F-84F 'Thunderstreak', Monogram, 1/48th scale. (1 Viewer)

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Airframes

Benevolens Magister
62,351
11,468
Aug 24, 2008
Cheshire, UK
F-84F of 78th FBSq, 81st FBW, Shepards Grove, UK, circa 1958.

Built out of the box, with the exception of the seat belts, from foil, and the rear view mirror, from plastic card. Also, the kit part for the landing lamp was abducted by aliens as I was fitting it, so this was replaced by a piece of clear sprue. The kit dates from 1985 and, apart from raised panel lines, which are not a problem really, it's very well detailed, even down to the tread and makers name on the tyres (Goodyear on the nose, and B.F.Goodrich on the main wheels)!
Not one of my best efforts, having been plagued, yet again, by problems with Humbrol paint, and still suffering from extremely stiff hands and wrists, but it's about acceptable enough for the 'bare metal line-up in the cabinet.
Oh, and that black, wavy line on the starboard side of the canopy is actually inside the plastic! I spent over an hour, trying to sand it off and polish it, thinking it was marker pen or paint, picked up somewhere, before I realised! (the kit was bought second hand).
 

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Thanks very much, Glenn and Geo.
Overall, it looks better to the naked eye than in the photos - but the photos don't show some of the less than perfect bits either!
If I was to do it again, especially in a bare metal finish, there are some areas I'd do differently, and fitting and blending the windscreen and rear glazing section would be one of them! I'd also fit the landing lamp before fitting the nose gear, and fit the tanks and pylons last - they got in the bl**dy way when fitting the canopy and speed brakes!
 
Very nicely done. Ditto the open canopy. It sets it off really well. Bet a lot of care had to taken over the decals. Did they behave themselves after sitting at the bottom of a box for so long?
 
Thanks guys, it's very much appreciated.
I took the precaution of spraying a gloss clear coat over the decals, but they probably didn't need it. They were rather thick, and the adhesive had more or less given up, so this was removed by washing off with the help of a paint brush, and 'Future' used to ensure they stuck down. The only real problem area, and it wasn't serious, was the tail fin stripes, as the carrier film, even though closely trimmed, overlapped the leading edge of the fin, and trimming once they were in place left little room for error, as the black outlines are on the very edge.
There were some out of register problems here and there, with white showing around the edges of some of the red stencils, and the blue disc of the stars and bars, but apart from that, they behaved reasonably well. Unlike the extra stencils, from a Microscale sheet - some of these deformed or dissolved when sprayed with the clear coat - heaven knows what would have happened without the clear coat, I think they would have totally disintegrated in water!
 
Wonderful work, Airframes! I have never really appreciated that airplane until the last 5 years or so. You did it justice.
 
Thanks Matt, I appreciate it. I've always had a 'thing' about this big old bird - it can by no means be called beautiful, but there's a sort of brutish attraction about it.
 
Like a turbine powered Wildcat. Yeah, we get it. A cathartic build for you. Reminiscing of what might have been. Grumman cranking 'er wings, adding a couple of udders and that ThunderbirdsGo canopy mechanism. :thumbup:
 

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