Thunderbirds F-100D question

[Alternative 4]

Where the F-100Ds the Thunderbirds flew a natural metal finish or silver lacquer?

 

It's hard to tell from the low quality photos available and the F-100D in the USAF museum was repainted in the 70's into a silver finish.

[Alternative 4]

Ok this thread tells me all I need to know

 

 

[Ben Brown]

I have no recollection of starting that thread you linked to! 😄

 

If you have any other questions about the Thunderbirds F-100s, let me know.  I was a little too “enthusiastic” about F-100s back then and ended up with quite a bit of info on them.

 

Ben

[Alternative 4]

19 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

I have no recollection of starting that thread you linked to! 😄

 

If you have any other questions about the Thunderbirds F-100s, let me know.  I was a little too “enthusiastic” about F-100s back then and ended up with quite a bit of info on them.

 

Ben

 

It was started pre 2020 and that seems like a lifetime ago so understandable!

 

Thank you for the kind offer, no further questions at this stage but may take you up on the offer later. I may paint my F-100 in silver as per the USAF museum example since that is the aircraft I plan to recreate.

[Ben Brown]

8 hours ago, Alternative 4 said:

 

It was started pre 2020 and that seems like a lifetime ago so understandable!

 

Thank you for the kind offer, no further questions at this stage but may take you up on the offer later. I may paint my F-100 in silver as per the USAF museum example since that is the aircraft I plan to recreate.

Sounds good! Note that the NMUSAF jet is unpainted, it’s just that the aluminum is somewhat dull. It really does look painted until you get up close to it. Here are a couple of great walk arounds of it where you can see some tonal variations in the metal and all of the unpainted fasteners (my walk around pics of it are so old they’re on film!):

Howard Mason photos

Bill Spidle photos

 

Cheers!

 

Ben

Edited November 21, 2023 by Ben Brown

[Alternative 4]

21 hours ago, Ben Brown said:

Sounds good! Note that the NMUSAF jet is unpainted, it’s just that the aluminum is somewhat dull. It really does look painted until you get up close to it. Here are a couple of great walk arounds of it where you can see some tonal variations in the metal and all of the unpainted fasteners (my walk around pics of it are so old they’re on film!):

Howard Mason photos

Bill Spidle photos

 

Cheers!

 

Ben

Noted re: no paint. Less pressure to get a shiny finish lol.

[JohnEB]

I was a child when they were flying '100s. My father was the director of Base Operations at a F-102 base, and the Thunderbirds would come every year. 

Having an "in" I watched their arrival show, and afterward got to see them towed into a hangar if any needed repairs, so I saw them VERY close.

They were NMF.

Somewhere I have a handout 8"x10" photo of the pilots kneeling on a wing. 

Yes, NMF with the usual heat stains (but less than most operational 100s) on the aft section. 

[Ben Brown]

I was looking for something else and stumbled across this video from 1967. The last several minutes of the film show the jets close up, and you can see the shiny natural metal. You can also see the Aircraft Grey-painted access panels on the fuselage that I've been told allow access to parts of the smoke system.

https://texasarchive.org/2014_03718

 

We lived near the end of one of the runways at McConnell AFB during the late '60s, and the T-Birds flew part of their arrival routine right over our house, very low, very loud, and very fast. I just happened to be outside at the time. It was the most amazing thing ever for a six-year-old! I went to the show with my dad the next day and met the pilots. I still have the autographed program and I've been an F-100 nut ever since. 😄

 

Ben

[habu2]

48 minutes ago, Ben Brown said:

We lived near the end of one of the runways at McConnell AFB during the late '60s...

 

Interesting, my father - and grandfather - worked at Boeing Wichita in the 50s and early 60s, my grandparents lived in a house that was either on Boeing property or on the base (can't remember, I was but a toddler), it was on the west side of the runway right beside a small lake that is no longer there.  My grandmother would take us to Griffs (on Rock Rd?) for nickel hamburgers on Thursdays....  Looking at a map the house was near where the Kansas Aviation Museum is now located.

[Ben Brown]

We lived near the edge of the neighborhood south of the base in ‘67-69. I had an unobstructed view of the planes from the top of my swing set and spent many hours watching the going’s on. 

 

Ben

Edited December 3, 2023 by Ben Brown

[Alternative 4]

On 12/4/2023 at 5:43 AM, Ben Brown said:

I was looking for something else and stumbled across this video from 1967. The last several minutes of the film show the jets close up, and you can see the shiny natural metal. You can also see the Aircraft Grey-painted access panels on the fuselage that I've been told allow access to parts of the smoke system.

https://texasarchive.org/2014_03718

 

Ben

 

That's a great video, thank you. The exhaust petals are so shiny they look white. Unfortunately that video also shows just how wrong the Trumpeter kit intake is.

 

 

[GeneK]

On 12/3/2023 at 10:43 AM, Ben Brown said:

I still have the autographed [Thunderbird] program and I've been an F-100 nut ever since. 😄

I, and a lot of others I know, are thankful for your valuable "nuttiness". 

 

Gene K

[Ben Brown]

6 hours ago, GeneK said:

I, and a lot of others I know, are thankful for your valuable "nuttiness". 

 

Gene K

😄
 

You’re welcome!

 

Ben

Edited December 6, 2023 by Ben Brown