Revell 1/48 Scale F-105D Thunderchief

A hint on weathering... apply the markings first, seal them in with another gloss coat where needed, then do your weathering. The markings would be subject to the same conditions and weathering at the same pace as the rest of the airframe.

Hi stikpusher, thanks for the encouragement.  Yes, I am still at the bottom of the learning curve, and trying to learn from my mistakes.  It's kinda frustrating, I can make pretty good practice lines and other shapes on my flat styrene practice sheet.  With decent control of thickness, shading, etc.  I also did ok on the plane.  But when I start spraying the drop tanks, I can't see what's happening, and I usually don't notice the spatter, pooling, overspray, etc. until it's too late.

This afternoon I said F it, just get it good enough where I can barely live with it and move on.  I needed a break, Tommy's is having chili cheeseburgers on sale for $2.49 each, so I got a couple with some chili fries.  For those of you in the LA area, the sale ends tomorrow night so grab your $2.49 chili cheeseburgers while you can!  My attitude usually improves with a full stomach, so I think I will try to fix the tanks tomorrow.  I read about a technique where you roll some masking tape into a thin cylinder and use that to mask feathered edges.  I admit defeat for now, I am clearly not able to freehand this yet, so think I will give the rolled masking tape a try.

For the plane, I added the Quick Shine (future) clear coat and letting it dry overnight.  So I will be ready to start post shading, fluid stains, etc.  This is the part of model making I enjoy the most, and that gives me the most satisfaction in making the model look real, at least in my eyes.  The hard part is knowing when to stop, it is so easy to overdo the weathering.

Not bad at all, drop tank excluded. There is always a learning curve, be it with new equipment or materials. You'll master these paints soon. 

Finished painting the fuel tanks, what a disaster.  For some reason I had far more difficulty than the plane.  I really need to work on control for the dual action airbrush trigger.  Too many problems to list here, I hope I will get better as I get more practice.  Eventually it got to the point where the more I tried to fix it, the worse it seemed to get.  So I had to decide, do I remove all the paint and start over, or try to get it barely acceptable and move on.  I chose to just get it barely acceptable.

When it comes to panel lines, there seems to be two schools of thought.  Some say panel lines should not be highlighted, since at proper scale they are barely visible, if at all.  Others seem to highlight each and every panel line.  My personal preference lies somewhere in the middle.  I like to show the panel lines, but I don't like them to dominate the model.

Way back, I used gray rattle can primer on the plane.  Then I sprayed the base coat acrylic camo.  By lightly sanding the panel lines with 1000 grit sandpaper, I can expose the gray primer underneath.  It isn't the same as the raw umber panel line washes I use with recessed panel lines, but I actually like it almost as much.  Especially considering how fast and easy it is.  Later today I will apply the Quick Shine, then be ready for final weathering.

The picutres show the panel lines on one side of the model, while the other side still needs to be sanded.  The other picture is a closer view of the right side of the engine area.

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burrito king

Thanks to all for the compliments and encouragement. The Mig acrylic does seem to provide a smooth finish, even for a novice airbrusher like me. Just a minor complaint, the Mig tan seems a little too much on the orange side. But when I google FS 30219, there is some variation in the results so I can't say whether it's right or wrong. Just my personal preference is for a slightly less orange tone like the model master enamel had. But overall I love the Mig's smooth finish and ease of use.

I will definitely keep my eyes open for a 105G build in the near future, can't wait to see it. And that's a great photo of a Thud refueling on its way to downtown Hanoi. Every time I work on the model I think about the pilots who flew those missions. One day I hope they make a movie about it.

Just a few points about the camo, my camo pattern is a bit off compared to the instructions and the photos. But overall I think I have the colors in the right places. And there is a lot af variation among the planes, so I guess no two were exactly alike anyway. Also, my feathering is way off scale, it is way to fuzzy. But it looks better to me that way, so I am happy. Finally, I had some spattering at some of the feathered edges. Seems like this happens when I get tip drying or when the air pressure drops. So I had to do a lot of touch-up. I started the fuel tanks and I am having trouble with those feathered edges. I just can't make the airbrush do what I want, I am still trying to get the hang of it. I see some touch up in my near future.

