Wolfpack T-38A

[82Whitey51]

I realized, I don't seem to post my work over in this forum as often as I do other places...not sure why but here is what I'm currently "in work" on.

Been in work on this kit for a couple of weeks now. Pretty nice kit, fit is OK but you do need to take your time with the lower aft fuselage assembly when attaching it to the upper assembly. I glued one side, let it dry over night, then the other while spreading the upper fuselage slightly so everything lined up.

I read one build article that mentioned the forward instrument panel was too high, causing the forward instrument glareshield to sit too high. The real deal here is that the cockpit assembly sits too high when attached to the stubs on the inside of the fuselage. The fix? Remove those tabs. I glued the rear section of the cockpit assy in place but let the front part "float". Once the fuselage is joined together the assy basically sits on the floor at the proper level and everything fits.

I'm going to finish it as a USAF Thunderbird (saw them a bunch as a kid in the T-38) using the announced Vagabond decals. I'm going to build a 1976 Bicentennial team jet.

While researching the Thunderbirds jets, I noticed the seats of their early jets were different than what is in the kit. I was actually planning on using the resin seats from a Sword T-38 kit...these too are the later type seat. I needed an earlier F-5A/B type seat and Wolfpack just happen to recently release a set for the Kinetic kit. They arrived in the mail today and they look nice. Funny enough, their instruction sheet points out; "For use in Kinetic F-5A/B or Wolfpack T-38A (Early)". Perhaps they will toss a set in their Thunderbird boxing later on???

Wolfpack F-5A/B, T-38A (Early) seats;

Sword resin T-38A seat and Wolfpack seat (This picture is somewhat deceptive, they are both actually quite close to the same size);

I love painting WHITE!...said no one ever. I have mad respect for the airliner builders, painting white and natural metal, often together on the same project and in a scale where "scale effect" is crucial takes exceptional painting skill.

So, with this project, I of course went in knowing it was going to be gloss white and just in time for me to run out of Floquil Reefer White. My modeling buddies have been bagging on me anyway for using enamels...and Model Master enamels at that! They've been trying to pull me to the dark side of acrylics! I just so happen to have two bottles of Tamiya flat white (XF2) and two bottles of gloss white (X2) in my drawer. I figured I'd give them a try. I gained a bit of advice from said buddies and thinned it out with Tamiya thinner and hit it with flat white. A couple coats in, I had a nice smooth base coat of clean white. I let it dry a couple days and came back over it with thinned out gloss white...and ended up with spots that were "rough"/"sandy" :bandhead2:/>/>/>!!

OK...now I want my Model Master Classic White. I let it dry a couple days and got at it with some 6000 grit Micro Mesh and a soft t-shirt and got everything all smoothed out. I decide to give it another go. Thinned it out like water, adjust the air pressure down (I think I was shooting a bit high, like 15 psi) and start hitting it and was happy to see the paint laying down nicely. I did three coats over the course of an evening, letting the previous coat set up.

I'm happy with how it came out. White is probably not the best color to introduce someone to a new paint medium but I like how it looks and acrylic white is less prone to yellow over time, I have a 1/72nd E-6B painted overall gloss MM Classic White that is beginning to "weather" nicely...good for a project such as that, it looks just like the real ones but not good for a Thunderbird project.

Anyway, sorry for rambling...pics!

Flat White;

Gloss White;

Edited June 26, 2014 by 82Whitey51

[82Whitey51]

Here are some pics of the cockpit from earlier in the build. I removed the side console details and replaced with p/e panels from Reheat Models, took the throttles from the Sword resin cockpit (I was going to use the Sword cockpit but there are dimensional issues that prevented me from using it)and used the kit instrument panel decals...something I wouldn't normally do but these looked great on paper and I figured as long as I could get them to conform over the raised details then I'd stick with them. They aligned perfectly with the raised details and set down nicely with SolvaSet. I also used some "T" handles and landing gear levers from the Sword colored p/e set.

Edited June 26, 2014 by 82Whitey51

[Emvar]

Excellent work so far!!!

Any 'of worthy to tell' issues with the kit?

T-38 and the F-5 Family I think were the best looking jets ever made IMO.

Emil

[82Whitey51]

Excellent work so far!!!

Any 'of worthy to tell' issues with the kit?

T-38 and the F-5 Family I think were the best looking jets ever made IMO.

:cheers:/>

Emil

Thanks man!

I mentioned the issue with the forward glare shield in the beginning of the post...also, be mindful of the potential for a gap along the wing/fuselage join. when I build another one, I'll put a support inside the fuselage to ensure it stays properly conformed. I had a small gap that I filled with plastic strip on both sides.

[Bravosierra001]

Sweet job on that pit!!! Looking at this build has sold me on a T-38!! Great job so far Whitey!!

