"The Year I Was Born" F-100D Super Sabre

[Learstang]

Great job on that Hun! I just may have to pinch how you did the heat-scorched back panels for whenever I finish my F-100Ds (an ESCI and Trumpeter - I had thought to bash them together as you have, but now I may just build them both - we'll see). I hope either one of my Huns comes out half as nicely as yours, but I'm sure they will - half as nice!

 

Regards,

 

Jason

[TheRealMrEd]

Beautiful job as usual, Bill.

 

To solve the decal problem, I always apply 1 - 2 coats of Micro Scale Liquid Decal Film, using a wide, soft brush to decals more than 4 - 5 years old.  This of course means that all the decals will have to be trimmed manually, as essentially, the entire sheet becomes one giant decal.  However, this extra work is a small price to pay to save older decals, where the original film has cracked due to old age.  I have some decals nearing 50 years old that I have salvaged this way.

 

This product is not a spray, which may be why it works better, for this purpose.  Most of the spray-on decals products are more like a sealer for inkjet decals, etc. and are not designed to re-enforce the original decal film.

 

Ed

[billn53]

43 minutes ago, TheRealMrEd said:

Beautiful job as usual, Bill.

 

To solve the decal problem, I always apply 1 - 2 coats of Micro Scale Liquid Decal Film, using a wide, soft brush to decals more than 4 - 5 years old.  This of course means that all the decals will have to be trimmed manually, as essentially, the entire sheet becomes one giant decal.  However, this extra work is a small price to pay to save older decals, where the original film has cracked due to old age.  I have some decals nearing 50 years old that I have salvaged this way.

 

This product is not a spray, which may be why it works better, for this purpose.  Most of the spray-on decals products are more like a sealer for inkjet decals, etc. and are not designed to re-enforce the original decal film.

 

Ed

Thanks Ed! 
As it turns out, I used the very last of my Testors decal bonding spray on those problematic decals, and only now discovered Testors no longer sells the stuff. Last night I ordered 3 bottles of the Miroscale decal film.

[opus999]

This was a fun build to read through and I learned a lot from it too!  I've gotta chime in and tell you how great the heat stressed back-end looks.  I've been pretty apprehensive about doing heat stressing, although i did some on one of my first build coming back to the hobby (a Navy F-4) and it turned out OK.  Still, its that apprehension that keeps my 25 year old Su-27 Flanker in the closet...

 

Aftermarket lights... I hadn't thought to look for those!  I agree that the lights are one of those details often over looked but always add appreciably to the realism of the build.  I'm never satisfied with my attempts to paint them on and haven't figured out a repeatable way to make them.  So I guess I'll have to go shopping!

 

Terrific work -- it looks incredible!

[VT Red Sox Fan]

Congratulations on a great build Bill!  I don’t have much substantive to add regarding building techniques, so I will just say thank you for demystifying many of the issues & solutions with the current 1/72 F-100 options—this along with @TheRealMrEd’s amazing build truly inspire me to pull out my Trumpeter F-100s for assembly—only after buying an Italeri one to follow in the britmodeller tradition of kit integration (or smashing) of course 😎—thank you for finishing and posting this amazing build—best, Erwin

[billn53]

43 minutes ago, VT Red Sox Fan said:

Congratulations on a great build Bill!  I don’t have much substantive to add regarding building techniques, so I will just say thank you for demystifying many of the issues & solutions with the current 1/72 F-100 options—this along with @TheRealMrEd’s amazing build truly inspire me to pull out my Trumpeter F-100s for assembly—only after buying an Italeri one to follow in the britmodeller tradition of kit integration (or smashing) of course 😎—thank you for finishing and posting this amazing build—best, Erwin

Thank you, Erwin. This was certainly a learning build for me, as I knew very little about the F-100 when I began, and even less about the pros & cons of the various kits. Ed’s build was a great help on both accounts. I know I’ve made a few mistakes (discovered after it was too late to do anything) — nothing too serious but enough for me to think I could have done better.

