Got started on my F84 with the pit. I have an Eduard pe set to add some additional details to this great looking kit that is good oob but the pe part and film instrument faces will look even better. I still have to cut off the molded foot pedals and replace them with the pe ones.
The pit tub was assembled and is ready for paint. The seat still needs the pe belts that will go on after paint is sprayed on.
have a decal sheet for colorful Thunderjets but for the E variant and my kit is a G. A little research revealed the main exterior differences are the vents on the fuselage doors and the inflight refueling door on the port inside wing on the G model and absent on the earlier E.
The kit offers both early and later reinforced canopies that appeared by late 1952. I want to use the markings of the 527th FBS, 86th FB based at Neubiberg, Germany 1952 that will require deleting the vents and refueling doors.
I pooled Plast I Weld over the light refueling door pane lines which swells up the plastic over the panel lines creating a filler. After a few hours of curing the area is carefully sanded smooth with various grits of sanding pads eliminating the panel lines.
For the door vents I cut and fitted a piece of plastic sheet and pooled the Plast I Weld over the patch causing it to ment into the area and later can be easily sanded smooth when cured. I will be using Alclad and Xtreme Metal paints and don’t want to use any putty as filler.
Short update on my F84, ready for gloss black enamel then some Alclad paints for a nmf.
Got the clear parts masked. The upgraded canopy had reinforced tape which was an off white color, not silver as the main frame is so I have those masked and after spraying them will mask again to shoot the nmf for the main frame.
The rear canopy deck got some scratch built additions and pe parts to add more details
shot the black gloss enamel in preparation for the Alclad paints. Will let this one cure for a few days then polish up the paint to get a smooth aluminum finish.
A short update on my F84. Polished the gloss black and shot the Chrome Alclad. Man that thing is like a mirror and surface prep is a must. I went with the shinier chrome cause it has a lot of masking to come for the very colorful squadron colors and will be shooting Aquagloss to protect the finish and will probably dial down the shine a notch. Will also be masking panels to get different metallic shades.