 

Thanks to all for the compliments and encouragement. The Mig acrylic does seem to provide a smooth finish, even for a novice airbrusher like me. Just a minor complaint, the Mig tan seems a little too much on the orange side. But when I google FS 30219, there is some variation in the results so I can't say whether it's right or wrong. Just my personal preference is for a slightly less orange tone like the model master enamel had. But overall I love the Mig's smooth finish and ease of use.

I will definitely keep my eyes open for a 105G build in the near future, can't wait to see it. And that's a great photo of a Thud refueling on its way to downtown Hanoi. Every time I work on the model I think about the pilots who flew those missions. One day I hope they make a movie about it.

Just a few points about the camo, my camo pattern is a bit off compared to the instructions and the photos. But overall I think I have the colors in the right places. And there is a lot af variation among the planes, so I guess no two were exactly alike anyway. Also, my feathering is way off scale, it is way to fuzzy. But it looks better to me that way, so I am happy. Finally, I had some spattering at some of the feathered edges. Seems like this happens when I get tip drying or when the air pressure drops. So I had to do a lot of touch-up. I started the fuel tanks and I am having trouble with those feathered edges. I just can't make the airbrush do what I want, I am still trying to get the hang of it. I see some touch up in my near future.

Looking real good in the camoufalge warpaint! Very nicely done sir!

Won't be too much longer before she is ready to head downtown

Man you've got the whole camo thing looking great BK! Will be watching this one.

Looking good, Burrito King!  You've got me wanting to break out my F-105G again.

Looks like a pretty good finish.

Today I finished the camo base coat.  I still need a lot of work on my airbrushing skills, but overall I am happy with the results.  Some people are driven to strive for perfection and are not satisfied with anything less.  I am most assuredly not one of them ;)  Tomorrow I will do some minor touchup, paint the fuel tanks, and try to sand the panel lines to expose the primer.  If all goes well, I will apply the Quick Shine.  After that is weathering, which for me is the probably the most enjayable part of model building.

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Today I used the toothpaste to temproarily attach the canopy and windscreeen and it worked like a charm.  I did some touchup on the light gray and tan, with the Mig acrylic it is fast and easy to switch colors.  Just shoot some water until it comes out clear, then go to the next color.  Then I started on the medium green.  My airbrush skills are definitely a work in progress, but I think I managed to get through it ok.  One thing I noticed about the Mig acrylics, it tends to look inconsistent and grainy immediately after spraying.  I learned to resist the temptation to add more to even it out.  Once you let it dry for a couple of hours, it almost always evens out very nicely and smoothly.

Next I will do the dark green.  In real life the medium green looks correct, but in these photos they look kinda dark.  On my workbench the photos make the medium green a weird lime green color.  I guess it's the lighting.  I know I have too much tan at the moment, but it will get reduced as I spray the dark green.  Then I will do some touchup to adjust the camo patterns slightly, then apply Quick Shine.

One thing I am noticing with the raised panel lines, if you give the base coat a light sanding, the primer on the raised panel lines can really stand out.  But even without that, the panel lines stand out pretty well.  I think I will do a very light sanding before the Quick Shine, then some very minor post shading.  I want some weathering, but I don't want to overdo it.

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My plan was to pratice on flat styrene sheet, starting with Mig Ammo acrylic straight out of the bottle and 20 psi.  Then gradually add distilled water and increase pressure til I found the sweet spot.  Surprisingly, I was able to get decent control with the first try.  So I proceeded with the rest of the tan pattern using the unthinned Mig Ammo at 20 psi.  As long as I kept wiping the tip drying with a damp paper towel every few passes, I got good results.  I still need to work on my edge feathering technique, but I think I am getting there.  On the right side of the fuselage there are a couple spots where the tan gets feathered into the light gray.  I practiced but stopped about 1/8" short of the actual edge.  I will finish that up tomorrow, then also use the toothpaste trick on the windscreen and canopy so I can attach them to the fuselage and paint those.

So far I am happy with the Mig Ammo acrylic, it seems very forgiving and I have gotten smooth results, even though my technique still needs a lot of work.  Once I get better with the feathering, it should work pretty well.

