I couldn’t believe it when Trumpeter announced the release of this kit – good times. It took about 2 years on-and-off building but it’s finally complete. A lot has been said about the kit and its inaccuracies (nose, fuselage, vertical stabiliser). I was just happy to get a 32nd scale Thud that looks like a Thud – it really does. I actually don’t understand the litany of complaints every time a new model is issued by Trumpeter which fills a long time subject / scale void. Let’s be thankful that there is a company like Trumpeter around who are prepared to go balls to the wall (unlike other manufacturers who reissue kits with new decals or the same old subject matter…..) and give us long sought after and relevant replicas.
Their models may not be the most accurate but they do provide a really good base to achieve a good scale replica of the real thing. Roll on the A-7 and A-6. I’m holding thumbs for a MiG23/27, Su-22 and Su-25 in 32nd scale !!

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I initially thought I’d go with the kit cockpit but a business trip to London had me heading off to Hannants where the Black Box cockpit set, Eduard exterior photoetch set and Aeroclub white metal undercarriage legs were procured. My only real moan is that the instrument panel shroud on the BB cockpit set is way too high. The BB seat is excellent and the whole cockpit tub assembly provides sufficient weight to keep the nose down. The Aeroclub white metal undercarriage legs ARE a necessity. Even with these the model is a bit wobbly - these undercarriage legs must have been made
of very special forgings in real life to take the kind of forces experienced during taking off with full payload or in the event of battle damaged induced hard landings ! The Eduard photo-etch perforated access panel for the M61 cannon bay is a must. Additional work done to the kit was :

• opened up all the various vents and inlets including those around the nose associated with the cannon and avionics bays and the afterburner bay cooling vents.

• detailed the gun bay with plastic card and solder wire

• detailed the radar using plastic card, solder wire etc.

• detailed the interior framing of the canopy

• added plastic card inserts inside the intakes to eliminate the punch
  marks and seam

• removed all moulded hydraulic lines in the main u/c bay and detailed
  using solder wire.

• added hydraulic hoses on main u/c legs

• added plastic card trunking inside the intake located at the base of
  the vertical stabiliser

Main issue with the kit – those horrible, unsightly round whatnots dotted liberally inside the afterburner pipe – impossible to remove so I left them. Luckily, once painted in sooty black, these things weren’t too obvious.

The build was straight forward with the possible exception of those useless photoetch control surface linkages. The only glaring omission from the model (I only discovered once complete) are the reinforcing straps located either side of the centreline pylon used to secure the pylon to the bomb bay doors (and I suppose) to keep the whole thing together.

I selected a standard SEA weapons load of 6 * Mk117s on the centreline and two wing tanks. I decided to scratch build an AIM-9B Sidewinder and its launch rail – there are pictures in the Squadron Signal books showing 105’s carrying one missile on the starboard outer wing pylon, balanced by an ECM pod on the port outboard pylon.

Painting was done using XtraColour gloss enamels. I like these as it saves me time having to apply gloss varnish / future before decaling. I painted the interiors of the u/c bays in white – apparently the original primer green was replaced with white to allow easier detection of hydraulic leaks – ref. Squadron Signal Walk Around. Pre-shading of the exterior was done using Tamiya semi-gloss black (X-18). Colours were standard Vietnam / SE Asia scheme (XtraColour matches were X140 light grey, X110 dark green, X116 medium green and X102 tan) lightened with 10% white to give scale effect.
I used rolls of Prestic (equivalent to BluTac) to provide the slightly fuzzy delineation between the various top camo colours. The delineation between top camo and grey undersides was sprayed freehand using my Badger 150 – pics of real Thuds showed this delineation varying from quite sharp to fuzzy – I chose the latter. Exhaust petals were painted in a mix of Humbrol steel, aluminium and gun metal.

Decaling was a pleasure – the Two Bobs decals supplied with the model are excellent – why can’t all model manufacturers get this right ? – I hate spending hours on construction and painting only to have the whole lot blown out of the water (or air) by sub-standard decals which silver or are out of register.

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Weathering and highlighting of panel lines was done with pastels (med grey on bottom surface and dark grey on top surface). The photo above of the underside shows the difference between the starboard wing which has been weathered using pastels and the port wing which has not. I gave the two wing tanks different paint schemes to provide a bit of variation – reference material shows various paint schemes. Subdued chipping was achieved with a sharp brush and Citadel Chainmail. Various mixes of oils and turps provided the dirty rear underside. I painted the Sidewinder in semi-gloss white and kept it clean – as I assume they would do for the real thing. Final coat was XtraColour matt varnish to give a suitable toned down camo effect.

Reference material :

• Detail & Scale Volume 8 – F-105 Thunderchief
• Squadron Signal In Action #17
• Squadron Signal Walk Around #23
• Squadron Signal #6042 – Wild Weasel
• Squadron Signal Modern Military Aircraft #5004 – Thud
• F-105 Famous Airplanes of the World #33
• Osprey Air Combat Series – Republic F-105 Thunderchief

No shortage there!

Malcolm

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