I built these along with, not for, a couple of group builds on other sites. I thought I’d post some pix here so you guys could take a look too.
This is a long one, but I’m proud of my work, so please bear with me.
After being away from the hobby for a long time, I finally finished my second project since my return. These are only my third and fourth kits in close to 10 years. My first project (first and second kits) was a pair of Testors P-51D Mustangs. These Thuds are Revellogram’s 1/48 D and F models. They were both started many moons ago, then relegated to model purgatory while life got in the way. The D I bought new, but the F I picked up second hand. I built them mostly OOB with a mishmash of aftermarket and kit decals, and a Bullpup, HARM, and ECM pod from…somewhere.
The squadron codes are real, but the serials and other minor details are not. I’m one of those, “if it looks cool, it’s good enough for me” guys. I don’t know if 357th F-models ever had the shark’s mouth, but c’mon, shark mouths just look cool. Especially on WW birds! The markings on the HARM and Bullpup aren’t 100% accurate, but the stripes add a little visual interest to the ordnance. Also, I don’t know if the Vietnam Fs (or any Thuds for that matter) carried this particular ECM. It’s what I had and it looked part. At least I think so. And that’s all that really matters, right?
Anyway, lurking on various modeling sites has allowed me to pick up a few pointers. Many of which I tried for the first time on these builds. For the most part, I’m happy with the way they came out. They’re not contest winners, but hey, I don’t compete. They’re solid “3 foot models,” as one board member so eloquently put it (Hi Don W!) and I’m OK with that. There are definitely things I’m pleased with, and a couple that I’m disappointed with. At least now I know what I have to work on with my next build.
So, how about we check out the Thuds? I’ll provide some commentary as we go.
Here are both:
This is my first attempt at SEA camo. Ever! The marking’s and paint’s “weathered” look came from using a combo of pre- and post-shading, watercolor washes, and pastels. ALL were a “first” for me.
After priming everything with my trusty Badger 175 and the lower camo color (light grey FS 36622), I pre-shaded with MM Aircraft Interior Black. After that, I drew the camo pattern onto the upper surfaces with a pencil. Next, I freehanded the outline/demarcation for the Dark Tan. Then I masked the tan using Silly Putty (I saw that trick in an old FSM issue), and sprayed the Medium Green outline. Next, I masked the Dark Green demarcation and sprayed that. Finally, I lightened each color with the same grey I used to prime, then went back and filled each color’s respective area, using light passes until I got the shade I wanted. After everything was painted, I lightened each color a little more, and went back and picked out some random panels. The markings were toned down with a few shots of a super-thin mixture of the base camo color. Although I think I could’ve toned the colors down a little bit more. (Firsts!)
The stripes on the D’s bombs were painted. I “primed” the bombs with yellow, and then cut thin strips of electrical tape to use as masking. I like electrical tape to mask around compound curves because it stretches. It has a nice elasticity to it that allows it to follow contours nicely. Plus, as you stretch it to match the curve, it pulls taut and leaves as nice sharp line with little glue residue. To paint, I sprayed both medium green and different “faded” shades of OD over the yellow to get the look I wanted. Oh, and the 750-pounders on the outboard pylons of the D? I used a pair that was in the F’s box. I think they look better than the 500-pounders that the instructions call for.
Speaking of ordnance, I “pinned” all the ordnance and gas bags to their pylons, and then to the kits. That is, I drilled holes in the pylons with corresponding holes in the ordnance and/or kits, and used small pieces of wire (paper clips actually) and super glue to stick everything together. (Another first!)
I ran into a small problem with the D’s centerline MER. When I built the assembly, I glued the bombs to the rack before mating it to the plane. In doing so, found that the vertical fins of the rearmost bombs obstructed the MER from sitting flush against the plane’s belly. I had to sand down the fins until it was close enough. If I would’ve kept sanding until the MER sat flush, the short fins would’ve been totally noticeable. My opinion is a small gap between the bomb bay and the MER is less noticeable than missing bomb fins. One thing I did with the MER before painting and assembly was hollow out the space between the rack and the pylon. (Another first!) It’s not really all that evident, but it was good practice.
The gear bays were painted MM flat white, the struts were painted MM steel, and both were given a watercolor wash. I picked out the molded-on lines on the struts with red and black to represent various hoses. The landing gear and main bays were left dirty, even though it may look heavy handed, because that’s what my 1:1 pics showed. I didn’t bother with the nose bay’s wash. Because of its depth, nothing would’ve been visible anyway. The landing lights on both the nose and main gear were hollowed out, painted gloss silver, and filled with watch crystal cement from Micro Mark to represent the bulb. (Thanks for the tip Fred, aka Gigatron.) It doesn’t look exactly like the real thing, but I think it looks better than the kits molded bulbs. At least this first attempt gave me some practice for my next build. (All firsts!)
