Seventy years ago the Korean War 1950 - 1953, often called the forgotten war, started with the North Koreans invading the south in an attempt to unify the divided country under a communist flag. UN intervention was swift with USAF assets flying missions first from bases in Japan and later, once a toe hold was gained, from South Korea. One of the workhorses of the air war was Lockheed's pugnacious F-80 C Shooting Star which served in large numbers as America's first jet fighter. To commemorate the Korean War I decided to embark on a building project of all my Korean War aircraft in the stash. Hopefully I will be able to finish them over a three year period.

For this build I embarked upon using the Hobbyboss F-80 C and add more detailed parts from the old Monogram kit. I have also sourced detailed parts from an Academy F-86 Sabre and AMT Grumman Tigercat. I will also add some scratchbuilt details to take the model to the next level.

I started sourcing lots of reference material and found the Osprey F-80 Units of the Korean War to be indispensable for this build.

I decided that I will open the nose of the model to display the guns and ammo cans. For this to work I had to add the Monogram F-80's gun bay. After some careful rhinoplasty it was all done within a couple of hours of careful cutting and sanding. The Monogram kit's machine guns don't have perforated barrels so I sourced a machine gun from the Academy F-80 Sabre kit. some small bits of Evergreen styrene were also added for extra details. The plastic barrels protruding through the nose were replaced with brass barrels.

4 attached images. Click to enlarge.

The landing gear details are okay OOB but I selected to add details that were omitted. I started by drilling holes into the oleo scissors of the nose and main wheel undercarriage. The main undercarriage received lead wire brake lining. I added lenses for the nose gear landing / taxi lamps and Evergreen styrene was used to add steering linkage details to the nose gear. The main wheels received new hub center sections as well as a tyre valve simulated with lead wire.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

The Hobbyboss kit supply a range of different wingtip mounted fuel tanks. I always liked the lengthened Misawa tanks and thankfully they are in the kit. Looking at reference photos it is clear that these tanks took a beating as they were handled on the ground and subsequently they are often seen sporting some dents on the tail end and nose areas. I wanted to add some visual interest to the tanks so I simulated the dents with the aid of a Dremel tool. I also drilled out the refueling cap to pose it in an open position. I scratchbuilt a new fuel cap and attached it with lead wire to the fuel tank. Some reference photos show F-80's loaded with bombs and HVAR's. The Hobbyboss kit contains a couple of bombs but has no HVAR's. I sourced some spare HVAR's from the AMT Grumman Tigercat kit. With this load I must add RATO gear which I will have to scratchbuild.

5 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Forgive me for asking, but what scale is this? The build is looking very good, and the attention to detail is just great!

Off to a great start, this one is going to be special!

Thanks Tom. I hope you will enjoy this build of mine. I have added lots of scratchbuilt details to this one.

Looking at reference photos it is clear that the HVAR's from the AMT Grumman Tigercat will have to be altered slightly and some details need to be added. I removed half of each rocket's pylon and added attachment points to the fins of each rocket. These pieces of plasticard will serve as attachment points to the lower wing surface. I also added thin lead wire as 'pig tails' to the end of each rocket. A small droplet of super glue simulate the attachment point of the 'pig tails' to the lower wing.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Reference photos indicate that the aluminum panels of the fuselage and wings as well as the fuel tanks had a weathered dull finish or patina. I have always battled to get a realistic faded aluminum finish with just the right patina to make it look authentic. I attempted numerous methods but none gave me the desired effect i was looking for. I then decided to use salt weathering. The fuel tanks were sprayed Tamiya Titanium silver and the center section of each tank was then dry-brushed with Tamiya Flat aluminum. I then sealed this finish under a coat of Humbrol Clear varnish. After the gloss coat had cured properly, I sprayed water over the tanks and sprinkled coarse salt over each tank. This was left for a couple of hours to allow for the salt to soak up all the moisture. I then sprayed a light coat of Modelmaster Aluminum buffing metalizer over each tank. After drying for a couple of hours, I brushed the salt off the tanks and lightly buffed the metalizer. This was then sealed under another thin coat of Humbrol Clear. I then allowed it to dry overnight. Decals were applied and a wash of Dark Brown Doc O' Brien's weathering powder mixed with water was applied to all panel lines. After drying for a couple of minutes the excess was wiped off in the direction of the airflow with a soft cloth. This helped to add a slight brownish patina to the weathered Aluminum finish. Fuel staining of the Aluminum by spilled aviation fuel was replicated with brushed on graphite powder. A final thin coat of Humbrol Clear sealed the panel wash and fuel stains.

7 attached images. Click to enlarge.