T-38A Talon ‘USAF Thunderbirds 1974 – 1981’ Hasegawa 1/72
This is the T-38A Talon in USAF Thunderbirds dress from 1974 through 1981.
The kit is Hasegawa's A17 T-38A Kit with instructions showing the kit is basically an F-5B with its leading wing edges trimmed back.
The Decals used were Microscale 72-138 T-Birds/Blue Angels sheet.
I am not sure which is older, the kit or the decal sheet.
This kit was actually started a number of decades ago. It was only recently pulled out of its storage box to be part of the Aerobatic GB (Thanks to Allan Withers @kalamazoo) and after I found a backup set of pre-owned decals at a LHS.
I took a chance with the ‘newest' decal sheet only to have them fall apart when applying the nose section decals - so that front section was masked and airbrushed after using a photo copy of the decal sheet as a template. Wing tips were also painted.
A thick coating of MicroScale Decal Film allowed me to use the remaining decals, additional mishaps occurred but the model was completed with minimal hair loss.
I decided to show the model in flight after finishing the bottom decals as I wanted to have the underside visible.
With only 'essential shopping' available in Ontario, I had to improvise and decided to use a hockey puck and coat hangers as the in-flight base.
The Thunderbird logo was found on-line and I added the top text after figuring out how to curve text in MS Word. The label was printed onto some sticky shipping labels with an ink-jet printer then carefully coated with Pledge to seal it up.
Thanks for viewing.
Link to the GB:
https://imodeler.com/groups/aerobatic/forum/topic/hasegawa-1-72-t-38a-talon-thunderbird/
Absolutely beautiful ! You could probably market the stand, looks great.
Thanks Robert, I am ready to take orders.
What a wonderful build, my friend @georgeswork!
Putting together, painting, decalling, even the stand, all are excellent!
What a departure from the simple, classic Hasegawa kit!
A pleasure to follow it's build thread, as well.
Looking forward to your next build, another old, classic kit maybe?
Glad you like it Spiros (@fiveten) and thanks for following the build.
In trade for the hockey puck, I’ll soon need to build a ‘Top Gun MiG-28’ for my sons buddies.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Bulding models for your sons budies is one of the most wonderful things a modeler can do, my friend @georgeswork!
What a ncool choice of a build, by the way!
Looking forward to it!
Excellent build! Love the way the display shows off the underside so well. I KNEW there had to be something redeeming about hockey!
Thanks Greg, I don't skate that well so this is the best use of a puck I can think of - my son might disagree!
This is my first 'in-flight' pose and probably won't be my last.
Awesome build, George.
Good idea to show the bottomside since this looks great as well.
Using a hockey puck for that base is a well thought solution.
Thank you John, the base is nice and heavy.
It's a little tall though - just fits on my shelving.
Looks much nicer then mine did in 1976! Great work, George.
Thanks John, I’m sure yours looked great!
Pretty sure it was the same kit
Well done George, looks great on it's stand, inspiration to do mine !
Thanks Allan, did you need me to send down a hockey puck?
Puck no, I still like mine sitting on their wheels !
Very nice, George (@georgeswork). The intricate markings look perfect.
These colour schemes are great, and displaying it like this is a terrific idea. Definitely liked.