Hobby Boss 1/72 F-84E ThunderJet

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

I bought this kit a couple of years ago from Squadron. Part of group of an “under $10 a piece” stash building purchase.

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Started it about a month ago, so it turned out to be a very fast build for me. I didn’t know what “Easy Assembly” on the box meant, I thought it was just some marketing-speak. Turns out it does mean something. The kit wasn’t a snap-tite, but it was close. I had to really work hard to get the few fit problems I did. The fuselage is all one piece, as is the wing. Put those two together and I was about 80% done with assembly.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-18_09-55-31_704.jpg)

I did have to fill a bit of the seam where the wing and fuselage joined, but it is on the bottom and not very noticeable.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-18_14-21-26_383.jpg)

The cockpit is not very detailed, but I was going to keep the canopy closed, so I could’t mess it up too bad. Here is the very last good look at it:

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-24_13-45-13_732.jpg)

I used wadded up pieces of toilet paper to fill the wheel wells, wetted down to hold in place. Tape around the perimeter of the openings to seal the edges.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-24_13-31-30_179.jpg)

Masking/painting canopies has never been one of my strong suits. This time I decided to try the “very sharp” knife technique I’ve read other people using. One section at a time, I burnished down the tape well and then using a brand new #11 blade carefully cut around the inside of the frames. It took me several sittings, but it worked out pretty good (although I didn’t do the circle well).

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-25_14-24-13_41.jpg)

Painting – rattle can. Didn’t feel like wrestling with my airbrush. I know, I know, I won’t get comfortable using it if I don’t actually use it more.

Anyway, first up was the olive drab strip down the top of the fuselage. I deliberately left the canopy uncovered so as to get the dark color on first for the interior. Can’t really tell, but I thought it would look better than the silver.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-25_16-00-35_498.jpg)

After that was dry, I masked where it was going to stay OD:

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-26_21-15-09_941.jpg)

And then silver over all. By no means anything close to NMF. It looks just like what it is, silver spray can.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-29_16-27-52_329.jpg)

Next came the unmasking. I was a bit nervous about how well the canopy would turn out. Not perfect, but it was better than any other canopy I’ve done.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-29_16-44-26_659.jpg)

Now it was time to put the bits and pieces on. I started with the main landing gear and noticed that they were bent. Both of them. Almost as if they were heated and allowed to droop.

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So, I forced them into place and clamped.

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And the final result:

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-30_18-26-00_476.jpg)

At this point I decided to dry fit the gear and see how she balanced. I was relieved to discover the plane is nose heavy. Don’t have to try to figure out how to add weight.

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-09-30_18-51-02_634.jpg)

On to decaling. On a couple of past builds, I ran into trouble using decal set (vinegar) too soon. I couldn’t get the decals positioned correctly before they started to settle down. So for this model I just stayed with water until I was happy and then after they had dried used some set (and sol now and then) to get them to snug. I tackled the trickiest decals first, the USAF on the underside of the wing. Decal came in three parts, main one for the wing and two smaller ones for the gear doors.

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I set the gear doors in place to see how well I did.

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Not too bad. Main thing I learned was I need to really look to see how the decal is going to fit to see what extra trimming I need to do. A couple of places I ended up trying to trim after the decal was in place. Would have been a heck of a lot easier to trim while still on the sheet.

Here’s the final result:

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-20-15_247.jpg)

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-20-40_710.jpg)

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-21-08_560.jpg)

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-21-46_961.jpg)

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-22-25_980.jpg)

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-22-43_297.jpg)

!(http://i496.photobucket.com/albums/rr324/padakr/F-84E Thunderjet/2011-10-08_09-23-17_859.jpg)

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Thanks for looking,

Paul

2

Beautifully done. Thanks for the review, I have been debating picking one of these up as a practice build but was unsure if it would be too burdensome for a practice swing. Sounds like it will fit the bill perfectly. I have Academy’s kit with all the AM I needed to really trick it out for my 111th Observation/Tactical Reconnaissance/Fighter/Reconnaissance Squadron but my NMF skills are too lacking for the real thing to be my first swing. Good looking F-84.

3

Thanks for the comments. I had been in a bit of a slump for a while, months and months to finish a couple of kits. Once I cleared my workbench I wanted something I could put together quickly and not get bogged down.

I think you’ve got a good idea there. It goes together very quickly, not a difficult build. Fairly ideal for practicing finishing skills.

Good luck with your build, hope to see it,

Paul

4

Paul, outstanding build! You’ve learned all the important stuff (decals, painting, masking, etc.) like we all have - trial and error. There is no teacher like experience.