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Started spraying the acrylic base coats a few days ago. First I did the light gray underside. As usual, I got impatient, sprayed too much, and ended up with a grainy finish. I had to do a light sanding with 3000 grit, then buff with blue jeans. The second attempt took a couple hours, but I stayed patient and got acceptable results. Then I started the tan, got better results by going slow with very light layers. I got halfway through the tan patterns, will continue as time allows. Then will move on to medium green, then finally dark green.

Here are some of my lessons for spraying Mig Ammo acrylic.

1. Needs slight thinning, I am using distilled water. May get some Mig thinner if absolutely necessary.
2. Best results are at 20 psi or even a tad higher. Lower than that doesn't let the paint flow.
3. Atomization is not so good. Spraying from too far gives a grainy finish.
4. Spraying closer gives a smoother finish. However, splatter is a constant worry due to the thinned paint and higher pressure.
5. Oversprays are quite forgiving. It seems to level out on its own. Once dry, oversprays will usually blend fairly well.
6. Need more practice with the dual action trigger. The paint delivery seems to be almost none, then a slight increase suddenly gives too much. Need to find a way to get a more gradual delivery, especially for the feathered edges of the camo pattern. I want to spray from close without spattering.
7. Tip drying is very rapid. Need to keep a damp Q-tip handy.
8. May have to get Mig thinner or transparator to get better results.

Will probably spend the next session practicing on a flat styrene sheet. Before I get to the more intricate portions of the camo pattern.

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Hi keavdog, thanks for the info.  The more I think about it, the more I am leaning towards acrylic rods for my homemade stands.  I found 3/16" diameter rod 6-ft long for $1.56 at McMaster-Carr.  Being able to bend the rods will definitely give me some good flexibility of the display angle.

It's 51 degrees outside, so I am sitting inside drinking a hot cup of coffee instead of freezing my ass off trying to apply a smooth coat of acrylic base coat.  Yes, I know we LA folks are spoiled wimps lol.  I have a few free minutes before I call it a day, I have some photos of the stabilizer repair.  I managed to drill the 1/16" hole pretty centered.  I was really scared of breaking through one side, but I managed to keep it straight.  Am I really getting the hang of it, or was I just lucky?  I guess time will tell.

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Acrylic rods are nice as you can drop them in boiling water for a bit or use a heat gun and bend them to desired shape.

Here's an old article: https://finescale.com/how-to/extra-articles/2018/06/builder-basics-acrylic-rod-display

Hey guys, thanks for the encouragement and compliments. The acrylic rod sounds like a more aesthetic choice than the steel rods. I'm sure McMaster Carr has several affordable options. My next build will probably be a F4, I will try to figure out how to mount acrylic in the exhaust nozzles.

I am definitely getting better at using the pin vise and brass rod. I was doing some vigorous buffing of the primer before the base coat, and had a lame ass moment where the cloth got tangled with the right horiz stabilizer and snapped it right off. I drilled it out and put in a brass pin, drilled a hole in the fuselage, and everything lined up nicely. I checked the website for Component Supply Co and it does have a great selection of interesting materials.

I completed the stabilizer repair and been ready for the base coats. But I need a couple hours of uninterrupted time to do this. Not easy for me during the week. Also southern California is in a cold spell this week. By the time I get home from work and get ready to paint, the temperature in my outdoor work area is in the low 50's. That's too cold for me lol. I could try to gut it out, but I like to comfortable and focused when I'm airbrushing. Imma wait for Saturday and try do it in the early afternoon.

Nice

Glad it went relatively well for you BurritoKing! With a little repetition, you'll have that technique down to a science.  For drilling holes in plastic I use my Tamiya scribe as a center-punch and then start with the smallest drill bit in my sets of drill bits, and progress through each size to gradually open the hole to the desired diameter...keeps you from cracking things or getting rough edges due to the plastic tearing.

