Fox 3 Studios             1/48 F-100F Resin Conversion

by Ben Brown
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Fox 3 Studios has recently released a beautiful resin two-seat conversion for the 1/48 Monogram F-100D. For $27.50+ $3.00 shipping you get:

Upper and lower fuselage halves

Cockpit tub

Rear instrument panel

Vacuformed canopy

Rear control stick

Front ejection seat

The parts are well molded with just a little flash to clean up and no molding lugs to remove. Parts are intended to be straight replacements for the associated Monogram parts. The cockpit tub is as detailed as the Monogram tub. I had to replace a few knobs with super glue, as they were not completely molded. The conversion provides a new front seat with the folding headrest. This is a modified Monogram part so it still has the molded in parachute pack. The seats can be replaced with Aeroclub white metal seats if you so desire, just remember to modify the front seat headrest. The rear instrument panel is as nicely detailed as the Monogram part. The only cockpit parts not provided are a glare shield/ windshield for the rear instrument panel, throttles, and the cross brace for the canopy.

The cockpit tub fit nicely into the upper half of the fuselage. There is an error in the instructions that I believe has been corrected since I built my F-100F. The instructions tell you to remove the intake duct from the kit cockpit tub and set it aside to be added later. Unfortunately, the duct gets wider as it goes aft so you can’t add it once the fuselage is closed up. The best method is to glue the assembled duct to the intake piece (part 4) and then glue this assembly to the upper fuselage half. You’ll need to remove some material from either the front of the tub or the rear of the duct to get them to fit.

The fuselage halves fit together better than the original kit halves. I used less filler here than on the last stock F-100D I built.

Once the cockpit tub/intake duct was taken care of, everything else practically fell together. I used decals from various SuperScale sheets, but Fox 3 has since released several decal sheets for their F-100F (as well as their F-100C), including markings for the 335 FDS jet depicted here and Yeager's jet from the 1 FDS.

Other 1/48 F-100 goodies by Fox 3 include correct-length 275-, 335-, and 400- gallon drop tanks as well as the 200- gal tanks carried on the inboard pylons.

This is a relatively easy conversion as major conversions go, and I highly recommend it to anyone with a few models under their belt. If you’ve never tried a resin conversion, this is a great place to start.

Fox 3 Studios can be reached at:

Fox 3 Studios

6837 Northpark Dr.

Ft. Worth, TX 76180

Disclaimer: I have no financial connection with Fox 3 Studios other than a lot of my money seems to have gone to them in the last couple of years.

Photos and text © 2001 by Ben Brown

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