F-105D 1/48 Revell

Donald Dickson II
So, while I am waiting for the nozzle for my AB for the B-58, I decided to start this baby. Havent done one of these in a very long time. This is the Revell Tstick kit. But all of the Revells are reboxed Monogram. So, Monogram gets the high fives for the detail in this thing. The cock pit is spot on! The gauges and buttons on the control panel are totally accurate. The seat isnt bad, but not quite as good. The only AM i am planning on using is decals and wheels. And the wheels, which are beautiful, arent a huge upgade. Certainly more convenient as the hubs are separate pieces. Whic, as I have said before, should be a standard thing. The kit wheels are awesome.

Rui
Following 👀

Sergej I
In! 👍

John
Yes!!!! Following. 👍

James C
👀 👍

Rando
Hell yes 👍 I have unfinished business with the Monogram F-105, never finished it when I was a kid. Definitely want to see how it goes here

Donald Dickson II
Main parts together and seam work done. Primed flat black. Will check seams and go from there.

John
Are you doing standard SEA camo over grey? I saw a decal sheet from Caracal (I think?) that had some interesting ANG birds where the camo wrapped all the way around and dispensed with the grey entirely, but those might have been G model Thuds...

Donald Dickson II
Yep, doing the standard. Ive seen the wrap arounds, but dont have those markings.

Donald Dickson II
OK, up to painting. The light gray underside done. Masked that off and sprayed the dark tan first in the general pattern. Next, I do Med Green, also in the general pattern.

Now, I will let those set fully then mask to spray the dark green. Once I do that, Ill pull all the masking and see where I screwed up and fix it. LOL

And my modeling assistants doing their vital duties.

Donald Dickson II
All the colors on. Have some tweeking to do then decals.

Donald Dickson II
Well, I got to the decaling point and realized that the AM decals I have are for F and G models. So I am going to get the Cherry Girl markings set and continue when those get here.

tyu
Even Cherry Girl is not applicable since the version you are building is a F-105D Thunderstick II variant, recognisable for the lengthy hump on the spine. Only used by 23TFW USAF and 457TFS AFRES so for markings you are very limited if any aftermarket exists. I would use the kit decals.

This site has a great overview of F-105 history:
axis-and-allies-pain..;id=18660#post-19268

John
The Caracal decal sheet has two options for the T stick II with the standard camo, but that's more $ you may not want to sink into the build. Camo is looking 👍 though!

Donald Dickson II
I know it may not be accurate to this model D, but at least it was a D! LOL

John, I will check it out. I havent really dumped a bunch into it, so we shall see. And thatnk you. 🙂

Donald Dickson II
So, after checking out the Caracal sheet, and after my own OCD kicked in, I decided to indeed go with the kit decals. The few builds of this I have seen all went the Texas bird, so I decide to go with the Sam Jackson (MF, get it? 😉 LOL) markings. Left side done.

I have to say, the decals are very nice and Revell struck a good balance between having some detail markings but NOT having every little warning marking ever put on the plane. LOL

tyu
@John:
thanks for that info, I will look at that suggested Caracal decal release. Since I could not find this Revell Thunderstick II release (or any Revell/Monogram F-105D for that matter), I am now converting a HobbyBoss F-105D into a Thunderstick II but was lacking decal options. Now at least I am having options. Appreciated.

@Donald Dickson II: glad you went for the historically correct markings, now I just need to obtain some markings for my Thunderstick II build.

Donald Dickson II
tyu, Ill be glad to send you the ones I dont use. You will still need to do the common markings, but the kit decals you have should do it.

Donald Dickson II
All dirtied up. Exhaust is on and legs going on. And I am having issues with the nose cone of all things. It is NOT the right size and the shape is off a hair. SMH.

Donald Dickson II
Well, its done but for the nose cone and canopy decals. I decided I would order the Reskit nose for the Hobby Boss kit and see if I can make it work. The size difference of the kit nose is just stupid. So hopefully later next week I will have pics of the totally complete build.

Donald Dickson II
OK, I got the Reskit nose cone today. It is made for the HB kit, but I gave it a go anyway. And it absolutely works for the Monogram/Revell kit! Need to do a little sanding and cut the protuberance on the underside of the fuselage off. Trim the tabs meant for the HB fuselage, and you have a minor gap to fill due to a notch, but its no biggy. Im pretty sure it would have been even easier if I had been doing it on a NOT completed model I had to be really careful with.

So absolutely I will be buying several of these for future 105 builds.

And here she is. I am VERY happy with this one. Only other thing I will get next time are metal landing gears. The plastic ones bend far too easily as you can clearly see in the nose on pic.

James C
Nice looking Thud 👍

John
Nice one Donald 👍 These Monograms always are a struggle but they look good when you've finally wrestled them into submission.

Neuling
Beautiful colors!

Donald Dickson II
Thank you gentlemen.