ThunderBirds are GO! Revell 1/48 F-105D backdated to an F-105B Thunderbird circa 1964

[LorenSharp]

Ok now for something COMPLETELY different. Revell's 1/48 F-105D back dated to an F-105B Thunderbird circa 1964 season ( it's only brief use as a demonstration aircraft.

 Not sure if I'll do it in Alclad II or Foil, or a combination, But in any event should prove interesting. So come along and all comments, suggestions, questions and general clowning are always welcome, So let the Countdown begin and Gerry Anderson take the hindquarter!

[Corsairfoxfouruncle]

Well this is different and unexpected ? Should be quite a good looker when done. Im sure you know you will need to remove all the stiffeners and other stuff Monogram molded in. 

[LorenSharp]

Thanks Dennis. Nothing like going in uncharted territory. At the very least should provide some amusement as I flail about trying to get the decals bashed on..

[modelling minion]

Now this should be really interesting!

How are you planning on doing the nose job on this Loren? I know there are conversion sets available but wondered if you were doing it the old fashioned way with plans and drawings. Either way I am along for the ride.

 

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[Dansk]

another huge wonderful thud.

hope you do foil loren. i've yet to see a foil job be done in a gb. 

[AntPhillips]

I'm following, have a couple of Thuds in the stash, so will be interested to see how the build goes.

[SoftScience]

This is such a great kit, to this day. Enjoy! 

[LorenSharp]

Well after some fits and starts, not to mention excessive heat, I can finally say I'm making progress. So without further ado...

Putting together the office

The usual light gray interior with the instrument panel and console switches black followed by highlighting with a silver pencil. and a touch of dark wash to bring everything else out a bit.

 

[LorenSharp]

Then what so far, has take the bulk of my time. Removing detail.

The "D" version has all kinds of sensors, antennas, vents and whatnot that aren't on the "B" version. Not to mention

it's also about 15 CM (6 in) shorter.

    it's also about 

After sanding/shaving off numerous bumps, I filled all vents and detail not common to both versions. Since this will be a Bare Metal exterior a lot of sanding with finer and finer sandpaper until It's relatively smooth. 

 

[LorenSharp]

Assembling the fuselage and wings went together rather un-eventfully. I ran masking tape down the seams and filled with glazing compound. I allowed this a couple of days to set and dry because of the excessive humidity. While that was drying, went about shortening the overall length 6 scale inches( about 2.5 mm). Can't take it from the backend, so that means the nose. I did try just cutting a section off the nose since it's a separate piece, but way too much of a step between the parts to correct and make look decent.  So I made a 3d model from some measurements and printed a new nose. or least tried to. After a couple of failures I realized I needed to replace the FEP film on the bottom of the resin tank. But had to wait a few more days because I needed to order more film-DOH!. But once that was all straightened out and re-greased the printer rails( found out I was using the wrong replacement lubricant) I printed once again and.... success! Not only printed out correctly but no problems in the print rails leaving "steps" Gawd I love it when a plan finally comes together.

 

[LorenSharp]

But I've found another issue that will need tending to. Looking at the decals the red in all the thunderbird sections is more of a maroon rather than  a red, or insignia red. This means that will have to be painted on Oh the joys. I don't think I'll need to paint the blue on, I can still those those decals. So I gave the entire model  a coat of white, partly as a primer and partly to save having to use the white portions of the decal set.

But, there's always a but isn't there, My insignia red not only not having enough, but in a poor state to try and paint with. so I've had to order some more. hopefully I'll have it later in the week. Then I'll get to mask off the areas for the red ,white. After painting I'll begin the process of adding the metal foil. Masking tape has a nasty habit of pulling foil off at the wrong time. So a lot of progress made, but not a lot if you know what I mean. Any luck, I'll have another update later in the week.

So Stay cool guys, until then.

[modelling minion]

Glad that you have been able to move this one along Loren, and she's moved a long way hasn't she!

I really like your printed replacement nose, that and the other mods you are doing has turned the D into a very nice looking B.

A real shame that you can't use the decals that you have, I hope that the ordered paint turns up very soon.

