F-107E - 1/48 scale

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
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Scratchbuilt F-107E The basis was the painting and 3-view of the TF-107 trainer in William Simone’s F-107A book. I later saw an Aero Modeler magazine F-107 article with variant profiles, some using the radome/avionics from an A-5 Vigilante, and although I was nearly done with the construction as first intended, I cut off the nose forward of the canopy-break and scratchbuilt the additional sections, plus the larger radome, built up from styrene to form the wider nose-extension and radome. The only other alteration I made was to add a Vulcan cannon-muzzle to the fuselage; the installation is seen in Simone’s book, but never contemplated seriously as a replacement for the M-39 cannons, but I built it on anyway, fairing over the other gun-ports on the opposite side. By this point I had stripped/repainted the model several times because of the extra construction and changeovers, including the addition of a taller tailfin, Vigilante-style wing-strakes, and an enclosed afterburner extension; starting a fourth paint-scheme,I decided to make it a mid-seventies version. The overall color was Krylon Bahama Blue, which seems a good match for the weathered ADC colors of F-106s at the time. The tailfin and center-tank markings were from an aftermarket 1/72 scale F-106 decal sheet, the other markings were from the spares box, with the “Diana”/WW eagle-crest noseart handpainted. The formation strips were strips of yellow Goldberg trim-sheet with pen-markings. Much of the original engraved detailing had been removed or painted over to the point it was simply gone, so I just laid all the panel-lines with pen, and weathered it with charcoal pencils. The remainder of the painted detail was hand-brushed with acrylics or Pentel brush-pens. The PETG vacform canopy was done with the usual 3-step Future dip-and drip. Finish coats were Krylon Satin Clear and Matte.

The missile pylons were rebuilt parts from a Fujimi F-4, with added strips for the rails; the Falcons from a Monogram F-106, and the Sidewinders from the spares box. The center-tank is a wood piece turned on hobby-lathe; the wing-tanks are from a Monogram F-100 that were already finished in camo, but I decided to leave the paint as is, and only changed the pylon color to match the overall scheme (have seen photos of similar mix-and-match variations).

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1198

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1199

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1200

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1201

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1206

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1203

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1204

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1205

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1207

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/f107va…to&PhotoID=1208

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Hey Orne… welcome to the forum. And you can just cut that out right now mister! you’re gonna make the rest of use look bad[;)]

Exceptional work[tup]

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[#ditto] [swg]

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Excellent work Orne [tup]. Thanks for sharing.

Regards, Rick

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WOW! Excellent.

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Outstanding work.

Roy

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Welcome to the forum. This is a great model of a very unusual airplane.

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Beautiful job Orne. [#welcome] to the forums. What a cool airplane -I’ve never seen it before. The intake really makes it stand out.

9

Beautiful work on a very menacing looking aircraft. Your building skills are truly superb.

Darwin, O.F. [alien]

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Well, thanx for the kind words, but I’m not new to the forum; check over on the SF section under “NCC-1701 Year 5”. I build a lot of SF models, custom cars, some armor, ships/subs, space, and practically everything that has had a prop to turn or jet to burn. The F-107 has always been a favorite; my first model was the Aurora F-107 kit.

Pretty much everything else I build, sculpt, or paint:

http://groups.msn.com/InfinityReach/

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Great job on a great subject.

It was a shame that the F-107 was never produced, beyond the three prototypes. Both Scott Crossfield and Bob Hoover have said that it was one of the best aircraft they had flown. There are two of the three F-107’s still in exsistence. One is in the Pima (AZ) Air Museum, and the other is in the USAF Museum in Dayton Ohio. The third aircraft suffered some damage in a landing (blown tire) and was used for firefighter training as there was no budget to repair it. The last pilot to fly that aircraft was Scott Crossfield.

Now if only someone would produce a 1/48th scale model (other than the resin model that cost an arm and a leg).

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Know about the one at Pima - after the Pheonix Nats a few years ago, we drove in the opposite direction all the way to the museum so I could sketch details and get pictures of the bird. (I do not recommend anyone try this in August without working AC - the only time I was cool was while standing next to the 107 in the middle of a driving thunderstorm.) Ranger - email me about your last sentence: rebelllion@coam.net

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Great looking build of a stunning aircraft.

Karl

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Orne,

I have tried to e-mail this to you but cannot seem to get through so here it is.

1/48th F-107A resin, white metal, and vacuum formed parts. Made by Collect Aire, catalog number 4831. MSRP $129.99.

If there is something else you want to discuss let me know. I have a few hundred pictures of the F-107As (all three aircraft) and may have photos you can use for detailing areas of the model.