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My 'Year I Was Born' F-100D "Franken-Hun"


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"Mad City Modelers", my local club, is having a group build with the theme "The Year You Were Born". Having just finished my Red Baron F-104, I decided to stay with the century series and build a F-100 Super Sabre, which I'm claiming qualifies because it's first flight was on May 25, 1953.

 

There are quite a few 1/72 kits of the "Hun", all of which have faults. Unsure which way to go, I posed the question to fellow BM'ers in this thread: https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235110863-help-me-decide-172-f-100d-—-trumpeter-italeri-or-other/

 and received a lot of very helpful advice.

 

My first inclination was to use the Trumpeter kit, but given the amount of work that is needed to correct its inaccuracies (poor nose shape, and too narrow in the fuselage around the cockpit) and the fact that I was under a deadline to finish (July 16), I decided instead to go with the old ESCI kit. ESCI's Hun is an excellent kit -- correct shape; fine, recessed panel lines, and generally nice detail. Key improvements I wanted to include were: Open the nose inlet and add an intake trunk; replace the kit's rudimentary cockpit with Aires resin; add an Aires afterburner can & engine nozzle; and drop the wing's leading edge flaps. 

 

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For markings, I wanted to model an aircraft of the 79th Tactical Fighter Squadron (the "Tigers"), as my former father-in-law flew F-100s with the Tigers in the late-1950s (based at Woodbridge, England):

 

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My original plan was to use aftermarket items for the intake trunk and wing slats, namely, XMM's resin intake and Blackbird Models wings:

 

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However, I found that the nose of the XMM inlet is undersized, and Blackbird Models's slatted wings are simply resin copies of the Trumpeter kit's too-thin wings -- but less detailed -- plus an added center section cloned from the ESCI kit. Thus I took a different approach.

 

I stole the intake trunk from Trumpeter's kit, and enlarged the front opening to match the correctly-sized ESCI inlet:

 

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52123811533_54ab2124e4_w.jpg   52130742117_5c9ea319bd_w.jpg 

 

I also removed Trumpeter's slatted wing sections and transplanted them to the ESCI wings:

 

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After that, it was simply a matter of cramming everything together!

 

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Those, plus adding the Aires resin cockpit and engine nozzle, were my major improvements to ESCI's F-100.  For more details, my WIP can be found here:

 

https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235111088-the-year-i-was-born-f-100d-super-sabre/

 

On to the photos!

 

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And, some detail shots:

 

The F-100's underside is pretty busy, and the wheel bays in particular are ripe for super-detailing. I decided to forego that pleasure! I did, however, back-date ESCI's speed brake for a late-1950s aircraft. You might also be able to make out the retractable landing lights I added to either side of the nose gear bay:

52165757410_0843fbc3d7_b.jpg 

 

The nose probe / pitot tube is turned-brass from Master Models:

52165274463_9671be8c39_z.jpg 

 

The Aires cockpit is a must-have, but just barely fit after a lot of thinning of both the fuselage sides and the Aires tub:

52165506894_a75742c8f0.jpg  52165274473_634012b91f.jpg

 

Here you can see the Trumpeter forward wing section and slats, grafted on to the ESCI wings. Also visible is some Eduard PE on the front of the wings, beneath the slats:

52164245047_c5b0df1ee0_c.jpg 

 

I used Trumpeter's 275-gallon wing tanks, as the larger 335-gal tanks in the ESCI kit first entered service in the mid-1960s. too late for the aircraft I'm representing:

52165805605_fc1b2f1fdc_c.jpg 

 

The kit wheels are just "okay", and not nearly as nice as the Reskit wheels seen here. You can also see the brake lines that I added to the main gear:

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I used SMS Metallic paints to represent the silver lacquer finish of the actual aircraft, with a clear coat of Alclad Light Sheen. This was my first experience with SMS Metallics, and I'm now hooked on them. For the heat-stressed metal in the engine area, I used various shades of AK Interactive XTreme Metal enamel:

52165507004_43f04e235a_c.jpg 

 

Here's the business end of the Aires afterburner can & nozzle:

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Finally, I couldn't resist adding a few tiny little lights found on the actual aircraft:

52162125089_4b3dcafa42.jpg   52165506874_68d5d975d0.jpg

 

 

 

My "get off the stage" shots:

 

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Just sixteen days, start-to-finish! I'm amazed at how much I was able to get done in that short time . . . . and I'm unlikely to repeat that rate of building anytime soon.

 

 

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@billn53  absolutely stunning (as normal) and educational WIP. I’ve not got the patience to do all that tiny PE and tiny lights. If and when I do my huns they’ll not look half as good.

 

Chris

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Exactly my kind of subject! Shame that a kit like the Trumpeter kit can be so wrong & be used as a donor of parts but looks like this is definitely the way to go, to spruce up that Esci kit.

I might have to give this a go on another F-100 project.

Thanks for sharing & superb results!

 

Martin 

 

 

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20 minutes ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

Exactly my kind of subject! Shame that a kit like the Trumpeter kit can be so wrong & be used as a donor of parts but looks like this is definitely the way to go, to spruce up that Esci kit.

I might have to give this a go on another F-100 project.

Thanks for sharing & superb results!

 

Martin 

 

 


Thanks, Martin. I hadn’t intended for the Trumpeter kit to be an organ donor, but sometimes one must take drastic measures! Haha!

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54 minutes ago, billn53 said:


Thanks, Martin. I hadn’t intended for the Trumpeter kit to be an organ donor, but sometimes one must take drastic measures! Haha!

Just taken a look at your build thread, which looks to me like "the" instruction manual in how to build a Hun properly! Feel bad that I missed out on that build thread as I have built this kit in the past but not as well with the extra corrections that you have. I have both Trumpy & Esci kits to hand & at some point in the future plan to build one of the Lakenheath aircraft - one day! I'll definitely come back to your build thread for reference!

 

Martin

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11 minutes ago, Lightningboy2000 said:

Just taken a look at your build thread, which looks to me like "the" instruction manual in how to build a Hun properly! Feel bad that I missed out on that build thread as I have built this kit in the past but not as well with the extra corrections that you have. I have both Trumpy & Esci kits to hand & at some point in the future plan to build one of the Lakenheath aircraft - one day! I'll definitely come back to your build thread for reference!

 

Martin


Thank you! But I must give credit to @TheRealMrEd , whose excellent Hun build inspired me, and from whom I stole borrowed a few key techniques.

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Brilliant job on your Hun! I do like the scorched metal on the rear fuselage - excellent effect! I have two F-100Ds waiting in the wings - one I want to do as a camouflaged Vietnam War machine, and one as one of those beautifully grungy green Danish aircraft*.

 

Regards,

 

Jason

 

*Seriously, those aircraft looked like derelict airframes whilst still in service. That green didn't weather or age so much as turn mouldy!

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Done already?  Wow, either you're quick, or I haven't looked in for a while... This looks fantastic!  I love the finish -- it is remarkably realistic.  All the little details are a treat too.  I'll have to go catch up on the build thread now.  Nice work!

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I just finished this pilot figure for my F-100 . . . usually my figures look like abstract art, but I've been trying out some new techniques (new to me, that is) and am pretty happy with how this little fellow turned out:

 

52184099961_08755c88c3_c.jpg

 

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