Here is my latest completed build, the 1/72 Trumpeter F-105D Thunderchief. I combined this kit with the Airwaves Resin T-Stick II spine to create a Thud from the 457th Texas Air Force Reserve from Carswell AFB cira 1980.
The conversion was pretty straight forward. I used a razor saw to remove the kit spine and once the fuselage was glues together, I super glued the new resin spine in place and filled and sanded it to fit.
The Trumpeter Thud is a nice kit, much better than the ancient Hasegawa offering. One thing to watch out for is the exhaust pipe – the kit would have you place it too far into the fuselage. It should be just about even with the end of the fuselage. The main gear is also a bit tricky to get right. I did replace the cockpit and wheels with Aires Resin sets. I also replace the engine cooling scoops on the fuselage sides with Quickboost parts. I used a centerline MER and pylon from the spares box – it might be from a Monogram Thud kit come to think of it. I also added brake lines to the gear with fine copper wire.
The model was painted with Model Master enamels sprayed with my trusty Paasche H airbrush.
The decals were the tough part. I’ve wanted to do a Texas AFRES bird for a while but the decals were always the problem. When I saw one of the latest boxing of the afore mentioned Hasegawa kit had them, I had to pick this one up just for the decals (sad I know). When I started using them on the model however, I was disappointed to see that the Hasegawa white isn’t really white. It was more of an off-white color, drat. This didn’t fly with me and being the perfectionist that I am (which is why I only seem to finish something every 3 or months), this wasn’t going to work. Luckily I had the presence of mind to scan the Hasegawa sheet before I used it. I had a replacement set made in pure white and I was all set. The stencils and other various markings are from the Trumpeter kit and various Microscale decals from my spare decal collection.
I've got several other kits in the works, hopefully I can get another one finished up soon
-Derek
