This is my first Hobby Boss kit and I’m pretty impressed. Nice plastic and really subtle detail. I had a few issues getting the nose gear well/splitter combo in but finally got it - mostly luck and a lot of weldon. I’ve always been a fan of the open mouth birds - F-8, A7, F-100 and this one with the really different canopy articulation. So here we go - a few pics.
Cockpit is nice - includes some PE for the seat belts.
Decal for the really busy instrument panel
More PE for the flaps - the kit also includes PE for the speed breaks.
After fighting with the nose gear well - which the instructions indicate you need to add the nose gear (I didn’t - figure that out later but for painting my thoughts were…NOPE) I finally got her buttoned up.
So far its been a really nice kit outside of the nose gear well issues. I’m doing this one in NMF so lots of clean up to do.
Crazy thing was the wings had a significant step joint at the root. The fuselage had the same, complementary, step joint. Normally I would have scraped and sanded them and cursed a bit, but after test fitting, it seems Hobby Boss did it on purpose. The wings slid in perfectly. Never seen anything like it.
In wrestling with the nose gear bay and closing up the fuselage I completely forgot nose weight (none is mentioned by the way). So I hacked up the the panel under the windscreen, dropped in a bunch of superglue soaked fishing weights and put a thin piece of evergreen over to seal it up. Probably a bit of work to do on the windscreen - but hey, like I said - my hobby is fixing my mistakes
Is that the kit cockpit? What aftermarket parts have you used. I have this kit, but I have not opened it. Thanks for the warning on the nose weight. Intersting trivia on the articulation of the canopy. Pilots were warned NOT to rest their arms over the side of the fuselage with the canopy open. A canopy slammed shut on a pilot with his arms over the side and he lost both arms from just below the elbows. I want to do a T-bird.
I have the monogram kit but haven’t built it. Test fitting a few parts looks like excellent fit. Crisp clean molds. Typical era raised panel lines and rivets.
The HB kit has very fine panel lines, nice detail, a PE fret and multiple canopy options.
I built the F-84F straight wing varient in the Pro Modeler line and it was an excellent kit. I do like the swept wing varient more though, it looks better. Your kit is coming along nicely.
My first thought was “wish i could get a cockpit to look like that”. Really nice. Did you anneal the PE belts?
I did my first HB kit just months ago, similar in that it was the F-84G. Details on their kit was impressive. Not overdone in my opinion. Looking forward to watching this come together.
Somehow I missed this kit coming out? Thought that the Kinetic kit was the most modern in 1/48. Looking good so far! Nice save on the nose weight addition.
Thanks. It’s a nice kit. Would like to see if anyone else struggles with the nose gear bay or if was just me.
Greg, the straight wing f84 was the first aircraft use by the Thunderbirds. Tamiya makes that kit with the markings. The one I’m building is the swept wing F model was the most numerous and has an interesting canopy articulation. And I just love the 50s era airframe.