I found a really cool place to get all kinds of small diameter metal tubing and rods.  They're called Component Supply Company, and they actually provide the raw materials to the medical industry for making hypodermic needles and so forth.  Just another option available to you.  Relatively low cost and they provide excellent service, even if you're just the guy buying one or two pieces like I usually am.  In the last couple of weeks, I used some of their stainless steel rod and tube material to make a pretty convincing 1/25 scale car antenna that telescopes.  Got even smaller diameter rod and tube material to make lock levers and bushings for the same 1/25 scale car.  Really cool stuff you can get from them for modeling. 

Thats an interesting dispaly concept. I do like the in flight profile. I have seen some guys use clear acrylic rod in the exhaust nozzle(s) on jets for a climbing pose.

Hi sitkpusher!  Since I build most of my planes with landing gear up, it has been a challenge to display them.  In my childhood and young adulthood I just hung them from the ceiling with fishing line.  But now, I prefer to display them on a shelf.  I looked for cheap stands on the internet, but I coulcn't find any.  I found a youtube video that described how to make an affordable homemade stand.  It uses 1/4" plastic tubing with 1/16" wall to fit 1/8" steel rod.  One piece of tubing is embedded in a plaster base.  The other piece of tubing is glued to the bottom of the fuselage.  I found the best way to do this is to drill a 1/4" hole in the bottom of the fuselage instead of gluing the tubing directly to the bottom of the fuselage, due to the curvature of the fuselage.  Below is the stand I made for my Me-262.  It is defintely cheap looking, but it does the job.

Actually, I don't drill the 1/4" hole in the fuselage.  I am scared the drill bit in an electric drill will cause too much vibration or grab an edge, and split the fuselage.  So I carefully grind a hole with my HyperTough dremel at the lowest speed.

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Are you going to be displaying this on some sort of "in flight" stand?

Thanks for the tip Eaglecash867!  It was an adventure, but I managed to pull it off for the centerline pylon.  This morning I picked up the rod and tubing from McMaster, and also the pin vise from Michaels.  The pin vise came with 10 drill bits and was $6 after applying the 40% off coupon for buying online.  Total cost for everything was $12.  Then I got to work.

1. The pin vise was easy to use and driled holes quickly and with little effort.
2. I cut the rod and tubing with my Dremel (actually the $25 Walmart version called HyperTough).  Then used a file to square and deburr the ends.
3. Rookie mistake #1.  While I was gluing the rods into the pylon, I broke the little cable assemblies.  Luckily, I noticed before I completely oblitereated them, and was able to repair them with tweezers and CA.
4. I looked at a lot of photos but could not pinpoint the exact location of the pylon.  Finally I looked at the photo of the completed model on the box and saw that the fuse extender on the forward bombs comes about even with the square thing sticking from the bottom of the fuselage.  So I used that as a reference to locate the holes.
5. Rookie mistake #2.  While drilling the holes in the fuselage, the drill got stuck and while trying to free it I got sideways and spilt the fuselage seam forward of the bomb bay.  Luckily I was able to reglue it with Tamiya extra thin cement with minimal loss of alignment.  I did some sandsticking and sanding and I think it's as good as before.
6. Rookie mistake #3.  While inserting the aluminum tubes into the fuselage, I stuck them in too far and they went into the fuselage.  Luckily, after a couple minutes of shaking, I got them to fall out of the wing root intakes and was able to proceed.

It took around 3 bours, but the final results were good.  The pylon goes on and off smoothly, and when the time comes for final gluing, I think it'll be solid.

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Hi Eaglecash867, thanks for the complments and tips.  I am going to try the tip with replacing the plastic pegs on the bomb racks and fuel tank pylons.  I think I will use 1/16" dia bronze rod, it is about $2.42 for three ft at McMaster-Carr.  For the bearings I think I will use 1/8" aluminum tubing with .066" ID, around $2.30/ft at McMaster-Carr.  My main challenge is to drill the holes for the 1/16" rods.  My hand drilling skills are the worst in human history, I have a house full of crooked picture frames, wall mirrors, curtain rods, and drywall anchors to prove it.  I was wondering how I would drill tiny holes in small plastic pieces without f-ing up  Then I remembered reading about pin vises in one of the model forums.  I never used one before, but I guess I'll give it a try.  This weekend I'll go to Harbor Freight or Michaels and pick up a pin vise and bits for around $10.

