Alex Gordon Posted June 6, 2021 Share Posted June 6, 2021 (edited) G'day Chums,I'd like to chip this one in if I may. In between waiting for paint to dry on my Stutz Bearcat in the Unarmed GB and my Scots Grey elsewhere here I thought I'd have a go at this one.Anyone familiar with my output will understand that I like these kits.The engineering is always good,the fit is seldom problematic and there is the possibility of adding in as many twiddly bits as take ones fancy.These kits are also not horrendously overpriced,coming in at £6.25 from Creative Models for example. Here's what's in the box. There are no colour callouts on the map so a little research is necessary if some resemblance to the real thing is part of the plan.I started with the bits that are going to be Interior Green. Humbrol 226 was liberally daubed in the relevant places. That lot was put aside to dry and the wingtip tank components were found (not a long search,there aren't many bits that shape in here) and prepared for fitting. The underwing tanks were next for my attention. The engineering is rather well thought out on these.For a start the halves are handed,not as they need it because they are not specific to port and starboard,and the joint is hidden by the flange that surrounds it.The pylons were glued to their places on the wing. There is a choice of two rear ends to the fuselage,one is for this version the other is slightly shorter and intended for the G variant which is mostly the same plastic in that kit. The edge is rather thick so a 6mm drill bit was gently wound through it to get it somewhere near. This was then glued in and awaits further refinement. The underwing hardpoints have some ejector stubs sticking out of the locating pins for the tanks.Whether this was deliberate or not the rear pins fall just slightly forward of where the mainlegs will go and are absolutely ideally placed for setting up the noseweight. In this case a couple of slivers of lead sheet were enough. These were formed into a cubeish and superglued into a convenient recess in the fuselage. The fuselage halves were then glued together. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. Edited July 12, 2021 by Alex Gordon 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 10, 2021 Author Share Posted June 10, 2021 Hello again Chums,a little more done. The fuselage to wing joints on both sides needed a wipe of Milliput.It's a tight corner and none of my fingers will go tight in so a sliver of insulating tape was wrapped on to a small wad of bog roll and the filler was smoothed out and shaped with this lump and a drop of water. The back end was thinned further and the sides squeezed to give the slightly off circular shape of the real thing. The noseleg bay doors didn't look too convincing so I ran a scalpel blade along the hinge lines and folded them inwards. A piece of 10 thou plastic card was cut to rough shape,glued on to the kit bits and held down with some tape.Hopefully this will hold the curved shape so that I only have to make one curved contour. Unusually for these kits the canopy isn't very clear,there is a texture on the inside that hasn't been polished out. The wingtip tank joints will require a bit of fettling. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 13, 2021 Author Share Posted June 13, 2021 G'day again Chums,a little more done. There are two airbrakes provided,we want the one with all the holes in. The cockpit has had some matt black paint on the consoles and coaming. The undercarriage and instrument panel have been painted. The white canopy sealant has had its first coat. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 14, 2021 Share Posted June 14, 2021 Looking good! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 18, 2021 Author Share Posted June 18, 2021 Hello again Chums,rain stopped play today so I've had a bit of bench time instead. Adrian,thanks old chum.I do like how your S 16 turned out,there's a few ideas I will unashamedly half inch somewhere down the line. There are 56 holes in the airbrake panel and I want it shut.The kit has it open so there has been some snipping of mounting lugs and lots of drilling.The panel required a swipe of the file across each end to make it fit its aperture but nothing more. Something I didn't know until I tried it the other day is that Maskol is partially soluble in water and when dry leaves a residue which could be used for masking and temporary fixing.A drop of this was wicked into the airbrake panel joint to hold it in place for painting. The intake ring was cut from the runner.My first thought was that the silly little door on it had to be replaced. It's a good job that I looked at a photo first.From Wikipedia There's a load of work to do in there to make it presentable never mind accurate. A vee was cut out of the front end of the wheelbay to establish the width of the leg mounting lug.This was then chiselled into a rectangle. The noseleg was then suitably modified to sit at the front of the aperture. The edges of the intake separator were chamfered off to allow the intake ring to butt up to the fuselage properly. The bay roof was made from 10 thou plastic card with a hole cut in to take the retraction strut lug.The gaps either side of the front door were filled using the bits cut off the airbrake panel and a couple of slivers of 10 thou card. Once set this will be shaped and the intake ring interior gobbed up with Milliput.More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted June 22, 2021 Share Posted June 22, 2021 Hi Alex. Great next project and it looks like you are off to an excellent start!! Fantastic modelling on display as usual! Brilliant attention to detail! Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 22, 2021 Author Share Posted June 22, 2021 (edited) G'day again Chums,some more twiddly bits to show. Stix,thanks old fruit. Remember that airbrake panel that was so diligently drilled out and dryfitted? It's the wrong one.Whilst digging around for images relevant to this build I chanced across http://vingtor.net/downloads/VMC-1.pdf which gives good gen on Norwegian F 84s.It also describes the E panel complete with pictures and it ain't the one I used.Out it came.The other panel in the kit won't need to be temporary fitted so it could be glued in.This needed some means of supporting it so that it sat flush with the surrounding surface.Four little triangles of plastic card were cut and glued in to do this job. The fit of the panel was nowhere near as good as the other one. The nose was in need of a set of gun troughs. The intake has had its slathering of Milliput. The wingtip tanks have had their lamp glassware made and added. There are lots of photos here https://www.net-maquettes.com/pictures/republic-f-84-thunderjet-walk/#gallery[photonic-flickr-set-1]/24631757132/ which I haven't fully gone through yet but that's going to happen in the near future. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. Edited July 29, 2021 by Alex Gordon Spelin. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 23, 2021 Share Posted June 23, 2021 Goodness me there’s a lot of work going on in there! So you’ve gone from “seven eights” to “two twos” in your air brakes… Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 24, 2021 Author Share Posted June 24, 2021 Hello again Chums,a tad more to report. Adrian,good to see you old fruit.I've got a pair of fours and a slap of paint now too . The canopy has been masked off.I'm going to leave it closed so my usual method of masking the inside for the interior colour isn't necessary as all the paint will be on the outside. The holes for the rocket mountings have been plugged with stretched runner and the wheelbays have had a kelching of Maskol,undiluted his time 'cos I forgot. The drop tanks have had a squirt of silver paint.The label on the cap says the colour doesn't quite represent the finish of the paint,this is true but it's not far off. The cockpit and canopy have had a hairy stickful of matt black. The decal sheet is huge.Quite a lot of it is for the fuel tanks and looks a tad tricky to apply. Quite typically I'm going for the most awkward option,these are for the upper surface of the underwing tanks and seemed like a suitably inconspicuous place to try them. I tried just the one for a start,bedded on a drop of Klear,to see how it was going to turn out.The decal didn't quite leap off the paper but it was quick to release and as I left it to go to work I was having doubts.When I got back in this evening I found that it had settled down and conformed to a very complicated surface with no real problems at all.I have to say that for any faults that Hobbyboss may or may not have their decals never cease to impress me.The rest of the tank decals will be halved to make my life easier but they don't really need to be. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 25, 2021 Author Share Posted June 25, 2021 G'day again Chums,some more done today. The canopy was offered up.Where it joins the fuselage there is a flat area which extends beyond the footprint of the glassware.This has had the edge scraped back to leave a more rounded shape which shouldn't be quite as obvious.The ideal thing would have been a slightly wider canopy but we don't have that and the shape and thickness won't allow it to spread. The instrument panel needed the corners taking off the sides to let it stand upright and a spot of paint to hide the back face. There is a choice of two seats.There is a bit of gen on The Ejection Site showing what one looks like.No indication is given for which one to use for which option so I just picked one,shoved some suitably painted masking tape strips on to represent the harness and that'll do. It's near enough to this one for me Photo from Large Scale Planes. Anyway the canopy is now in place,the tip tank probes have been reinstated and we're about ready for paint. Thanks for looking in,more soon. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted June 28, 2021 Author Share Posted June 28, 2021 Hello again Chums,I thought I'd chuck a bit of paint about over the weekend.Straight from the rattlecan and I ought to know better. So into Mr Muscle she went.This left me with an all over encrustation of hard white powder which I can only assume is Aluminium Oxide. Taking this back to the plastic surface involved wiping with white spirit and then sanding smooth once dry. I've got her somewhere near smooth and she's had a first coat of gloss black to try to make a surface suitable for a bare metal finish. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted June 28, 2021 Share Posted June 28, 2021 Looks like you are at one-all with Fate on this one. The decals look amazing and I am surprised to see how well they bedded in. Good save on the paint - it’s always a lottery with DIY shop spray cans as to whether the paint will be too hot for plastic. It looks like you didn’t have too much damage so fingers crossed for the next go! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted June 29, 2021 Share Posted June 29, 2021 Hi Alex. Great to see more progress but annoying about the paint. Hopefully the next go will work properly. 🤞 Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 2, 2021 Author Share Posted July 2, 2021 G'day again Chums,this one'll make you weep. Adrian,the decals are very workable.The first time I came across them was,oddly enough,my Zero build in the last LTAT with similarly impressive results The paint job is far from being saved yet though. Stix,thanks old chum.The next go will be a little more considered and less hasty. The gloss black coat served to highlight all the sanding that needed to be done to properly smooth the surface.There has been sanding and another squirt of paint stripper to remove the paint from the bits I couldn't reach.This also involved removing the masking from the canopy. I was tempted to give up,but I do possess Micromesh so I had a bit of a session with the 3,6 and 12000 grits and then a brushful of Klear.Funny how it hasn't affected the bits that were painted. I think that's as good as it's going to get so I'll carry on. Thanks all for looking in,more soon. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stevehnz Posted July 2, 2021 Share Posted July 2, 2021 What a sod about the paint mishap, it was looking so good. Having a couple of these, I'm pleased to see their pitfalls pointed out & a bit surprised there were so many, They have some amazing schemes to do, I'm looking forward to seeing the resurrection of this . Steve. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 4, 2021 Author Share Posted July 4, 2021 Hello again Chums,just a quick in and out. Steve,thanks for chipping in old fruit.As I said I should have known better with the paint really but it didn't bother the fuel tanks so it must be something with my method that's caused this snag.To be fair to Hobbyboss these kits are entry level and dirt cheap so accuracy issues can be forgiven,I regard them as a blank canvas to be adorned to whatever level suits the mood.They do generally fit together without much provocation though,which is a good thing.I've never tried a Starfix kit so I'm possibly a little spoilt. Anyway,here we go again.White paint on the fibreglass reinforcing strips on the canopy.Masking for gloss black is the next venture. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaStix Posted July 5, 2021 Share Posted July 5, 2021 Hi Alex and good to see there's been some more progress. The white paint on the framing looks good. Kind regards, Stix 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 6, 2021 Author Share Posted July 6, 2021 G'day again Chums,a little more to show. Stix,thanks old chum. Canopy masked. The next lot of decals have gone on to the drop tank undersides.They don't quite cover the centreline but I'm sure that can be sorted out. The second thin coat of gloss black has been sprayed on.There's a way to go to a properly smooth surface but it's getting there. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 8, 2021 Author Share Posted July 8, 2021 Hello again Chums,the gloss black has had a rub down with some fine wet and dry and its last thin coat.It's not as smooth as I'd like but it'll do. There has been silver sprayed.This is the rattlecan stuff,decanted and left to gas off for a few days.Two thin coats has given me this. She'll have a coat of Klear tomorrow to stop my fingerprints from making a mess of it and then at last we can proceed. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 9, 2021 Share Posted July 9, 2021 That looks the biz! Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 9, 2021 Author Share Posted July 9, 2021 G'day again Chums,progress apace now the main paint is on. Adrian,thanks old fruit.I'm rather pleased that my camera and lighting setup isn't spectacular,if you could see the lumpiness of the finish you'd wince in terror. I slopped a coat of Klear all over before I went out to work this morning which meant that it was dry enough to mask and paint the olive drab spine and nose this evening. Once that was dry enough to risk starting on the decals I decided to have a crack at the more awkward ones first.The tip tank markings were cut along the centre join and the carrier film was cut out of the cutout for the wing trailing edge using a nice sharp scalpel blade. It's a very ambitious shape to make and it is a nearly fit. I've managed to get them down without any severe creases. The nose ring decal is a different story however.It would have benefitted from cutting each pair of checks apart and placing them individually but I decided not to.This one,when finished,will spend its life at the school modelmaking club that I run as a demonstration piece and I think it would be a good idea to show any problems so that the solution can be discussed and then made.The decal overruns where it meets the noseleg bay too. Tomorrow will see the rest of the decals go on and then we'll be on the home straight unless I make a proper wreck of it. Thanks for looking in Chums,more soon. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 11, 2021 Author Share Posted July 11, 2021 Hello again Chums,dayoffski yesterday so do a bit let it set do a bit more was the order of the day.I started with the tail decals. I didn't fancy threading a tailplane through an undersized slot in a thin delicate plastic film so I made a couple of strategically placed slices. The awkward bit went on first. The upper bit went on and was pretty much the right size.There's just the merest hint of carrier film visible around the edges. The insides of the tip tanks were next. A couple more sessions left me here last night.The multicoloured band around the fuselage is slightly too long but went on with no real dramas. This morning I started with the outsides of the tip tanks which come as a big lump.These were sliced up to make life easy. The downside of that is they didn't quite line up but if you don't tell anyone I won't. Anyway,here's where we are at the moment and that's the bits of that huge great decal sheet that won't be used. More soon Chums,thanks for looking in. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alex Gordon Posted July 12, 2021 Author Share Posted July 12, 2021 G'day again Chums,Yesterday was mostly decals but with a little bit of scratching thrown in. The back end was missing a little something. In the box of gash plastic there is a length of thick runner for just this sort of thing. A length of it was chucked into the cordless drill and hollowed out to represent the end of the jetpipe.This had a hairy stickful of matt black paint inside and around the outside end. Today was final assembly and finishing.The mainleg bits needed to be put together.The map is very clear about which bits go where,so I scraped off the paint in the relevant places and did the deed. While they were setting I fished out the nose bay doors.I cut out a couple of bits of plastic card to represent the hinges. These bits were then glued together making sure of symmetrical placement. While that was setting I pulled out the maingear bay inner doors.These have lamps fitted to them and once again the map is very clear on what goes where. This is a nice touch,the fixing points are dovetailed.Hobbyboss do this on quite a few of these kits,it can catch out the unaware. Once the nose doors had set sufficiently they were separated and the hinges given a bit of shape. It's the little things,I found this bit of scratching oddly satisfying.Which reminds me,I must remove that odd blob of paint. Once the jetpipe had dried a wipe of powdered pencil lead made it shiny. This bit was made to be a tight fit and the edge is very thin and delicate,I needed something to push it home without damage.Another dig through the box of gash plastic unearthed this which was the perfect shape and diameter. For those who don't know what it is I'll just say that it is included in the box that a tube of Preparation H comes in and has never been used.Everything happens for a reason,I can't think of a more appropriate device for this job.It worked perfectly first time. With that I'm calling this one done. My thanks go to Stix and Enzo for doing their thing and to all who looked in and chipped in for the encouragement and chat. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ozzy Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Nice build 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AdrianMF Posted July 13, 2021 Share Posted July 13, 2021 Gorgeous build! That decalling is immaculately done and looks great. Looks like a super kit from Hobbyboss. Sadly, I’ve now got “Gangnam (gingham) Style” playing in my head. This is after spending half an hour last night trying to track down the T-Rex song fragment that I’d been singing to myself - the lyric was “la la la lalalala”. (the track was “Hot Love”) Regards, Adrian 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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