Scratch built F-80C Shooting Star

Modeling Subjects Scratchbuilding
1

Good afternoon everyone

I haven’t been on this forum for a good few months as I have been visiting family and friends in the States and I just got back home to my office before all the lock downs due to Coronavirus!..what a terrible state of affairs for all of us and I do hope that you all are staying safe in your self isolation!

The only positive I can think of whilst isolating for us modellers is of course hopefully more bench time!

I am in the process of scratch building a 1:20 scale B17G but I really needed a break from it …so I thought I would have a go at the F-80C.

Just love the lines of the F-80 and I’m interested in jet aircraft of this era…early 50s!

I wanted to see if I could build it in 1:48 scale out of the usual materials I build in …which is balsa wood /card/wire…well anything which looks useful I guess…and as usual I am building this the old school of modeling way…ie no C.A.D ,special tools…just look at photos of the real thing and try to use the materials I have to replicate an aircraft the best I can.

I have actually finished this build but thought I would show you some photos I took whilst building it…so it’s not in real time (hence the quick photo upload!)

So lets start…

First up…I searched for some decent scale plans of the Shooting Star and re scaled them to 1:48

I started on the fuselage…

Formers were glued into place and the cockpit and front wheel well area were prepared…

Mustn’t forget the lead weight in the nose as she will sit tail heavy…something I always forget to do!!!

Next up I filled the gaps between the stringers with scrap balsa…something I always do so that I can sand down to the stringers and get a good shape of the fuselage.

Here is the fuselage sanded down and the tail unit (made from balsa wood) and the wing roots and fillets prepared…

Balsa wood wings were then shaped from a block and fitted to the wing roots…

It was time to build up a basic cockpit…I say basic as I wanted to display this F-80 with the canopy closed…(the aircraft looks better that way in my opinion!) so actually you wouldn’t see much of the detail anyway…

I wanted to try something completely different than how I normally skin my scratch built aircraft and that was to cut each panel separately from a sheet of sticky back silver paper. This took me a few days I have to say but I was pleasantly surprised with the end result. As I cut each panel out I made the rivet markings with a pin as I went along…as hopefully you might see!!

The air intakes on either side were a nightmare I might add!!

I am about half way through the photos now so I will have a break and get back to the completion of this F-80 either later or tomorrow!

Thanks for looking in …and please stay safe out there!

Cheers

Fozzy

2

That is incredible work!!!

How long has it taken you to do what you have shown here?

3

Now that is old school modeling! Can’t wait to see the final product.

Thanks for showing us!

Gary

4

Wow!

5

Whoa! I’m an assembler - you are a modeler!

6

Looks nice!

I have not built a jet yet with frame and stringers. Have to try that some time myself. I do build scratch older planes without many compound curves, but for sleak airplanes I chicken out and resort to carved solid models.

7

Thanks guys for all your interest!

It took me about 3 weeks to get to this stage and approximately 2 months to finish it…give or take a day!..cheers!

8

Hi Don

I was the same as you…I hadn’t tried to constuct a jet…especially this way for the exact same reasons as you…but I just had to give it a go.There were a few tears on the way especially on the air intakes but hopefully won the battle in the end!..you know what scratch building’s like…never give up on the tough challenges else you will never get to the finish line!..cheers!

9

Afternoon to you all!

Thanks for the replies to yesterdays post…and here are the remaining photos I took whilst tackling this build!

I left off yesterday starting to skin the fuselage and wings with sticky back silver paper and here is the end result!..

The main undercarriage wheel wells were next…odd bits of plastic was used for this…

Here are the 6 x 12.7mm machine guns in place in the nose.I drilled out the holes and glued wire insulation that represented the barrels…

…and the tail pipe was made by a wrapped piece of paper pushed through another hole that I drilled out!..

Now came the hardest part!

Of course I had to get together my own markings for this F-80C.The national insignia was taken from my stash of kit decals I collected over the years and unfortunately I had to hand paint the rest. The way I do it is hand paint the markings on a piece of baking foil (nice and thin)… and when dry …simply glue them in place!..actually it wasn’t that simple!..this is why I chose this particular F-80…F9696…as it was easier to replicate the markings!

Here are some of the markings cut out from the foil…

So the next 6 photos are of all the markings in place…

The two tip tanks were made from a couple of old kit bombs that I had to cut and shape up a bit!..

The main wheels made from balsa wood…

The nose wheel was stolen from an old kit and attached to the scratch built undercarriage leg…

Here is a shot of the reflector gun site…or a bunch of pieces of scrap plastic glued together!!

The last 3 photos are of the undercarriage …

So …that’s it!

I forgot to take a photo of the canopy that I vac formed…but you can see it in this very last photo of this post.

I don’t normally scratch build jets as I find them difficult to do…I find prop jobs easier for some reason…but I really wanted to give it a try…not sure if I would do another one…just yet!

I am going to post some completed shots in RFI in a bit…but for now…thanks for your interest in this build!

Stay safe everyone and cheers!

Fozzy

10

She is a real silver beauty! And your construction & finishing techniques are a feast for the eyes! Bravo! [t$t]

11

Foz> Ah, that’s great! Can’t complain about model inaccuracies when you build them yourself! [;)]

That sticky silver duct tape is good stuff. I intend to use it extensively when I do my scratch-built Saturn-1b!

Gary

12

Thanks guys![:D]

13

Really nice ! The metal effect is particularly well done.

I wondered how to make the engine cowl for my scratch built bush aircraft. Maybe the use of aluminium should do the job…

14

Thanks mate!..I once scratch built a cowling for a SE5a and I made it from a piece of annealed Coca Cola can…it’s really easy and effective…maybe you could try that?..here is a photo of one side of the cowling

Cheers!

15

What scale is that? Beautiful! I take it that is a Hisso.

16

Hi Don…yes its a Hispano!..the engine is made from balsa wood and is in 1:20 scale!..along with the SE5a ofcourse…

Cheers

17

Hey, Foz!

Would you ever consider building a plane to scale completely out of soda can aluminum? I had a neighbor that had one in his office and he never could tell me where he got it. Just on his travels. The thing was a complete in scale Beech Staggerwing in Natural metal. Like yours, it was awesome.

I never thought of filling the spaces on a balsa frame like that. I’ll have to try that on a ship. Then adding the plate detail in aluminum

18

I have thought about building an engine for one of my models…just to see if I can!..maybe I will try one day!..I saw a lot of those coca cola can models when I traveled over Vietnam back in the early 90s but they were pretty basic models …not like what your describing!..interesting…any photos?

Filling in between the frames really strengthens the fuselage and gives a really good base for skinning I find!..Cheers!

19

Amazing job, Foz!

I’m wondering though if you have you considered using a vacuum-former for plastic scale models? I saw this machine that is being used by a maker on YouTube when creating an RC body from scratch… it has industrial strength and digital intelligence and by far, the most advanced desktop vacuum former i have seen. You can check them out here: http://www.vaquform.com

Keep up the good work, Foz!

20

Hi there

Yes I have seen these vac formers before but I wouldn’t ever buy one…not only are they expensive but I believe…and this is just my humble opinion…that this type of technology takes the art out of scratch building!

At the end of the day the former would take away the challenge and the fun of trying to build the model yourself!..the same goes for after market supplies that you can buy for your model…why not scratch the parts yourself I always think!..or at least have a go?

As I said before…its only how I feel and work as a modeller…good luck to those who want and can afford them!

Cheers

Fozzy