesses didn't come through the moulding process. the back harnesses did though. so I used a little bit of masking tape cut thin and some spare harness ends  for good measure.

[LorenSharp]

That done I've added bb's and modeling clay to the nose with a piece of cardstock to seal it all in.

And I cleaned up and opened the vents although hard to see in the pictires.

A little bit of clean up still.

The fuselage had some warpage not to hatefull .I Clamped the tail while it dries then I'll get the bottom section sorted out. IT will need a little bit of TLC to correct.

But overall it's coming along nicely. 

[Col.]

Nice progress! Those little touches of extra detail add a lot to the overall result.

[John_W]

Very nice. Original Revell or a rebox of Monogram?

[LorenSharp]

Original Revell. Still had the $16.99 Sticker on the plastic.

[LorenSharp]

Its hard to see but I brushed a little bit of Silver lacquer to bring out anything that needs a touch more filler. Thankfully not much.

And since the intakes are aluminum on the inside I pre painted a black lacquer base and sprayed the interior before attaching. a little bit of filler will smooth that out.

 

[LorenSharp]

Looking at a vent at the rear of the fuselage looked out of place and checking my references it is indeed not indented but flush

So a little bit of measuring and I printed out vent "plugs to fill the space.

I wasn't able to get the depth so I drilled out the old vents and replaced with the new.

It looks messy right now but after the filler sets I can sand down everything smooth.

[LorenSharp]

While doing the vents I also made an interior sleeve for the reheat nozzles

Since I'm doing this in the Hi viz Arctic scheme The Wing and tail have a been smoothed out and pre primed with white primer

I did some investigating to find out what the actual FS colour was for "Arctic Red". In the Mar.96 issue of Fine Scale Modeler Dana Bell did an extensive article on the subject  Turns out there is no "Arctic Red" Colour. Day-Glo paint didn't exist in the early 50's and the International Orange wasn't used until the late 50's and it faded quickly anyways. The  "high Conspicuity" markings or what we think of as "Arctic Red" was actually good old Insignia Red. My guess as to why the pictures you see everywhere on photos from the period are because of the way the colour photos were developed and/or degraded over time.

So I have plenty of that colour on hand. Thought I would need to go and get a can of red spray paint. but nope. NOw that that os painted on I'll let it dry for a day, give a coat of clear lacquer before remasking to lay down a coat of Gloss Black Lacquer and not peel up my base coats before starting the adding the Alclad .

[Alex Gordon]

You're doing some superb stuff there old fruit .You might find this link useful https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/f-89-scorpion-gravel-gobbler.48475/

 

I've only just found it,quite typically just as I've called mine done.Keep up the good work.

[Chrisj2003]

On 08/02/2021 at 20:42, Alex Gordon said:

You might find this link useful https://ww2aircraft.net/forum/threads/f-89-scorpion-gravel-gobbler.48475/

 

I've only just found it,quite typically just as I've called mine done.Keep up the good work

 

@Alex Gordon argghhh there's a lot of photos I have seen before there, but many I have not, including one of 52-1949 in late Iowa ANG markings, as I modelled, showing more panel line definition than I have.

 

Chris

[LorenSharp]

Short little update. After letting the red portions of the wing and tail drive I covered those in prep for the Black lacquer base for my metalizer.

I hadn't noticed beforehand that the plastic has a texture to it like fine sandpaper. I couldn't sand down smooth for fear of losing panel lines and I didn't want to get wrapped up re-scribing everything. I thought maybe several good coats of Black lacquer would do the trick,

I masked off different areas to paint the regular Alclad shades first. Those I can mask  repeatedly. The polished shades you can't nor can you clear  coat . The other drawback is you can't use Micro Sol or Micro Set it doesn't work well with Alclad either.

So 60% of the  fuselage is Polished Chrome, but it didn't turn out as "polished" as I would I would have liked. But it will have to do.

I'll let these set for a day or so while I finish up the fiddly stuff, like the landing gear and so on. not much left to go for this build.

[Col.]

While it may not be the exact finish you were aiming for I quite like the slightly weather-beaten effect it gives.

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Col. THat may have been the intent of the Mfg. If you're using regular silver paint it would give a variegated look to the panels.

[LorenSharp]

Over the weekend Finished up the weathering, mostly black chalk powder anda fine tip ink marker for accenting the flaps and ailerons.

Used Alclad Transparent Sienna, Blue and Violet to heat discolouration around the engines.

 

[LorenSharp]

Finished off the canopy with a little bit of Tamiya Vinyl tape  around the edges of the glass to the frame.

and printed out the u-shaped radio compass because I KNEW my hands weren't steady enough nor my eyes good enough to try painting it on. and a didn't this I could get a poece of tape to make the curve without buckling.

Speaking of printing along the way last week after masking and paint the canopy and windscreen I managed to lose the windshield . So 've measured and printed a vac-u-form plug of the  Windshield and the blast cover in front of the RIO.

I had hoped to have them finished off by now but the new Vacuformer I ordered to replace my old dead antique would have arrived on Saturday, but the ice and snow delayed deliveries until today sometime. Once it gets here I can finish off the balance of the construction and apply the Decals and say Fini! So stay tuned for more fun and games.🥴

[Col.]

That's looking amazing  Well weathered throughout but the exhaust heat shield discolouration in particular caught my eye.

[LorenSharp]

Not too sure if it was that discoloured in real life, most of my research is in black and white in closeups. but it looks cool none the less.

[LorenSharp]

Yaaaaa! my Vac set arrived!

Putting to immediate use making the windscreen, blast shield, and for good measure turret halves for another build project. The turrets I'll have to redo, too much for the vac plate. but he parts for immediate use came out just right.

I added a rearview mirror, additional control box and wiper to the windscreen.