I already did the canopy and windscreen masking with Parafilm-M.  So it will be easy for me to use the toothpaste tip when the time comes, probably after I apply the light gray base coat on the underside.

Looks like its coming along nicely, BurritoKing.  Hanging ordnance was always a pain for me as well.  I also found that by the time the instructions have you hanging ordnance that its often too late to drill holes or implement other things that would have made it easier.  So, these days, that's among the first things to plan for.  I've gotten to the point where I'm trying to use the little built-in plastic pegs that the kit comes with as little as possible.  These days I'm cutting those pegs off, drilling holes the same diameter as the pegs, and gluing in little copper rods for the pylon or ordnance attachment.  If the space inside the wing/fuselage allows, I'm epoxying in some little brass bearings of the appropriate diameter.  When I do that, I can install and remove the ordnance at will until I'm ready for everything to go together permanenty, and I don't have to worry about messing up the paint job by desperately trying to get things to stick.

Also, just a trick I stumbled on recently for masking the cockpit area for painting.  If you mask the clear parts of your canopy and windscreen, you can temporarily attach those to the model before you paint.  You'll want to run a little strip of tape on the inside of the canopy at the place where it meets the windscreen to keep paint from getting in there.  For temporarily attaching the canopy and windscreen to the fuselage, I have actually found ordinary toothpaste to be awesome for that.  You apply it fairly liberally along the edges, push the canopy onto the fuselage, and the toothpaste that oozes out the sides can be easily cleaned up with a damp q-tip.  Let that sit for an hour or two and it not only acts as a temporary adhesive, but as a caulk to keep paint from getting in underneath it.  When you're done painting, clearcoating, decaling, weathering, and clearcoating again, you can pull the clear parts back off and clean the toothpaste residue away with another damp q-tip.  That will give you nice clean, sharply defined edges between the canopy sill color and the fuselage color.  It won't peel paint away like white glue would if you used that as a temporary adhesive.  Its a good way to kill two birds with one stone, since you want to paint the canopy anyway...and carefully masking all of the stuff in the cockpit is kind of a PITA.  This makes it much easier.  You can also use toothpaste to cover decals in those instances where you have to make a spot repair to your paintjob and have to put mask something where a decal or two might be.  Just put the toothpaste on the decals, let it dry, then mask.  It'll keep the masking tape from pulling your decals off.  Just use a damp sponge or q-tip to wipe the toothpaste off after you're done.

An update on the clear coat test, a few hours after application I went back to do some work on the centerline bomb rack.  I checked the knife sample and the rattle can Rustoleum Crystal Clear Enamel caused a frosty, grainy appearance on the Mig Ammo acrylic.  So that doesn't seem like a good combo.  The Quick Shine still looks good.

What work would I possibly be doing on the bomb rack at this stage of the build?  Two things.  The locating holes in the fuselage are not drilled.  About 10 steps after the instructions say to glue the fuselage together, the instructions say to cut the holes in the bomb bay doors for the bomb rack locating pins.  The diagram gives a rough idea where, but it's hard to be sure.  I think there might be divots on the inner surface of the bomb bay doors, but of course they are no longer visible.  It would have been much easier to do this before gluing the fuselage together.  My bad for not reviewing the instructions beforehand, and for not noticing the bomb rack holes were not drilled.  So now I am using photos and drawings to try locating the bomb rack correctly.

The second thing is the mating surface of the bomb rack had a step, which would cause the rack to lean to one side when placed against the bomb bay doors even with the pins in the locating holes.  So I had to do some scraping, filing, and sand sticking to get it squared.  Once I drill the holes, I will know where the bomb rack goes and do a mock fitup so I can drill the hole to locate the tube that will eventually be part of the homemade stand I will use to support the model.  Then I can apply the light gray base coat to the underside.

Did some test spraying with the Mig Ammo acrylic on a plastic knife since I couldn't find a spoon.  At first I used it straight from the bottle, but I couldn't get good flow.  So I thinned it a little with some distilled water and got nice flow at 20 psi.  I applied it in thin mist coats and I think I got the hang of it pretty quickly.  I got smooth and even coverage with little effort.  Afterwards I disassembled the airbrush and cleaned out some dried paint in the passage at the bottom of the cup leading to the nozzle.  It looked like some dried green MM enamel from the Me-262 I built last spring. So maybe next time I will get better flow.