 

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[LorenSharp]

Thanks Craig, they are supposed to be here by Thursday. But I think they should arrive sooner. Getting the stencils made for the scalloping shouldn't be too difficult.(he says with a touch of trepidation) The funk F-4 Phantom I did a while back for the Phantom STGB gave me Ideas on how to do this paint job. That will be the difficult part. After that it should be smooth sailing. So we'll see.

[LorenSharp]

It's been a while since my last update. Finally got a couple of builds out of the way and off the bench, though did begin a rather large one but I'm hoping I can get this done and one other before that project gets too unwieldly. So after much trial and error trying to find the proper red to do the nose so that it matched the decals. I gave up and just tried to find the proper insignia red. The red on the decals is a bit too maroon, more like a British roundel red(?) not sure if thats the right designation but I did finally find a decent red that looks right for the Thunderbirds. The first bottle I got from Mission Models although said its Insignia Red is actually closer to a Coast Guard Red (this I have use for) or maybe a Chevy Engine Red. Has a bit too much yellow in it. What I finally got was from MRP, Right shade and though a tad smelly, went on the smoothest of any non-metallic paint I've ever used .thanks @Mike . Now of course, this means I have to mask off for the red used on that nose, wing tips, and tail surfaces. Masking curves.... Yech!!

Naturally I had to cut the nose parts twice because I cut out for a positive mask rather than a negative mask.. DOH. It had been a while since I used Frisket film. Pre painting everything white beforehand and letting it cure for a while helped a lot. 

Peeled the masking away and Viola'! Nearly perfect scalloped paint job. I scare myself sometimes when something works the way its intended The overspray on the fuselage isn't an issue because that's going to be clad in foil which is the  next step.  Now I can offitchalee say I'm making progress and on my way .More to come...

[arfa1983]

Magnificent! 

[Mike]

35 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

I scare myself sometimes when something works the way its intended

I know that feeling far too well I remember masking off my old Mach 2 Valiant windscreen, and got it absolutely spot-on... utter guess!

[modelling minion]

Superb work Loren, that masking has worked out perfectly.👍

 

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[Wings unlevel]

Beautiful work so far, very impressive masking!

[Sam]

On 8/16/2022 at 5:37 PM, LorenSharp said:

The overspray on the fuselage isn't an issue because that's going to be clad in foil which is the  next step.

Well this sounds very promising!!! 
 

 

[LorenSharp]

Another small update, got the fuselage skinned with Bare metal foil. there were a couple of spots that because of size the foil has a difficult time sticking to it. so I wanted to see how close the mirror paint is to real foil and I have to say unless you know where to look and can get the light to shine on the spot to see the thickness of the foil, it's very difficult to tell where one ends and the other begins, I'm going to have to save up my pennies and get 2 more bottle of this stuff. But here's how the fuselage has turned out so far.

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the Paint has to set for about 7-8 hrs. to harden otherwise I'll rub it off. So I'll hopefully get the wings cladded and the area at the back painted in titanium for the start of the exhaust. Stay tuned for more.

[modelling minion]

That is looking fantastic Loren, the metal foil is really good and so is the paint, can I ask which brand of paint you have used as it is one of the best polished metal finishes I have seen.

 

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[LorenSharp]

Thanks Craig, The paint is called Mirror I only use it in small dabs as it's very expensive. This was the first time I tried comparing it next  to a foiled metal. This give you an idea the area in the red box is the paint. Everything else is foil except at the top behind the cockpit. That's Alclad magnesium.

It comes in a little 15ml bottle, and at 39$ US not cheap. but it does the best I've ever seen. @Mike used it on a little Sputnik model aa while back and that's how I learned about it. The one primary rule about it is it HAS to cure for 24hrs to get really hard. otherwise it will rub off. Here's the link to it:

https://www.culturehustleusa.com/products/mirror

[modelling minion]

Thanks for sharing that mate, I shall have a look if I can get hold of some over here.

 

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[LorenSharp]

I think its only by mail order through them but you might want to ask @Mike he would know.

[Mike]

5 minutes ago, LorenSharp said:

I think its only by mail order through them but you might want to ask @Mike he would know.

Mail order seems to be the way over in the UK, but who knows in the US?  Seems that way, but you never know.  There's bound to be a note of any US distributors on the site if any