Brandon

[eraucubsfan]

Looks even better in person, wicked good job Whitey!

[Mr B]

very nice progress and great clean work......

the panels look great

rgds

mr b

[Murph]

Thanks man!

I mentioned the issue with the forward glare shield in the beginning of the post...also, be mindful of the potential for a gap along the wing/fuselage join. when I build another one, I'll put a support inside the fuselage to ensure it stays properly conformed. I had a small gap that I filled with plastic strip on both sides.

There's a huge gap on the real thing between the wings and fuselage, which if you reproduced it on a model would get you laughed out of any competition.

Regards,

Murph

[longmc]

Sweet job on that pit!!! Looking at this build has sold me on a T-38!! Great job so far Whitey!!

Brandon

Me too! I have a good friend who was a FAIP in these, and would enjoy seeing it!

[82Whitey51]

After a couple of weeks awaiting the Vagabond Thunderbirds decal sheet...I'm finally back at this. Hopefully I'll have it done for Nats in two weeks or so.

The Vagabond T-38 sheet is nice, a real work of art...but stand by to put your decaling skills to work! Any Thunderbird build requires a bit of pre planning when it comes time to paint and apply decals. You can assume you will need to touch up a few areas here and there, to that end I wish Vagabond provided an area of scrap blue and red decal film to use. You can also assume you will be painting the nose area to blend with the red scalloping here.

Both the red and the blue nose scallops did not fit. I made it a point to align the tips of the scallops along the side of the fuselage in the proper positions and go from there.

For the red, that meant trimming where the two side meet the nose landing gear door as well as trimming the decal provided for the NLG door:

...and then masking with Parafilm M and filling in the blanks with Testors 1103 Red as recommended by the sheet instructions.

I then applied the underside red and blue striping...the blue ties in with the blue nose scallops so I wanted the underside portion in the proper position first.

I applied the blue scalopping only to find they were wayyyy over sized, too long. Again, put the points were they belong and trimmed. I ended up with this:

I then used scraps from the sheet (canopy framing decals) to bring it all together. It was here I was wising Vagabond provided some scrap material:

In the end, I got them all to play nice and brought it all together. As I said though, not easy. The decals are Cartograf printed, which is great, they go on like paint but they are also thin and you can get yourself in trouble with all the fiddling around if you're not careful.

EDIT: Regarding the nose scallop decals, I'm no decal artist but I think if the red and blue scallops were made in "top" and bottom" sections vice "halfs" it would be easier to apply...as well as size for the decal maker. Getting two decals to conform and meet on a centerline area seamlessly, regardless of subject matter is always a challenge. I recall the CAM F-4E Thunderbird sheet being designed as such and they went down pretty easy.

All the other decals fit great and conformed nicely.

Edited July 28, 2014 by 82Whitey51

[Darren Roberts]

NOICE!!!!!!

[jgrease]

Wow! Just getting all those decals in place is quite a feat! Great work!

[Emvar]

Excellent work Andrew. One of my favorite schemes.

[Gene K]

OK...now I want my Model Master Classic White. I let it dry a couple days and got at it with some 6000 grit Micro Mesh and a soft t-shirt and got everything all smoothed out. I decide to give it another go.[/img][/url]

You lost me here ... sounds like you did your "another go" with the acrylic ... or was it with the MM?

Your clean build is impressive, especially the job you did on the cockpit and your handling of the "Decal Adventure". In that regard, since those expensive decals are designed for the Wolfpack kit, what do you think caused your challenges???

Gene K

[MHaz]

Great looking build, Andrew! I can't wait to see it finished!

Regarding the scallops: when Vince did the sizing, he made sure to print out a test page of decals at home to do a final fit check before the art was sent to Cartograf, so we're not sure how any size/fit issues could have crept in. We're working the issue, though, as we speak.

I will say this: with a complicated scheme like this one, finding the best way to draw and size decals like the scallops is a bit tricky. We probable went through 4-5 scallop arrangements before we decided to go with the one we printed.

[82Whitey51]

You lost me here ... sounds like you did your "another go" with the acrylic ... or was it with the MM?

Your clean build is impressive, especially the job you did on the cockpit and your handling of the "Decal Adventure". In that regard, since those expensive decals are designed for the Wolfpack kit, what do you think caused your challenges???

Gene K

Thanks Gene! I stuck with the Tamiya acrylics for the finish, that first coat just went on a bit rough in places but I smoothed it out and upped my air pressure a bit to lay down a nice wet coat.

As for the decals, the only ones that presented any problems were the red and blue nose scalloping decals. They are just over sized. They have to be made in two separate pieces but I think I would have made them "top" and "bottom", meeting along the side of the fuselage, vice two "sides" meeting on the centerline top. That rarely works out no matter what the markings you're applying. I realize this Thunderbird scheme is difficult in that regard because of the way the blue ties in with the underside blue stripes as well.