I let the acrylic dry for 24 hours then applied some Quick Shine with a brush.  I didn't see any signs of it affecting the base coat.  On the other side of the knife I applied some rattle can clear coat I had left over from my unsuccessful inkjet decal sealing experiments.  That also went on without any problems.  So I think I am ready to apply the main base coats and clear coats on the Thud.

I know spraying plastic utensils is different from spraying the actual model, but so far I feel good about the Mig Ammo acrylic.  It was easy to use, the results looked good, and cleanup was easy.  Just shoot distilled water until it comes out clean, then some IPA.  My big challenge is to find a time slot when I can apply the base coat with no interruptions or distractions.  I think I will have to break it up so I shoot one color per day.  Hopefully I can show the results in a couple weeks.

Finished the surface prep and the landing gear doors, then applied a coat of rattle can primer.  My overall surface prep is getting better, but still needs work.  Idk how it is for everyone else, but for me it is definitely something that will require lots and lots of practice.  Ditto for the landing gear doors, I am getting better but still need to work at it.  The hints I got on previous posts definitely helped, but at the end of the day the execution is on me.  It doesn't help that the kits are designed to be built with gear down, and fitting the doors for gear up requires a lot of filing and sanding.  For this I even had to use my dremel tool in some spots to avoid hours of filing and sanding.  It was really stressful because one slip could really cause some damage, but I managed to pull it off without any disastorous mishaps.

I am also getting better at applying the rattle can primer.  As with most spray painting, the trick seems to be applying it in thin coats, maintaining the proper distance at all times, and not getting impatient.  I think it is better to err in the direction of keeping the spray can too far, rather than too close.  If you apply too little, the following mist coats will blend in.  Once you apply too much, you are screwed.  Mist coats may have a dusty finish, but a light sanding with 3000 grit or even a good buffing with an old t-shirt will take care of that.

I see some spots that will need some additional putty and sanding.  Then I will practice applying the Mig Ammo acrylic.  I hope to apply the camo base coats in a couple weeks.

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Thinking about the wing roots, I think the gaps were caused by the model being too anhedral. The downward droop of the wings may be the cause of the upper wing root gaps. I could have added some shims or sprue goo at the outboard ends of the spar. That might have corrected the geometry and reduced the upper wing root gaps. The lower wing roots gaps may have gotten larger, but those are less noticeable and could have been just as easily filled.

As best as I can tell from photos and diagrams, the real wing geometry was either dead straight, or very slightly anhedral. Pretty sure the model is too anhedral. Either way, it's too late now. I'm absolutely too lazy to take it apart, try to add the correct amount of material to the wing spars, and reglue the wings. Just gonna have to live with it.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas.  Thud is taking shape.  I followed the advice of the experineced model builders and took my time sanding and fitting the nose gear doors.  I think it was worth it, the extra time and effort here will save more time later, by reducing the putty and sanding.  After that, just need to glue the wing landing gear doors and do some light sanding on the wing roots.  I think I will be able to apply a light coat of rattle can primer by this weekend.

Then I will practice applying the Mig Ammo acrylic on some plastic spoons.  All the videos and forums say to apply it in several very light coats.  I am getting better at applying light coats, but sometimes I just can't stop myself, and try to get coverage in one coat.  So I will practice before I spray the model.  I will also apply Quick Shine to the practice coats to make sure it doesn't affect the acrylic.

The model has a pretty cool wing spar that supports the wings.  It feels pretty strong and solid, but there were pretty big gaps at the wing roots.  I think I filled them pretty good with the Vallejo putty, I'll see how they look after priming.  There was a 3/32" gap between the horiz stabilizers and the fuselage.  From photos I see the stablizers are all moving, but the gaps still looked too big.  SInce they are all moving it doesn't make sense to fill the gap with putty.  So I had to do some filing and sandning to get the gaps around 1/32".  It looks a lot better to me.  However, the right stabilizer has a slightly larger gap that I didn't notice til after I glued it.  I think I can live with it. so I left it as is.

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