Airfix & Sword F-84F-30-RE - 1/72 - 27feb23 nearly there :)

[Smudge]

Another nice project, Martin. 

 

On 14/06/2022 at 21:25, RidgeRunner said:

..................but the F-84F/RF-84F was THE backbone of the NATO forces in its day - Germany, Denmark, Norway, France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece and Turkey! It was also, of course, massive in terms of its presence in the USAF.

 

A bit of a 'unsung hero' overshadowed by those flashy Century series and Phantom types I guess. But an attractive aircraft, with some nice colourful schemes out there. Looking forward to seeing how she comes out. 

[Gondor44]

On 6/16/2022 at 12:19 AM, Lightningboy2000 said:

 

Martin

 

 

That's an impressive amount of work that you have put in there, pitty that the wing on the left in the above picture has the undercarriage bay for the other wing fitted.

 

Gondor

[Wez]

Glad you're getting to grips with this, the F-84F has always been one of my favourite subjects, especially when painted in the equivalent of RAF dark green /dark sea grey and PRU blue (the best RAF scheme next to DG/DSG/Black).

 

Agree with the view that it's such an important type to NATO, wish there was a better 1/72 kit.

 

FWIW, the Airfix kit is from the 1970s

[Lightningboy2000]

2 hours ago, Gondor44 said:

 

That's an impressive amount of work that you have put in there, pitty that the wing on the left in the above picture has the undercarriage bay for the other wing fitted.

 

Gondor

Believe it or not that was from the right side, but I know it still looks wrong. Definitely needs taking out & doing again. I blame Republic for over complicating the design! 😆

[Lightningboy2000]

1 hour ago, Wez said:

Glad you're getting to grips with this, the F-84F has always been one of my favourite subjects, especially when painted in the equivalent of RAF dark green /dark sea grey and PRU blue (the best RAF scheme next to DG/DSG/Black).

 

Agree with the view that it's such an important type to NATO, wish there was a better 1/72 kit.

 

FWIW, the Airfix kit is from the 1970s

If me & Martin RidgeRunner get these done then Einstein's laws of sod should magically make an announcement for a new tool in the announcements section! I've been looking there in vain since the genesis of Britmodeller. 

[Lightningboy2000]

Hi Martin. This is the Italeri fuselage with the Airfix nose grafted on (for the correct shape intake). I used the Italeri fuselage as it presents the correct width in 1/72. The Airfix fuselage is too narrow in scale. It all depends on how bad my AMS is at any one time! 😆

So on this one I used the Airfix airbrake recess as it's more representative of the real thing.

Same Italeri fuselage but with part of the Airfix kit to show the top of the guns & radio boxes in front of the instrument panel & the Airwaves etch.

As you say, the Airwaves instrument panel isn't deep enough so I used parts from the Italeri F-100 instument panel to bulk it out.

Maybe a faff to some, I might have thought it fun at the time, but the lack of time I've spent on these speaks volumes! 😆🤪

Until an accurate injected kit comes along, I do think the Sword kit would be a great donor towards an accurate Thunderstreak.

For the cockpit, the CMK resin cockpit for the Academy F-84G would also be ideal - maybe?

[RidgeRunner]

A bit done ....

 

The first job I chose to do was to check the ability of the kit (the integrity of the plastic) to be bulged at the centre section in order to get it more realistic. There is no science, just my feeling for what its right. The other reason for this is to ensure that the Sword windscreen fits the Airfix aperture. After trying a few shims I got it about right as shown in the shot below:

 

 

This has the assembled internals in place to give me a gauge for fitting. 

 

Next I started in the cockpit itself, using the kit parts together with an Airwaves PE set and some rod and card here and there. The Airwaves set offers an approximation of the F-84F cockpit. The biggest issue with it is the instrument panel. It is the wrong shap and has elements mising, particularly the upper section. I tackled this with the rod/card mix, as shown below. It isn't perfect so please dont shoot me down!  It will do the job for me. I will slap some PPP around it to fill some joins and then prime. 

 

  

I also cut out a main landing gear opening from the spare Sword RF-84F as the Airfix offering is a little out of shape and the wrong size. The Sword doors etc seem to be the closest. I'm grateful to Martin @Lightningboy2000 for a drawing of how it needs to be. Here is the Sword section against the drawing. 

