I had so much fun building the F-84F that I decided to do another. This time I have a Revell 1/48 F-84E that I plan to do in the colors of 306 Squadron of the Royal Netherlands Air Force stationed at Volkel Air Base, North Brabant in the Netherlands in 1954. This will be another NMF with some dark orange markings. I found some really old decals for a similar plane on eBay, but I am really figuring on making my own markings. One thing I need to research a little more is a remark in one of my sources that said that 306 Squadron converted the wingtip tanks to carry cameras for photo reconnaissance. Apparently this squadron also generally used JATO bottles for takeoff to reduce the length of the takeoff roll. Cool stuff.

I started work with the cockpit. No big surprise there. I found photos of a similar plane in the Dutch Air Force Museum and the interior is various colors of green and black, so I plan to replicate that. I wanted to add a little wear to the cockpit, so I painted the major parts with aluminum from a spray can, then brushed on chipping fluid. I mixed a couple of Real Colors and thinned them with Tamiya X-20, only to find that Real Colors and X-20 are apparently incompatible. It started spraying goo onto the cockpit pieces. After a few choice words, I dropped the painted pieces into some alcohol to clean off the paint. I then spent a few wonderful minutes cleaning the goo out of my airbrush. I then repeated the process using Tamiya paints. No drama this time. When it was dry, I brushed on some water and chipped the appropriate areas using a stiff brush.

Don't tell anyone, but I have an extra Eduard PE set for an F-84F and it looks like it will fit perfectly into the cockpit of the F-84E. The cockpits are similar, so I don't think anyone will notice if the IP and seatbelts come from an 84F.

This looks like a fun build. There are a couple of things I don't like about this kit. First, the wingtip tanks are molded as part of the wing. I would really rather they were separate. Oh, well. Second, there are two large cutouts on the side of the fuselage next to the cockpit. I assume this is to allow other versions of the plane without remolding the entire fuselage. I can see some sessions of fill and sand in a very obvious place, but maybe the modeling gods will smile down on me.

More tomorrow. Cheers everyone.

14 attached images. Click to enlarge.

That’s a pretty airplane you are basing you model on , George @gblair…. For the NMF are you going b to paint it or use foil ?

Painting those markings is pretty adventurous, George @gblair. Do you have some way to make stencils?

Excellent entry and great progress, my friend @gblair! And a small painting adventure after mixing what turned out to be incompatible color brands.

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb). These F-84s are fun to do.

Not a lot of time to work today. Halloween is always a big day. My granddaughter comes over makes the rounds with here costume and bag, then helps me hand out the candy to the rest of the trick-or-treaters. I spent most of my modeling time working on the interior. I found some good photos of the interior of a Dutch F-84E, and the colors consisted of interior green with a black seat. The seat isn't really very detailed, but I think it is adequate. I added some acrylic putty to the bottom to better simulate a cushion. I used some Eduard F-84F seatbelts to complete the seat. I had previously painted the major interior parts with a custom mix of interior green, to which I added the interior parts from an Eduard F-84F cockpit set. The parts fit surprisingly well and required very little trimming to fit the F-84E cockpit. Same for the instrument panel. I glued all of the cockpit together. It will get a dark wash going tomorrow. I finished the day by gluing the fuselage panels into place. I'm not in love with this design feature, which I am sure will need at least a little fill and sand to get them into shape. That is always a problem on a model with NMF. That's it for today. Cheers.

8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Nice work , George ! Your grand-daughter looks she’s having fun.

Great choice, George. That’s an excellent kit.