I couldn’t believe
it when Trumpeter announced the release of this kit – good times. It took
about 2 years on-and-off building but it’s finally complete. A lot has been
said about the kit and its inaccuracies (nose, fuselage, vertical stabiliser). I
was just happy to get a 32nd scale Thud that looks like a Thud – it really
does. I actually don’t understand the litany of complaints every time a new
model is issued by Trumpeter which fills a long time subject / scale void.
Let’s be thankful that there is a company like Trumpeter around who are
prepared to go balls to the wall (unlike other manufacturers who reissue kits
with new decals or the same old subject matter…..) and give us long sought
after and relevant replicas.
Their models may not be the most accurate but they do provide a really good base
to achieve a good scale replica of the real thing. Roll on the A-7 and A-6.
I’m holding thumbs for a MiG23/27, Su-22 and Su-25 in 32nd scale !!
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I initially thought
I’d go with the kit cockpit but a business trip to London had me heading off
to Hannants where the Black Box cockpit set, Eduard exterior photoetch set and
Aeroclub white metal undercarriage legs were procured. My only real moan is that
the instrument panel shroud on the BB cockpit set is way too high. The BB seat
is excellent and the whole cockpit tub assembly provides sufficient weight to
keep the nose down. The Aeroclub white metal undercarriage legs ARE a necessity.
Even with these the model is a bit wobbly - these undercarriage legs must have
been made
of very special forgings in real life to take the kind of forces experienced
during taking off with full payload or in the event of battle damaged induced
hard landings ! The Eduard photo-etch perforated access panel for the M61 cannon
bay is a must. Additional work done to the kit was :
-
opened up all
the various vents and inlets including those around the nose associated with
the cannon and avionics bays and the afterburner bay cooling vents.
-
detailed the gun
bay with plastic card and solder wire
-
detailed the
radar using plastic card, solder wire etc.
-
detailed the
interior framing of the canopy
-
added plastic
card inserts inside the intakes to eliminate the punch
marks and seam
-
removed all
moulded hydraulic lines in the main u/c bay and detailed
using solder wire.
-
added hydraulic
hoses on main u/c legs
-
added plastic
card trunking inside the intake located at the base of
the vertical stabiliser
Main issue with the
kit – those horrible, unsightly round whatnots dotted liberally inside the
afterburner pipe – impossible to remove so I left them. Luckily, once painted
in sooty black, these things weren’t too obvious.
The build was straight forward with the possible exception of those useless
photoetch control surface linkages. The only glaring omission from the model (I
only discovered once complete) are the reinforcing straps located either side of
the centreline pylon used to secure the pylon to the bomb bay doors (and I
suppose) to keep the whole thing together.
I selected a standard SEA weapons
load of 6 * Mk117s on the centreline and two wing tanks. I decided to scratch
build an AIM-9B Sidewinder and its launch rail – there are pictures in the
Squadron Signal books showing 105’s carrying one missile on the starboard
outer wing pylon, balanced by an ECM pod on the port outboard pylon.
Painting was done using XtraColour gloss enamels. I like these as it saves me
time having to apply gloss varnish / future before decaling. I painted the
interiors of the u/c bays in white – apparently the original primer green was
replaced with white to allow easier detection of hydraulic leaks – ref.
Squadron Signal Walk Around. Pre-shading of the exterior was done using Tamiya
semi-gloss black (X-18). Colours were standard Vietnam / SE Asia scheme (XtraColour
matches were X140 light grey, X110 dark green, X116 medium green and X102 tan)
lightened with 10% white to give scale effect.
I used rolls of Prestic (equivalent to BluTac) to provide the slightly fuzzy
delineation between the various top camo colours. The delineation between top
camo and grey undersides was sprayed freehand using my Badger 150 – pics of
real Thuds showed this delineation varying from quite sharp to fuzzy – I chose
the latter. Exhaust petals were painted in a mix of Humbrol steel, aluminium and
gun metal.
Decaling was a pleasure – the Two Bobs decals supplied with the model are
excellent – why can’t all model manufacturers get this right ? – I hate
spending hours on construction and painting only to have the whole lot blown out
of the water (or air) by sub-standard decals which silver or are out of
register.
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Weathering and highlighting of
panel lines was done with pastels (med grey on bottom surface and dark grey on
top surface). The photo above of the underside shows the difference between the
starboard wing which has been weathered using pastels and the port wing which
has not. I gave the two wing tanks different paint schemes to provide a bit of
variation – reference material shows various paint schemes. Subdued chipping
was achieved with a sharp brush and Citadel Chainmail. Various mixes of oils
and turps provided the dirty rear underside. I painted the Sidewinder in
semi-gloss white and kept it clean – as I assume they would do for the real
thing. Final coat was XtraColour matt varnish to give a suitable toned down camo
effect.
Reference material :
- Detail & Scale Volume 8
– F-105 Thunderchief
- Squadron Signal In Action #17
- Squadron Signal Walk Around
#23
- Squadron Signal #6042 – Wild
Weasel
- Squadron Signal Modern
Military Aircraft #5004 – Thud
- F-105 Famous Airplanes of the
World #33
- Osprey Air Combat Series –
Republic F-105 Thunderchief
No shortage there!
Malcolm
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