 

 

Today I got my big boys pants on and started scribing the thing! It is certainly not something I relish and I am no good at it, either. Even so I plodded on and got one fuselage half done. It looks a bit rough at the moment but (hopefully) it'll come together neatly after some cleaning, sanding, filling etc. If it doesnt work I have Plan B but it involves a lot of chopping! You can see that I also lopped the fin tip off to get to the short-finned machine.

 

 

 

I now have brass tube (0.9mm) on order as well as a new tube of PPP

 

I'll keep going today and may have more tomorrow

 

Martin

[Lightningboy2000]

Cockpit work looks fantastic so far. In this scale it's got to be a representation hasn't it. Not surprised to see you're widening the fuselage a little. Good to see some elements of accuracy from Sword. Oh & that wheel bay section from Sword matches up pretty darn good. I have a feeling that Sword got their wheels wrong in that they show the wheel facing the wrong way. What you see on the Airfix kit is accurate & I think the Sword wheel shows detail from the other side.

Looking good so far!

 

Martin 

[RidgeRunner]

17 hours ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

Cockpit work looks fantastic so far. In this scale it's got to be a representation hasn't it. Not surprised to see you're widening the fuselage a little. Good to see some elements of accuracy from Sword. Oh & that wheel bay section from Sword matches up pretty darn good. I have a feeling that Sword got their wheels wrong in that they show the wheel facing the wrong way. What you see on the Airfix kit is accurate & I think the Sword wheel shows detail from the other side.

Looking good so far!

 

Martin 

Thanks mate. Yes, it is coming together slowly. Yesterday’s wrestling with the scribing wasn't as bad as I had built up in my mind. I made a few mistakes, particularly the two that I have refilled with Gloop. My approach, after abandoning the dymo tape idea, was to set the line up with a thin, shallow knife cut first. I means you can get a straight line around curves. I then took either the Tamiya scribe or my dental scribe to it. I will need to sand and clean the lines a fair bit. I might tackle the other side today. I agree about the wheels although when matching the Airfix apertures they are only slightly too big and I wonder if some inserts would do the job as well. I would then use the Sword doors. Noted about the doors, ta.

 

Martin

[billn53]

Great work so far, very inspiring!
With all that cockpit detailing, I hope you plan to have the canopy open. 

[RidgeRunner]

6 hours ago, billn53 said:

I hope you plan to have the canopy open. 

Is there another way, Bill

[Courageous]

All I see is butchery and waiting for the 'silk purse', all good fun I'm sure . Sometimes we have cut 'n' shut to get what we're after and the phoenix will rise from the ashes.

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

I've broken the back of it - I think! I had to go over the port side half again with the Tamiya scriber. Today I tackled the starboard side. Following scribing I gave both a good wash, after a light sanding with a fine grit sponge,  and then applied a white Flory wash to show up errors etc. Given my arthritic hands and my dodgey accuracy I am quite pleased, so far. I have the wings and stabilisers to do, of course, but they are flat and shouldn't be such an issue ........ maybe! Here is where I am. The masking tape you see is to protect areas where I have added gloop to fill badly scored lines. In addition I have added tape around the gun ports in readiness for applying a combination of Plasticard and Gloop, around brass 0.9mm OD tube.

 

  

That's exhausted me so I'll be back after long lie down

 

Martin

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Amazing work so far Martin—appreciate you sharing how you scribe your lines—best, Erwin

[RidgeRunner]

9 hours ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Amazing work so far Martin—appreciate you sharing how you scribe your lines—best, Erwin

Thank you, Erwin. I appreciate your comment but I realise that this is aspect of modelling is not my forte. Certainly I learnt a bit as I went along and found that the best tool is the Tamiya scriber. I think this is the same as an Olfa scriber. You need to be light of touch with a guide, such as a flexible steel ruler or template, and some Dymo tape for getting around complex fuselages etc. The benefit of that scriber is that it doesn’t leave a ridge. If you have a go, good luck!

 

Martin

[Terry1954]

This looks like a challenge Martin!

 

Will follow along for sure.

 

T

[Courageous]

Good work with the scribing, something I also hate. How do you tackle circles, radius corners, etc? Different weapon? Template?