For the Bullpup on the F, I cut an extra fuel tank free from its pylon. Using some thick stock, I chopped and shaped an adapter rail to use between the missile and the pylon. The HARM and ECM pod were painted up, detailed, and attached to their pylons too. Before I pinned everything together, I detailed the missiles using some spare decals, and a wash on all three. (All firsts!)
As I said earlier, the squadron codes are real, but the serials are not. I ran across an old “nose art” decal sheet in my spares box that I got years ago from Starship Modeler. I’m not into SciFi, but a random web search pulled up a sheet of cool pin-up style art. The sheet included other random markings besides the eye candy. One was this “Lucky Strike,” and others included the four individual playing card suits. I cobbled together this particular nose art thinking it would go perfectly with the fictional “777” serial. Something that I found a little wonky was the left side of the shark’s mouth. Aeromaster didn’t cut out the gun port. It’s not like it was difficult for me to do, I just found that a little “interesting.” After the mouth decal had dried, I went back with a new #11 blade and cut out the gun port outline. All the decals snuggled down nicely with a dousing or two of Microsol.
While we’re on the subject of the shark mouth, let me tell you about a scare I had. After coming around the last turn and starting down the home stretch, I had a decal lift off. Not an entire decal, but rather a large piece of it. I noticed that I hadn’t painted the antennas and strike camera under the nose of my F. I had already sealed the decals with MM dullcote so figured it was safe to mask over the decals to paint what I missed. I was wrong. A large part of the shark’s mouth came up with the tape. Luckily, I was able to remove it from the tape in one whole piece. After a frantic appeal for help on a couple of modeling boards, Ross M came to my rescue and suggested I use a little Future as a “bonding” solution. I brushed on a little Future and slid the decal piece into place. After I lined the torn piece up with the rest of the mouth, I brushed a little more future over the tear, just to help seal everything up. The Future’s since dried and I’ve re-sprayed a coat of flat. If you didn’t know the decal had torn, you’d be none the wiser!
Before:
After:
I remember buying the F kit second hand. When I opened it up, I found that it had a few extra parts from another -105 kit. Specifically, it had an extra set of exhaust petals. Instead of following the instructions and building the D kit with one “drooped” petal, I used an extra petal and built all four in the “extended” position. The F was built following the instructions with the standard “flaccid” petal. The exhausts were painted using non-buffing MM Metalizers. (Another first!) To start, they were “primed” with Steel, highlighted with Burnt Metal, then finally toned down with another misting of Steel. Lastly, I glued the stabilizers on both kits off center to give the builds a little visual variation.
None of the canopies have been glued on yet. I’m kicking around the idea of hacking up some pilot figures and posing them in the cockpits. (Will be a first.) For now, the canopies sit snugly enough to leave on without attaching them.
I’d say my biggest disappointment with my build is the wing/fuse joint. I mentioned earlier that these are OLD kits. I’ve had them for a long time. Back when I originally started them, I had the fuselage and wings joined before they were relegated to modeling limbo. When I pulled ‘em out, I snapped the wings free in order to facilitate painting. The snug wing joint was a casualty of the rebuild. I didn’t bother with filling because I didn’t want to lose the raised panel line detail. That’s something I’ll address with my next Thud. (Yes, there will be others.)
I’m also a little bummed that there was minor silvering under some decals. I used Future for the first time as my gloss coat beneath the decals, and before the flat coat went on, they all looked like they sealed up nicely against the gloss. There was no evidence of any silvering. I used Microsol as my solution, and everything seemed to snuggle down nicely. Luckily, it seems that the misting of the lightened base colors to tone down my decals covered the silvering…and I can live with that. After the flat coat was sprayed, one thing I noticed about the Future was, in some places, you can still see a bit of a sheen beneath the flat coat. And speaking of the flat coat, it orange-peeled on me. Not everywhere, just in some places. That was another drag. Although it’s not that bad, seeing as the orange peel gave the finish a little weather beaten look to it. Again…I can live with it. Unfortunately, these were the biggest downers and they involved the last two steps in the build process. I wasn’t about to strip everything off and try again. Chalk it up to a learning experience!
Oh, and before you eagle-eyed modelers ask, the lack of blade antennae and the Y-dumps on both kits can be attributed to the Carpet Monster…even though we have tile. Just so you know.
Anyway, thanks for taking the time to check out my builds and read my write up. Feel free to let loose with the comments and criticisms. I appreciate your feedback.
Cheers!
-O
