1/48 Trumpeter F-100D “Thunderbird”

Gallery Article by M.J.Gormley on Oct 13 2015

 

      

This is Trumpeter’s “T-bird, the first kit by them I have built. I must say I was very impressed with this kit as it is light years better than my previous experience with the Monogram kit in the same scale The old Monogram is not really that bad either but not in the same class of this model in my humble opinion. Recessed panel lines, beautifully done rivets and cockpit as well as a very nice decal sheet. I first saw the F-100 Thunderbird when my dad, then Capt. Gormley, took me and my brother to their show at Minot A.F.B. North Dakota when I was about 4 or 5. I’m the little fella to the left in the pic. He flew the F-106 Delta Dart at the time and got us on the flight line right up to those shining, gleaming aircraft. My mom even made us matching flight suits that matched the ones dad would occasionally wear. They were bright orange, complete with a 5th Fighter Interceptor squadron patch.

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The parts fit was excellent and the kit went together with no problems. I painted the model with Model Masters chrome silver. After a coat of Testors gloss coat it was on to decal where I experienced the only real glitch to the build. I found the large decals were very brittle, especially the wrap around nose decal and the large stars for the tail and horizontal stabilizers. Fortunately, I managed avoid disaster and the fix all the little rips and was able to airbrush the unrecoverable pieces. It also took several applications of solvaset the get them to snuggle down into rivets and panel lines. That being said, the smaller decals were great and were no problem what so ever. I used the kit decal for the instrument panel though it could have been dry brushed to a nice result as well as the detail was sufficient for that purpose. I finished with a very light wash of just panel lines and kept weathering to a minimum due to the pristine condition these aircraft were kept. I definitely recommend this kit and look forward to building it again in a Vietnam style, 3-tone camo scheme. If you have never seen the Thunderbird show, currently F-16’s, they do a great job, as well as the Blue Angels. A must see for the aviation fan. 

‘Til next time, keep lookin’ up. All the best to you and yours!

God bless,

M.J.Gormley

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Photos and text © by M.J.Gormley