Saturday, February 7, 2009

FineScale Modeler 10 2005


Having completed seven World War II aircraft cutaway models, I was looking for something different. When Trumpeter came out with its 1/32 scale kit of my favorite jet fighter, I had found what I was looking for. I didn't have scale drawings of the structure of the "Thud," but the see-through drawing in William Green's An Illustrated Anatomy of the WorhVs Fighters and a study of the kit parts allowed me to draw my own. Nearly all the details were scratchbuilt from Evergreen styrene stock and wire. The hardest part was the skeletal structure of the left wing. After drawing the framework, it was just a matter of pinning and gluing bits of styrene over the plans. I cut uneven viewing ports into the left fuselage halt, then built up the detail inside from styrene. The kit's engine is OK, but needed more styrene and wire detail. I also added detail to the landing gear struts and doors, and set the nose and left gear in halt-retracted positions.


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