Monogram 1/48 F-100 Super Sabre x 2 - COMPLETED

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

OK FSM, keeping with my theme of “Pairs” for 2023, I dug around my stash and pulled out a couple of old Monogram “white box” F-100s. These will give me something to work on when the Hueys reach a stopping point.

These two will be my third pair of the year so far. To this point, I’ve gotten a pair of OH-6s and a pair of OH-58s done. There is a pair of UH-1s in the works now. I think I’ll work on these two alongside the Hueys.

There are no plans for markings yet. There are other challenges I need to tackle before I can get to the paint and markings stage. I’ll be posting progress as it gets made.

Stay tuned!

-O

2

O, I built this kit a few years ago and it was sort of a tough build. The fit between the upper and lower fuselage halves is not exact. Be sure to test fit the halves before committing to glue and adjust as needed. I didn’t test fit and had to do a lot of filling and sanding between the wings and horizontal stabilizers. When you’ve completed the builds, you will have a nice looking models on the shelf.

3

Definitely a cool aircraft, O, and the cockpit on this one is a reminder of how far ahead of the game Monogram was with that back in those days. The cockpit detail is actually extremely well done.

One thing you’ll love about that silver plastic is that it leaves sharply-defined shadows of the panel lines so you can re-scribe them after they all get sanded off during all of the sanding and filling that Frank mentioned. I also eliminated the kit wing spar…not only to make seam elimination easier since I can now put the wings on after the fuselage gets closed up using a sheet styrene spar, but the kit wing spar is about 1/16 of an inch too wide, so it leaves a HUGE gap between the wing and one side of the fuselage.

4

Cool choice O - though I was enjoying the helo pairs. The image of that boxtop brings back memories.

5

Frank, that’s a great looking build. I really like how you represented the burnt areas. That’s one of the challenges I forsee with these kits. After fondling the plastic, I see a lot of the fit problems you and Eaglecash described.

John, I am enjoying the helos, too, but I wanted something a little different. I have some UH-1Ns and some Apaches that I want to build up. Maybe I’ll go back to the whirlybirds after these fast-movers are done.

-O

6

I remember these aircraft showing up sometimes at Little Rock. They always had the aft section burned. It made for an interesting photo when I could sneak one in on the transit ramp. Why they never had enough insulation back there was a mystery, but it did set them apart from the other fighters that would show up and our A.N.G. F-101 and RF-101cs.

As bad as the fit could be, they were still a leap ahead of the other kit manufactures of the 70s, and it would be hard to beat the detail they had.

7

Hello O!

I’m looking forward to seeing you tackle these babies! The Hun is a classic, that’s for sure. What paint schemes do you have in mind for these? Good luck with your builds and have a nice day

Paweł

8

Hey Pawel, thanks for the encouragement. As far as schemes go, I have an idea for one. At least one will be the old “silver” with hi-vis schemes. I’m just not sure what squadron yet. I’m toying with a SEA scheme for the other. Maybe an airframe as it appeared over Vietnam. I’m still figuring it out.

Cheers!

-O

9

Since you have the early white box issues of the kit, you should be in better shape as far as fit issues. The molds were fairly new for those boxings.

As far as markings go, the early Huns in Vietnam were in a silver finish, and then switched over to the SEA camo scheme as the war went on.

10

Hey stik, thanks for chiming in. One will be a pre-Vietnam airframe in the overall silver lacquer, but I’m still not sure about the second. Since I’m doing one silver, I’m leaning towards the second being camo. Probably a Vietnam aircraft.

-O

11

Hey FSM, while some putty dries on my Hueys, I turned my attention to my Sabres.

There were a few decal options available on that auction site, and I let my wife pick which ones she liked most. As it turns out, she picked the same markings as the ones on Frank’s build.

I bought Aeromaster’s sheet, 48-790…

and I will be building FW-640.

This is a pre-Vietnam airframe, so (I understand) I can use the kit’s drop tanks.

I started by closing up the panels. They don’t fit very well. This is the ammo bay cover.

The gun cover on the lower fuselage half fits just as poorly. You can see above that cleaning up the seam led to some lost raised detail.

Speaking of losing detail, it seems as though cleaning up the fuselage joints will also lead to lost raised detail. Here you can see how the rear of the fuselages don’t line up well.

So, in an effort to make sure those seams as are good as I can get them, I removed the stabilizers (as you probably noticed above) to help with access.

One thing I noticed about the kit is that it includes two different afterburner sections, so the modeler can build an airframe from two different eras. Interestingly, those parts have engraved panel lines, although they are shallow and faint.

Now I have to decide if I want to rescribe the airframes, or if I want to try to replace the lost raised details with resin options, like Archer’s.

Oh! I also got the cockpits started. Here’s some preliminary work to prove that I’m not lying.

So, these are officially in the works. I’ll be going back and forth between these and the Hueys. I can see I have my work cut out for me…

Stay tuned!

-O

12

Good progress, O. That F-100 build is when I started painting marking on my builds. For all of the black lettering I cut stencils on my Silhouette Portrait vinyl cutter. The rest of the markings are from the same decal set your wife chose for your build.

I hadn’t thought to cut off the tail wings like you did. Eliminating the seam line between the wings and stabilizers was a nightmare!

13

Frank, after seeing the mismatch between the top and bottom fuselage halves, I figured filling and sanding that joint would be a nightmare. Especially while trying to preserve the raised detail. Cutting off the stabilizers just made sense. I’m sure doing so will make things easier.

Speaking of sense (or having none) and (not) making things easier, I decided to go ahead and rescribe both airframes. I got the wings and stabilizers done…

…and started on one of the fuselages.

The scribing is tedious, so I’m only going to be doing small stretches at a time to avoid burning out. I’ve been doing some here-and-there when my Hueys reach a stopping point. I think these Huns are going to be a couple of long-run projects.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by. Comments, questions and criticisms are welcome.

Stay tuned!

-O

14

Rescribing the panel lines on those two models?

I admire your tenacity, O.

15

Tenacity, Frank? You’re too kind. I was thinking insanity, absurdity, folly, lunacy, idiocy, stupidity…

I blame you, Frank. You knew better. You should’ve stopped me. [:P]

16

When I see such determination, I just stand back and watch the scene play out.

Plus, I know when the builds are complete, they will be awesome!

17

Here’s a couple shots of camoflaged aircraft.

18

Silver and camo in the same flight here…

19

Thanks for the inspiration gang! I really like that silver jet closest to the camera. Poses some interesting weathering challenges.

-O

20

These things have a lot of panels.

sigh

So, the scribing continues…

I have made progress on this pair, but before you get too excited, know there isn’t much to get excited about. Still, progress is progress, no matter how small.

So, I’m continuing with the scribing. (Surprised? Shouldn’t be.) I was able to get the afterburner sections done. I threw on a quick wash to check my work.

I think they look pretty good.

The fuselage pieces are coming along.

I also got some work done on the under-wings-things. One of these airframes will be a pre-Vietnam era jet, so the kit provided “small” tanks will work. I got them assembled and cleaned up. I still need to replace some of the detail.

The other airframe will be a Vietnam ear airframe, so I had to buy some “big” resin replacement tanks. They’re on order, so while I wait for those to arrive (and to take a break from the scribing) I started on the ordnance.

So, that’s where things are with the Huns. I’m keepin’ on with the scribing, but I’m also tinkering with a pair of Apaches when I get bored with the F-100s. Stay tuned for more progress!

As usual, comments, questions, and criticisms are welcome.

-O