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Hasegawa 1/72 T-38A Talon Thunderbird

Started by George Schembri · 45 ≡ · ↻ 3 years ago · 1/72, Hasegawa, T-38A, Talon, Thunderbird

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Allan J Withers said 3 years ago:

Thanks George, will keep this in mind if I build my kit !
Tom Cleaver said 3 years ago:

Nice progress on this. I had forgotten most of the issues with the kit, but obviously none are insurmountable.
George Schembri said 3 years ago:
Thanks Tom (@tcinla) it's an old kit alright, and there are some minor challenges, but having a sharp knife helps.

The pin hole was taken care of with some M5T dabs and 600 grit followed by a quick repaint.

Looking at the decals and copying 1:1, they do prove to be a nice template. I thought that I'd give masking a try on some of the contoured areas. I had to paint the tip Red anyways so I gave the whole tip a go using Tamiya XF-7 Red
7 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Nice and smooth
1. Photo copy serves as a template
1. Not too bad
1. Decided to do the wing tips too
1. Beginning to look like a T-Bird
George Schembri said 3 years ago:

What the heck - Gave the blue wing tips a go using Model Master 4687 Blue angel Blue (ON A THUNDEBIRD ?)
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years ago:

Looking great, my friend @georgeswork!
Loved the photocopy idea for the template!
The Blue Angel blue looks spot-on on the Thunderbird. Don't worry: no one will tell... 🙂
Erik Gjørup said 3 years ago:

Great that the navy could savethe day for the thunderbird 🙂

The decision to paint these markings seems like the right one - looking good.
George Schembri said 3 years ago:
I decided to roll the dice and thought the most recent decal sheet was intact - I was wrong. looks like Tom was correct! (@tcinla)
I'll mask the blue curves on the nose and apply several coats of Decal Fil to the entire sheet - maybe I should DIP the entire sheet in Decal Film?
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Things just fell apart
1. I think the decals on this sheet are all hardened and are useless but I will coat anyways

2. These Decals lift but fall apart - 4 coats of Decal Film so far.
George Schembri said 3 years ago:
Well, I made my bed - so I guess I gotta sleep in it. But this will be a great confidence builder if it turns out okay.

After about 3 or 4 tries, the mask was applied satisfactorily and sprayed again with slightly thinned Blue Angels Blue.

Removing the mask made some paint pull away but that can be touched up with a fine brush.

Funny thing is I checked the Decals that I coated and it looks like they will work great from now on.

Looks like a had to spend 2 hours masking and painting the blue nose pattern when I could have applied decals if only I was not so hasty. Lesson learned!

I used to think that 'RED' was the most difficult colour to clean out of an airbrush, but now I think 'BLUE' is the toughest to get completely cleaned out.
5 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. 8 copies of decal sheet made for extra templates
1. Some touch up required

2. Nice sharp point achieved
1. Decal Film coated and test shows the decals are good to go!
George Schembri said 3 years ago:

Looks like Micro Decal Film really works well. I used about 4 coats and the decal are staying together very well and very workable.
1 attached image. Click to enlarge.
Spiros Pendedekas said 3 years ago:

You are really having a tough time with those decals, but your recovery actions are great, my friend @georgeswork!
The Talon looks great!
George Schembri said 3 years ago:
Thanks Spiros (@fiveten), this is taking a lot longer than I would have expected but things are coming along. Working with these old decals are trying my patience.

Bottom is pretty much done, I followed the decal sequence to help get things lined up.

Glad the Blues match up, Instructions say FS15044 required but FS15050 is a very close match.

All decals cracked along the edges and tight curves but a quick touch up with the enamel covered up things well. I Still need to touch up the leading edges.

I followed the sequence for the upper surfaces and ended up having the rear fuselage not placed properly, I should have applied the Tail decal first which would have aligned the rear fuselage curves.
6 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1. Cracks all touched

2. More cracks covered

3. Painted Blue matches Blue decals quite well
1. Acrylic for Spray and Enamel for Brush
1. Placed too far forward and white gap too large

2. Wing painted stripes off a bit - should not touch ailerons
1. Closing up the gap
1. Happy with the progress
Morne Meyer said 3 years ago:

Hi George. I must congratulate you on your progress with this beautiful T-38. It will definitely be an awesome eye catcher once finished!
George Schembri said 3 years ago:
Thanks Morne (@mornem), my demo team shelf needs some good ol' Red, White & Blue and this little guy fits the bill nicely.
Touched up the rear fuselage/tail sections and added the hump back decal which broke and splintered at about 10 different places...ugh. Makes me think twice about using old decals again.
The front probe broke off as usual, so I put it away for safe keeping.
2 attached images. Click to enlarge.
1.

2.

3. Multiple breaks along the back
1. L

2. Few touch ups required all over

3. Tail area cleaned up
Allan J Withers said 3 years ago:

Nicely done George, you are beating it into submission !
Tom Cleaver said 3 years ago:

@georgeswork - all you have to do is give it a single coat of liquid decal film.

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