[VT Red Sox Fan]

I think you done great—you bought your F-100 over the line looking great—mine are still on the shelf 😉  & u started school again—all super cool—best, Erwin

[Retired Bob]

There's not a lot more I can add to what's been said Bill, a superb looking Hun.  Congratulations on completing your kit after the problems with the decals. 

[billn53]

1 hour ago, Retired Bob said:

There's not a lot more I can add to what's been said Bill, a superb looking Hun.  Congratulations on completing your kit after the problems with the decals. 

Thanks, Bob!

 

Since I stole the decals from my Italeri F-100F kit, I'm thinking of making the 'F' as a "wild weasel" Hun. But, the only such decals in 1/72 I know of are (were) made by Caracal, and are no longer available.

 

So, if anyone has spare camo'd F-100F decals in 1/72, I'd love to have them and will compensate appropriately.

 

 

[Nikolay Polyakov]

Oops, I nearly skipped all the build - you’re going so fast! 👏 Really impressive work on the kit, Bill. The cockpit looks extremely good. Congratulations on finishing her, Bill! 🥳

[AdrianMF]

Gorgeous build Bill. Quick too, considering all the mixing and matching between different kits.
 

Your pic of the black patch in the intake of a real one highlights how the prototypes we are modelling aren’t always in pristine condition. 

Regards,

Adrian

[danbuoy]

Excellent looking Hun! I'm a sucker for anything Bentwaters/Woodbridge, and that's a scheme that's not seen too often. Great save on the decals too, you must have been turning the air blue when they kept breaking up!

[billn53]

1 hour ago, danbuoy said:

…Great save on the decals too, you must have been turning the air blue when they kept breaking up!

 Oh, yes! You should have been there. All the words I learned while in the Navy were used, and I think I made up some new ones, as well. 

[TheRealMrEd]

21 hours ago, billn53 said:

Thanks, Bob!

 

Since I stole the decals from my Italeri F-100F kit, I'm thinking of making the 'F' as a "wild weasel" Hun. But, the only such decals in 1/72 I know of are (were) made by Caracal, and are no longer available.

 

So, if anyone has spare camo'd F-100F decals in 1/72, I'd love to have them and will compensate appropriately.

 

 

Bill, if you are looking to build an F-100F "Wild Weasel", there were only seven built, and all the markings the carried were the small stars and bars and then "USAF" and the serial numbers on the tail  -- Viet camo, of course.  While there are a couple of built models floating around on the internet with flashier markings, they were not actual "Wild Weasels", although some other "F"'s may have fired an ARM or two, not sure.

 

FWIW the Trumpeter F-100F box carries the "Wild Weasel" markings, but that build is even tougher than modifying their "D", as the nose is way to long, canopy wrong, etc..

 

If you want a little more color, perhaps one of the F-100F "Misty facs"  would be a better option...

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

[billn53]

2 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

Bill, if you are looking to build an F-100F "Wild Weasel", there were only seven built, and all the markings the carried were the small stars and bars and then "USAF" and the serial numbers on the tail  -- Viet camo, of course.  While there are a couple of built models floating around on the internet with flashier markings, they were not actual "Wild Weasels", although some other "F"'s may have fired an ARM or two, not sure.

 

FWIW the Trumpeter F-100F box carries the "Wild Weasel" markings, but that build is even tougher than modifying their "D", as the nose is way to long, canopy wrong, etc..

 

If you want a little more color, perhaps one of the F-100F "Misty facs"  would be a better option...

 

Ed

 

 

 

 

Actually, I mis-spoke. I meant to include the Misty’s in my F-100F topic. I have plenty of spare stars&bars, in the sizes I’ll need for a camo scheme.  What I don’t have are codes for the tail fin.

Maybe I’ll look for a cheap Trumpeter “F”, as donor for both the decals, and other parts . . .