Italeri | No. 2703 | 1:48 | Republic F-84F Thunderstreak "i Diavoli Rossi" (WIP)
Bravo! Those Italians know a thing or two about flair and style... Now that IS a display team livery!
It's also a nice kit. And for once it's not all raised panel lines - which is what I normally have to contend with.
Making a start on cockpit and adding weight. I do this with fishing weights and then normal household (inert) filler. This kit even has a thoughtfully provided area to do this!
I (sort of) followed the original colour instructions. 😉
Cockpit done. Colour scheme is broadly correct. I haven't really weathered it or dry brushed etc. I want this one to be super clean.
Kit gives the option to remove the nose panel to showcase gun and inner bay. So have painted first.
Now shown mounted within main body...
It went together pretty well. This is a bit of overkill really. I removed all clamping more or less as soon as glue had adhered.
Some post glue fettling with seams and a bit of pretty simple re-scribing. I need to get the levels back down centre. I usually do this with several higher build primer passes and in-between coat rubdowns if the difference isn't too much.
First pass all over with Vallejo gloss primer. Just to get my eye in and see where more work is needed.
I'm trying hard to get a nice flat finish so that both the metal and decal finishes look clean. I can't hide behind a load of post build weathering on this one!
Not bad.
I'm still fiddling with the central seam. Filling, sanding and re-scribing.
Touch more Vallejo filler and I'm gonna leave it alone.
Happy with the top. Paint used is Vallejo gloss black primer.
Vallejo Metal Colour Aluminium being used...
I'm trying to get a nice flat finish as there's a LOT of decals to place! Removing any high spots of dust/crud with careful use of a blade and a minor wet and dry before retouching paint. Blissfully this kit has recessed panel lines, so that makes this process much easier than the normal kits I build with raised.
So I left the Vallejo Metal colour a LONG time to fully cure before attempting any masking. All seemed to progress ok on this first pass of red along the spine. Phew!
There are decals for the top strip, but decided to paint.
Masking...
Masking and painting the red...
Touch-ups
Going to let this cure for a LONG time...
Kit comes with a pretty cool decal 'cheat' sheet - though they are pretty thick.
After a LOT of water + softening solution! The good thing is because they're so thick, they hold up well to softening and do conform. The kit has a good surface detail so I'd rather at least some of it was visible even with the decals on. In hindsight I could've masked up the tri colour of green, white and red for the underside.
Other side... Oops! Minor tear. You can see how thick they are on first application - where have all the recessed panel lines gone underneath the decals?! haha!?
WORK IN PROGRESS. UPDATED: 8/7/24...
Commentaires
38 1 February 2023, 11:58
Stefan FraundorferI'll take a close look at your model. I have the same one in my stash and would like to build it myself in the near future. Have fun Neil!
5 December 2023, 16:09
Mark SherwoodParked the 360, watching. You should have prolific as your middle name, the amount of builds dude. It would make me more confused than I am. Hurrichurchspitwell anyone. 🤟😵💫🤘😵💫🖖😵💫👍🤣🥸
12 December 2023, 08:01
NeilWow! Welcome all. Really great to have interest from such a talented bunch of fellow modellers. @stephan, looking forward to your version very much also 👍👍 @mark, I know, I'm a bit nuts! I love having lots of the go, takes a while to complete and I'm useless at doing reveal photos. But it keeps it all fresh for me! My job is all about multiple projects, so similar state of mind! 😂
6 January, 11:14
JohnI do NOT envy you your masking job but it should look amazing when you finish (or run out of tape). 👍
9 February, 16:31
NeilHi John, thanks for your interest mate. I should be ok tbh as the kit comes with a superdecal (cheat) sheet! So although there's some stressful masking on a metallic finish, it's hopefully all doable 👍 I've added some more images today. Thanks for your likes also to all who've dropped by too 🙂
14 February, 20:54
Donald Dickson III did this one as well. Those decals are actually pretty good.
I tried acrylic metallics for the first and last time on this one. When I removed the masking for the red, it pulled EVERYTHING, primer included, right up. The finish was awesome until then. Alclad and Metalizer for me from there out.
Diavoli Rossi F-84 | Album by smokeriderdon (1:48)
8 July, 15:14
NeilHi J35J - thanks very much 👍 🙂
Hi Donald, Yes, I agree, the kit decals are nice - though they are on the thicker side. On application they hide a lot of the kits surface detail in my opinion. However subsequent passes with more (and more!) softening and setting solution is doing them justice - more pictures to follow. Sorry to hear of your paint issues when building. Yes. My version is painted solely with Vallejo acrylics: Vallejo primer, Vallejo colour and Metal Colour 👍 You rescued your version well, looks good 🙂
8 July, 15:45
Donald Dickson IIThank you. In person you can see the areas that pulled fairly clearly.
I used Solvaset on the decals. That managed to get them to settle down fairly well. But yeah, it did hide a bit. BUT, i liked the thickness as those large ones required a good bit of fiddling to get where they needed to be and they stood up to the handling perfectly.
8 July, 17:28
Album info
The Republic F-84F Thunderstreak was an American swept-wing turbojet fighter-bomber. While an evolutionary development of the straight-wing F-84 Thunderjet, the F-84F was a new design. The RF-84F Thunderflash was a photo reconnaissance version.
