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Hello all,

As my T33 build is coming to a close ( waiting for replacement decals ) I though how nice it would be to have a single seat version. The Hobby Boss is so inaccurate that I opted to go for the classic Monogram kit that was released more than 40 years ago and STILL the best F80 in this scale. Will start this kit once the T33 is wrapped up soon. Dai 

 

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1 hour ago, nachjager said:

Will follow you thread with interest. Maybe I can get my mojo back to tackle it. Tried to start the same kit last week and lost interest in less than one hour.

You have to reset your mind to 1977. There are flashes, sink marks, ejector marks that need to clean up as well as ill fitting parts. I build this kit in 1986 and it was spectacular for me back then. Dai 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Greetings everyone...

Started working on the cockpit tub today. No after market PE for instrument/ side consoles so good old fashioned painting will have to do. Dai

 

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Good Sunday everyone ...

 

Some more progress on the plane. Trial fit everything to ensure the plane will be on its three wheels. So far everything goes well just like the way I remembered my built back then in 86. Dai

 

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Good Sunday evening everyone...

 

Completed the main airframe assembly without any issues. Surely, more dry fitting and seams clean up is more usual but this is a 1977 release and to be expected. With barely average skill like me, one can overcome any difficulties ( none here) without much hassles. I have read some very unkind reviews of this kit when Monogram re-released it in in 2010  and I thought them to be a bit unfair. This kit was more then 40 years ago and technology was different then. Expectations were different . Comparing this kit ( along with other Monogram's offering at the time) with today's expectations is not appropriate to say the least. Forget what others say about this kit. I will give a complete pros and cons at the finish but in the mean time, it went together well just like the way I remember back in 86. Amazingly still the best F-80 in 1/48 scale over 40 years later !  Dai 

 

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Greetings...

 

Got the main frame primed and checked for flaws/corrections. Please take note the dihedral is a bit more than should be on my sample so I had to shim the wings before priming to take it down a bit. Many reported large wing to fuselage gap but in my case hardly at all. Perhaps the wings "corrected" themselves resulting in excessive dihedral. Will start painting NMF this week. Again the F80 will sport seldom seen markings like my T33. Dai

 

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Greetings everyone...

 

The airframe is primed with Tamiya X-1 black and inspected/corrected of any surface flaws. Before painting the NMF, the entire airframe will be going over with very fine mesh. Any horrific gaps reported on the Net is easily corrected with average skills with basic techniques such as the fuselage front and aft sections. Dai 

 

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Hello,

 

It is time to think about the scheme and so many to choose from ! What to do? How come foreign F80s do not use the drop tank types supplied in the kit?  Dai 

 

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Hello all,

 

Upon researching, the Uruguay scheme has the Fletcher type tip tanks rather than the Lockheed version. It is possible the plane also employs the Fletcher version too but I am not so sure. I can buy the Hobbycraft kit to get the tanks then cut off the wingtips on the F-80 to make them fit though. But after thinking over I am going for the colorful USAF version over Korea then I ran into a problem.  Except for Aeromaster, that is no past or current companies put out the F80 decals that has the whole set such as included insignias. I would think with recent release of HB F80 that there will be ample after market decals but this is not to be the case. Perhaps this is due to the unpopularity of the kit.  So I bite my tongue and bought the Aeromaster decals totaling 90 USD that is almost 5 times the price of the kit!  Dai 

 

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Greetings...

 

The initial NMF coat (Mr Color Super Silver) is on. Next will be fine sanding to remove any imperfections and stray dust that got on the plane. Tomorrow will be the final coat and the zinc chromate for the wheel wells and flaps as well as restoring panel lines. Dai 

 

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Hello,

 

Nice job up to now.

I would recommend Saggin' Dragon. I have made it back in the 90's from Airfix in 1/72.

Will you rescribe the panel lines after the painting?

Interesting technique.

 

Regards, Laz

 

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7 hours ago, Tripio said:

Hello,

 

Nice job up to now.

I would recommend Saggin' Dragon. I have made it back in the 90's from Airfix in 1/72.

Will you rescribe the panel lines after the painting?

Interesting technique.

 

Regards, Laz

 

I will use masking tape and dry brushing against it to create the panel lines. This method is like post shading with the airbrush. Dai 

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10 hours ago, let_models said:

Looking good with NMF!:thumbsup: ... Question: are you sanding off all the panel lines? Why?

let-models,

I try to preserve as much of raised panel lines as possible because I need them as the guides when I put new ones in. But sanding to create smooth surface for NMF as well as the camera photos not picking up the lines appear like they are gone. But they are still there. I will use masking tapes then dry brushing against the edge will " restore " panel lines that is much easier then rescribing or drawing them with pencil. I did that on my Hasegawa A7 (posted on this forum) with good results. Dai 

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Happy Tuesday everyone...

 

Some more progress... Installed the landing gears and painted the tip of the nose black and the tail gray. Hard to make huge progress during weekdays after 10 hours of day time job. Dai 

 

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Greetings...

 

Looking at the real planes, the panel lines do not stand out like a diagram (and some planes you can't see them at all) so that means good news for me. I just replicate the main lines to break up the monotony of the airframe. Dai 

 

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Happy Saturday everyone...

 

Found some photos on the Net to help my build and hopefully yours in the future. Monograms panel lines location/relative positions are not accurate so if you are going to re-scribe, do NOT follow the old panels. Use the actual photos rather than drawings because they have so many errors in them. An example is the middle wing panel that runs perpendicular to the axis then haft way through the wing, another panel line is in place about 1 mm (in 1/48) on top the original line. In many drawings and on the Monogram kit, the lines are shown as forked like a "Y" which is not correct. On the lower left wing, good thing the bomb pylon is between the U and S so no cutting of the decal into the text is needed. Dai 

 

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Greetings,

 

I use the masking tape, paint a thin bread along the lines with wash medium ( I use Flory Wash black), let dry or speed it up with dryer  then remove excess with a moist cotton bud wiping against the edge of the tape. I just place some prominent panels as the real planes are pretty plain with very few lines showing. This offers more thin lines than pencil and you can wipe of the lines and start over if you are not happy. I edit with color adjustments so you can see the lines but in real life these lines are not prominent at all. I will seal with AK Intermediate Gauzy Agent before decaling. This I find to have the least effect on the NMF. Dai 

 

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