ghodges Posted February 18 Report Posted February 18 (edited) Just finished the old '70s molded 1/48 Heller RF-84F Thunderflash. This one one gave me some trouble due to my own doing during the build. I used a very well fitting AMS resin interior set to spruce it up some and also scratchbuilt some cameras (entirely bogus in form) to fit in the recon windows. Although not shown the resin set included two well fitting intake ducts for the wings. I also sanded off all of the raised panel lines and rescribed the entire model. This was the major problem.... after using some gloss black and then spraying some rattle can Tamiya TS-30 silver on, the paint crinkled in many places as you see above! This probably happened because didn't take into consideration the sharp cold snap here in FLA and I sprayed it when the room temp was probably well below 60degs (maybe even in the 40s!). This was the first time in 25yrs it'd gotten that cold in "Gil world" (the garage) and I even had to thaw out my water pipes that weekend! Oh well.... live and learn! This pic shows the model after it'd been stripped back to bare plastic. I used oven cleaner (the stinky kind) for 90% of the paint removal and then used a paper towel and some cotton swabs dampened with some Alclad thinner to scrub off the stubborn patches and to get into the creases and corners. I then resanded the model with 400 and 600 grit sanding sticks. The oven cleaner worked its way inside the windshield and rear canopy so I popped them off and replaced them with parts from a spare Monogram F-84F kit. This also allowed me to use the open Monogram canopy, as well as opting to replace the Heller main landing gear, tires, and gear doors with Monogram parts. Luckily, the Heller kit camera windows, which I'd sanded and polished to fit, only needed some repolishing after the stripping process. I then reprimed the model with Alclad Gloss Black to serve as a base for the NMF. The 2nd time around I opted to airbrush on some Alclad Aluminum for the NMF instead of using more Tamiya rattle can paint. Things then proceed normally for the rest of the build. The markings came from a collection of Thunderflash/Thunderjet decal sheets, as well as some spares box stars/bars and USAFs. I opted to mask and paint the checks on the tail fin instead of using decals. On to the rest of the pics! This model has more warts on it than any I've built in the last decade! But, at least it's done and on the shelf and I can now go back to concentrating on my T4M! Critiques, questions, and comments welcome as always! Gil Edited February 18 by ghodges 1
Mark Deliduka Posted February 18 Report Posted February 18 Wow, for a model with so many warts; you did a masterful job bringing it over the line! This is truly epic in it's shine and I commend you on a brilliant recovery from the wrinkled paint! Just looking at this finished model, one would never know just how much trouble it was!
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