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

3 hours ago, Courageous said:

Good work with the scribing, something I also hate. How do you tackle circles, radius corners, etc? Different weapon? Template?

 

Stuart

Fortunately there were none on this. However there are some small panels for which I used a flexible steel template. Mine is Tamiya. For this is scratch them out with a needle but it isn’t the most successful. The Tamiya scriber refused to cut such small shapes. My templates cover oblongs, circles, etc so hopefully it’s all covered, Stuart 🤞.

 

Martin

[RidgeRunner]

5 hours ago, Terry1954 said:

Will follow along for sure.

And you are very welcome. Terry

 

 My brass tube order arrived today so I can get them installed and setting. I’m not a regular user of tube. How do you cut it and keep the thing in shape? Insert I rod like bending plumbing pipes?

[Courageous]

16 hours ago, RidgeRunner said:

How do you cut it and keep the thing in shape?

Use a sharp scalpel. Roll the tube with a little pressure on the blade while being careful not to lose the bit you've just cut off...it will happen.

HTH.

Stuart

[Rob G]

9 hours ago, Courageous said:

Use a sharp scalpel. Roll the tube with a little pressure on the blade while being careful not to lose the bit you've just cut off...it will happen.

HTH.

Stuart

 

And to assist in avoiding that little annoyance, insert a long piece of thin wire into the tube before cutting. It will act as a 'catchit' and save you some tears. 

[RidgeRunner]

Thanks again, chaps - Stuart @Courageous, Rob @Rob G and Martin @Lightningboy2000. Today I got the nose gun ports drilled out, set the brass tubes in place and filled around with Squadron White. I was apprehensive but I needn’t have been because they then sanded down well. I’m sorry I haven’t any photos at the moment.

 

I also finished the scribing around the nose area as well as in the three areas where I had made big mistakes and had filled with Gloop. All done now :). 

 

I guess my next jobs will be to weight the nose, paint that, the cockpit internals and the jet pipe in readiness for assembly. I do need to check the seat type for these Italian machines. I had to order one for my RF-84F so I guess it will be the same. Maybe. I also need to check how the windscreen will fit on to the Airfix fuselage. It will need some shims here and there I guess. 

 

I spent the rest of my day washing the RF-84F with Flory washes - Dark dirt overall and then a wash of sand on the upper surfaces.

 

Martin

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

After a bit of decalling on the Flogger I set about tidying up the lower wing half that I inserted a Sword RF-84F section in to a while ago. I did it as a trial to 1) see if it would work and 2) see how easy it would be. See Martin's @Lightningboy2000 post earlier. He suggests a new cut part from card but I reckon the Sword part is very close. I cut the rectangular secton of the RF and matched it in to the corresponding position on the F-84F wing. After cutting out the area I cemented the the part in place, followed by some filling with Gloop (dissolved sprue) and a little card.  Today I got it sanded. The RF part is slightly more bulged but this is easily handled with a combination of fixing in place while cementing and sanding of the entire area. Here it is dry fitted in to the upper F-84F wing. I will need to add the PE interior and then cement the two halves. After that I will scribe them both.

 

     

I also received my resin AN-M64 250kg bombs from Singapore. 

 

 

Back again soon.

 

Martin

 

[bentwaters81tfw]

All wonderful stuff here, but Tamiya and Olfa scribers?

 

Really - get your self some real tools like a needle gun, angle grinder and orbital sander. I find an impact driver and a good straight edge helps as well.

 

Yours will probably be finished before mine, but I have fewer sub assembles than you do to worry about.

I can't confirm the MLG bays yet as I haven't swung the gear yet.

 

The airframe is remarkably smooth BTW. If you didn't know, you would never believe these things had l/e slats, the tolerances really are that fine.

[RidgeRunner]

4 hours ago, bentwaters81tfw said:

All wonderful stuff here, but Tamiya and Olfa scribers?

 

Really - get your self some real tools like a needle gun, angle grinder and orbital sander. I find an impact driver and a good straight edge helps as well.

😂😂😂
 

Yes, Frank, I reckon she was a Cadillac compared with some more praised machines of the era ;).  I love the F-84

 

Martin