I have a question, though- why mask a large area for the olive drab, then spray over a portion of it with silver, making the olive drab area smaller? I would’ve sprayed the all the silver first (minus the canopy, of course, as I understood what you were doing with the canopy framing), then masked off the areas for olive drab. Or, just spray the area for the olive drab first (like you did here) with no masking, then masking it it’s proper final size, and then spray the silver. The way you did it came out just fine. I was wondering about the thought process that took you in that direction.

Again, outstanding build! I wish all of mine came out looking that good.

5

Devil Dawg,

It was a friend’s suggestion, and after a bit of thought I agreed. I’ve had problems in the past with silver paint not sticking as well as other paint. I was afraid that masking over the silver would result in too much paint lifting off. After I masked the OD strip, I primed so it wouldn’t bleed through the silver coat.

As for masking a large area for the OD first, it wasn’t really necessary, as there was no need. As you said, I could have just sprayed the OD, then masked its area and sprayed primer and silver as I did.

Paul

6

Well, it looks great, regardless of how you masked it. Just goes to show there’s more than one way to do something. That’s the great aspect about this hobby - there is no one right way to do anything. Whatever works for you, go for it!

What’s your next build gonna be?

7

Looks great! Thanks for the build review - I have one of these, and should really build it. Not sure how I’d have done the round section of the canopy, micro-mask maybe? I’m guessing the silver coat is quite a thick one? A thinner coat might show where the over-spray for the olive-drab was? Anyway, it looks great!

8

Paul,

I think it looks awesome! I’ve got a real soft spot in my heart for those '50’s era jets. I’d say you did a bang-up job on that kit and I’d be proud to have ti sitting on my shelves. I built Hobby Boss’s 1/72 A-10 two-seater and loved the single piece wing and the single piece fuselage. Building something so simple make me concentrate more on the “fun” aspect of model building and I enjoyed it immensely. I can see from your build that I’ll have to pick up their F-84 as well.

As for the painting the O.D. first, to be honest, I would have done it your way as well. If I knew I was going to be using silver from a rattle can, I’d paint the O.D. first. I’d rather mask that off first rather than try to mask the silver first with hopes that none of it lifts off with the tape no matter how great of care I took with it.

A couple of tid bits of info to kick around. I’m about 90% done with a 1/48 P-51 and I used SnJ spray metal powder on it which I applied over a gloss white base coat. After you get the powder polished in, you can mask over that stuff with the worst tape you’ve got and it will NOT lift off! In my case, I polished the plane first and then I masked off and painted the O.D. anti-glare panel on the nose and not a single bit of silver lifted off with the tape.

Secondly, I know you said that your result looked exactly like what it was: silver paint out of a rattle can. Have you ever tried masking off just a couple panels to paint with a different tone of silver? I think if you tried that in order to achieve a more tonal effect, you’ll be mega happy with the results.

Great looking F-84 again! I really like those markings!

Eric

9

Your “easy assembly” kit turned out sweet, and with a silver finish to boot! I have one of their F4F-3s in my stash and want to do it with an open cockpit … I am still pondering how the heck to fit a pilot figure down into that pre-molded and veryyyyyyyyyyyyy confined looking tub.

10

Devil Dawg - Thanks again. I am now working on a 1/35 Willys jeep that I want to use for a diorama (my first).

Centhot - I think the thickness of the Tamiya tape was a problem in getting a good circle. I might try some parafilm next time. I have tried it before without much success, but I don’t think I used a brand new blade. The silver was out of a spray can, so it was thicker than an airbrush coat, but I also used a gray primer before it, so it would cover the OD.

Eric - Thanks. Never heard of spray powder. Not sure if I’m ready for it. I still need to start using my airbrush with regular paint more than I currently do. And the different shades for different panels is another technique I haven’t tried yet. That would definitely be easier with an AB.

mfsob - Yeah, I don’t think these kits are a good base for a lot of scratch or AM, you would have to an awful lot of surgery to just open it up.

Paul

11

Paul, to mask off the circular area on the canopy, use a drop of white glue. Just place it on the area you don’t want painted. Mix it with a couple drops of water and a single drop of dishwashing soap. That’s what I use to mask off all of my canopies ESPECIALLY the ones loaded with framework (like on my B-36). Use a toothpick and fine pointed brushes to spread it around and really get in those corners. After the glue has dried (it does so super quick!), paint your canopy and when the paint is dry, simply peel off the dried glue. Voila! Perfectly sharp frames!

As for the powder, simply spray paint your model gloss white (“gloss” being the important word). I know some people will also pick out certain panels with gloss black or gloss blue. When all the paint has dried, take the powder which looks like silver talcum powder or toner powder and buff it onto your model using cotton balls or an old, soft cotton T-shirt. Instant perfection. Won’t lift off with tape. Won’t leave fingerprints. The Solvaset I’m using right now to place my decals has zero detrimental effect on the finish.

Eric