This is my second plane from the
famous century series aircraft in 1/48. I wanted to build an early version of
the Republic F-105 Thunderchief. After looking for suitable model kits I found
out that neither a F-105B nor a F-105D version in 1/48 was available at local
hobby shops, so I decided to convert the F-105G/F from Revell into a F-105B.
Click on
images below to see larger images
First step was to remove the
wing and Fuselage reinforcements and sand off the raised panel lines.
The main difference between the B and later D variant was the different
shape of the nose. I scratchbuilt the nose from a combination of resin and
parts of the kit's front fuselage section. The nose is maybe not 100% in
the right shape but I think it is not so bad either. Smaller modifications
were the removal of ECM antennas, the shortening of the fuselage to fit
the length of a F-105B and the shortening of the tailfin. The air intake
at the fin root was modified. Navigation lights were made of clear sprues.
The last step was the rescribing of the panel lines (My first try!).
Over the gloss light grey
**undercoat I airbrushed Alclad airframe aluminium. Some panels were masked and
painted in different shades of Alclad. The anti glare panel, nose tip and
green-white stripes were painted with gunze sangyo and Tamiya acrylics. After
drying, I airbrushed the aircraft with "Erdal Glaenzer" (a product like
Future) and applied homemade decals with the markings of an F-105B from the 4 th
TFW at Seymour Johnson Airbase in 1960. After another layer "Glaenzer"
the anti glare panel were masked and painted with Gunze clear matte.
Stefan Gabriel
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