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I finally finished the Trump 1/32 F-105D, so now I can start on my entry for the Recce Bird Group Build. This is the 1/48scale, Monogram, F9F-5P Panther.

The obligatory photos of the box content.

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Some preliminary work.

The cockpit pieces

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Dark Sea Blue brush painted on the nose gear bay

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and some miscellaneous pieces

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and the wheels

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Comments welcome, Darwin

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Today's progress report.

I installed the cockpit, engine aft section and tail hook assembly in the left side and then joined the two halves. I used a little extra glue around the fuselage mating surfaces so when I put them together, the glue/plastic squeezed out a little bit and became it's own filler. I let it dry for a few hours and then sanded the joint down. I put the air inlet interior pieces into the bottom wing section and dry fitted the one piece bottom and the two top halves. They fit fairly well and should require only a small amount of filler. I dipped the windshield, canopy and ventral camera panel in Future and they are crystal clear.

A photo of the current status

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Darwin

Edited by yardbird78
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Same bird in two GB nauty nauty

As far as I know, that is perfectly acceptable. If one of the moderators tells me no, then I will withdraw from one. My apologies if I have offended you by entering two GBs.

Darwin

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naw dont worry im just pulling your leg. Bird looks good. Are you going for the same scheme as your signature ?

Sorry if I over reacted, but I take criticism quite seriously, especially in a written format where conveying sarcasm is virtually impossible.

Thanks for the compliment.

No. That NMF and Sea Blue combination is for a regular F9F-5, not the recce version. I hope to get the, "Blue Tailed Fly" as that plane is called done a little further down the road.

Darwin

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Sorry if I over reacted, but I take criticism quite seriously, especially in a written format where conveying sarcasm is virtually impossible.

Thanks for the compliment.

No. That NMF and Sea Blue combination is for a regular F9F-5, not the recce version. I hope to get the, "Blue Tailed Fly" as that plane is called done a little further down the road.

Darwin

WoW, you're really moving through this build. Well done, keep the pics coming.

Mike.

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I glued the bottom wing to the fuselage while very carefully aligning the mating surfaces. They didn't fit quite right, so I glued the leading edge of the wing center section to the fuselage, let that dry for awhile and then glued the trailing edge of the center section and the aft fillet. After all that was dried, I glued the two top wing halves in place and taped/pinned them together overnight so that the glue would have plenty of time to set up.

Pinned up last night

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Unpinned and ready for the next step this morning.

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Darwin

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I glued the bottom wing to the fuselage while very carefully aligning the mating surfaces. They didn't fit quite right, so I glued the leading edge of the wing center section to the fuselage, let that dry for awhile and then glued the trailing edge of the center section and the aft fillet. After all that was dried, I glued the two top wing halves in place and taped/pinned them together overnight so that the glue would have plenty of time to set up.

CooL... Won't be to long and it looks like it will be in the paint shop. ;)

Edited by Julien (UK)
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CooL... Won't be to long and it looks like it will be in the paint shop. :cheers:

I hope so. I put in a 15 hour day at work today and the same schedule tomorrow, so there won't be any modeling for a couple days.

Darwin

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I finally got some time on the model bench after work and family commitments kept me busy for nearly a month. I applied two coats of Gloss Sea Blue on the recce bird and started the fighter-bomber version that is going to be the Blue Tail Fly. That will be covered in a separate thread.

Today's efforts:

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Darwin

Edited by yardbird78
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Lights, camera, action, let's go take some pictures of the bad guys. This is the 1/48 Monogram F9F-5P Recce Panther, BuNo 126278 in the markings of VMJ-3, NAS Miami, Florida, May 1954. Most of the planes in this squadron had white noses on the fuselage and silver noses on the tip tanks. I found a photo of this particular BuNo without those, so that is the way I did the model. It also did not have the bare metal leading edges on the stab.

- The overall parts fit was very good and required just a tiny bit of filler. The only exception was the camera bay panel on the belly. It had a huge gap on the front half of one side. I normally don't use the pilot figures, but this one was pretty decent, so I painted it up and can put it the CP or leave it out. It required a whole handfull of BBs in the nose to avoid being a tail sitter. The instructions are not very clear about the placement of the actuating strut for the main landing gear and I just guessed at it. I later found some detailed pictures of this area and I had put it in wrong, rotated 90 degrees from what it should be.

- The decals are from the kit and went on extremely well with just a little Micro Set. The red band on the tip tanks didn't like the compound curves, but eventually settled in fairly well. Everything is in register and all of those litttle ground crew instructions are fully legible, even if I DO need a magnifying glass to read them.

- I used Wally World rattle can for the primer and Model Master Gloss Sea Blue enamel for the basic finish. The decals went on over that and then I put Model Master Acryl Semi-Gloss clear over them. Tamiya Acryl clear red and green took care of the marker lights on the wing tips, belly and tail. I hand brush painted the white and blue on the canopy frame without masking after dipping in Future.

On to the photos:

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Darwin

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WOW!!!!!!!!!!!! No after-market goodies, not even decals, and you still turned out an amazingly beautiful model. Are you still working on that other, regular Panther? Are you going to build another reconnaissance plane for this GB? I have been giving the evil eye to an Italeri 1/72 RF-84F that hubby has in his stash. He says that I can build anything in the pile.

Grandma L

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Grandma L,

Yes, I am still working on the F9F-5, although progress has been very slow. Most of my recent efforts have been on the photo bird. Tell you what, I'll call your 1/72 RF-84F and raise you one Heller 1/48 RF-84F. What markings will you use on yours? I am seriously considering the red checkered tail and NMF on the Thunderflash from the 29th TRS, 363rd TRW at Shaw AFB, South Carolina.

Darwin

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