If I were the guys at Vagabond, I'd go back and give that option a try.

[82Whitey51]

Great looking build, Andrew! I can't wait to see it finished!

Regarding the scallops: when Vince did the sizing, he made sure to print out a test page of decals at home to do a final fit check before the art was sent to Cartograf, so we're not sure how any size/fit issues could have crept in. We're working the issue, though, as we speak.

I will say this: with a complicated scheme like this one, finding the best way to draw and size decals like the scallops is a bit tricky. We probable went through 4-5 scallop arrangements before we decided to go with the one we printed.

Hey, thanks for the compliment and it is a great sheet, I don't want to come off as knocking it but I wanted to give honest feedback on that one area too. No doubt it's a pretty complex scheme for sure and I hope you guys can correct it. I'm happy with my results but a less capable modeler might find frustration with working the issue.

[MHaz]

Hey, thanks for the compliment and it is a great sheet, I don't want to come off as knocking it but I wanted to give honest feedback on that one area too. No doubt it's a pretty complex scheme for sure and I hope you guys can correct it. I'm happy with my results but a less capable modeler might find frustration with working the issue.

One of the things we've been toying with is a small insert that has not only an extra set of the canopy rails, but also the framing arches, as well. Adding a little extra blue touch-up area might not be a bad idea, though. I don't think that we'll add red to the insert though (assuming we go that route), since it just adds cost, and we matched the red decals to Testor's square bottle red, since that color, believe it or not, is pretty much dead-on accurate to the paints used on the real jets.

As far as the scallops go, before we do anything, we're going to check and make sure nothing got buggered in the printing process. I don't have a Wolfpack T-38 in my stash to check against (yet - 1/48 isn't my scale), but Vince is checking everything as we speak on his kit.

[MHaz]

Andy,

Vince checked the final art file that got sent to Cartograf, and didn't find any issues with sizing. He printed out a set on his own computer to check against what came in from Cartograf, and there's a 100% match, and both fit the kit when properly positioned. So where's the error? To tell the truth, we're not just real sure, but I do have a recommendation for you, and anyone else using our decals: start with the lower wing decals and move out. I think you'll agree that there's no fit issue there, so that's a great starting point to ensure positive alignment elsewhere.

Since you've already used your scallop decals, I know that tip probably doesn't help out much, so I'll be sending another copy of the decals your way tomorrow. That way, you can pull off the decals you've used and redo them, or, if you're so inclined, you can build another T-birds jet on me. (And, if you decide to go that route, might I suggest the narrator's jet from '84? The fact that it's got the F-16 badge and flags on it just gives it a bit of a unique look, compared to the other show jets, IMO.)

As an aside, I have to say that shot of the lower side of your jet is just amazing. I'm flabbergasted at how well the decals laid down. Really reinforces my decision to go with Cartograf vice Microscale on this sheet.

Mike

[11bee]

Fantastic job. I struggle with getting a nice finish with white, you nailed it. Great work on those decals as well.

[MHaz]

Quick update from Vagabond: Vince is working on a small insert for this sheet (It'll be sent, free of charge, to everyone who's already ordered and who orders between now and the time it arrives from Cartograf, so don't hold off ordering!) to tweak a couple of items that Andy and I have discussed, plus a couple extra features that we left off the sheet due to space considerations. We're going to be adding a second set of aft fuselage stripes, extra blue and red "scrap" strips for touch-ups, an extra red nose scallop and a full set of canopy frames, so the only painting needed besides flat white is the red nose. We tried 20 different ways from Sunday to make a decal that would cover the whole nose, but couldn't get a good fit, no matter what we tried.

Vagabond is fully committed to making sure we release the best possible product, and if we discover any "oopses" in our releases, we will make them right.

Edited August 1, 2014 by MHaz

[Gene K]

Will Vagabond be represented at the US Nationals next week?

Gene K

[MHaz]

Cant make the trip this year, fellas. Our house in Huntsville is still on the market, and that's putting a squeeze on the budget. (So much for the 52-day average selling time, huh?)

[caudleryan]

I just have to say, that is awesome customer service! I have been eying the Wolfpack T-38 for some time, now. When to green moola comes in, I'll be sure to order a set of these decals from you. Whitey, awesome buld, so far! The decals came out perfect!

[Rocky]

...we matched the red decals to Testor's square bottle red, since that color, believe it or not, is pretty much dead-on accurate to the paints used on the real jets.

I just got my set of decals, and my impression was that they seemed a little bit orange. I have not compared them to the Testors paint yet, but I pulled out my Hasegawa Thunderbirds decals, and I was shocked at the difference. The Hasegawa decals are redder, but too dark. Yours seemed light, but they are very close to the red stripe in a Microscale national insignia.