F-100C Super Sabre by CDW - Trumpeter - 1:48 scale

[CDW]

On a roll now with natural metal finish. Will build the 1:48 scale Trumpeter F-100C Super Sabre.

i have no plans for aftermarket pieces at this time but I may reevaluate and adjust along the build process.

 

 

[Dave_E]

Definitely in for this one,  my dad flew in the back seat of the 2 seater model. 🍿🥤👍

[Jack12477]

I'm in!

[Egilman]

Another Can't miss...

[chadwijm6]

I'm in too

[Canute]

Sign me up, too.

[CDW]

Just some interesting photos of the subject aircraft found on the net. These help me get revved up and show me the way to go to simulate the real aircraft finish.

 

Can someone here please explain why this particular aircraft has those distinctive color striations at/near the afterburner? I've often wondered but never read an explanation of why they all seem to have this look.

 

 

[gsdpic]

I'll follow along too, though I was really hoping you'd get back to that yellow Ferrari next

 

[Canute]

I don't know, but I do know a fellow who crewed D models in Viet Nam. I'll ask him Thursday when I see him at work.

 

My semi-uneducated guess is it's the heat effects on those sections, since that's where the afterburner/reheat sits. The F-4 had that area sheathed with titanium. Don't know if the Hun used any Ti in the aircraft skin.

[CDW]

26 minutes ago, gsdpic said:

I'll follow along too, though I was really hoping you'd get back to that yellow Ferrari next

 

Maybe I can work on both at the same time. I do feel like I am neglecting her.

[king derelict]

I'm thinking its heat effects and the striations are caused by varying metal thicknesses and structural memebers. Its a whole new aircraft for me so I have no idea what the back end looks like inside so this may be totally wrong.

Interesting airvraft and I'm looking forward to the build.

 

Alan

[yvesvidal]

One of my favorite Centennial planes. Count me in.

 

Yves

[CDW]

31 minutes ago, yvesvidal said:

One of my favorite Centennial planes. Count me in.

 

Yves

I think it may have been our first supersonic combat aircraft. Also, its shape and resemblance to its predecessor, the F-86 Sabre, is remarkable to me. 

[Egilman]

10 hours ago, CDW said:

Can someone here please explain why this particular aircraft has those distinctive color striations at/near the afterburner? I've often wondered but never read an explanation of why they all seem to have this look.

Afterburner Heat... would discolor the Titanium skin and got hot enough to burn off the paint.... and BTW- All F-100's were aluminum/silver painted from the 100th aircraft on... YES, All of them, it was to deal with severe corrosion issues the airframe developed during testing at Edwards.... The paint was retro applied to those first 100 that survived... Bare metal is not appropriate for this aircraft, except the titanium sections of the tail skin... So the reflectiveness comes from the shinyness of the paint not the surface condition/fineness of the metal...

9 hours ago, Canute said:

My semi-uneducated guess is it's the heat effects on those sections, since that's where the afterburner/reheat sits. The F-4 had that area sheathed with titanium. Don't know if the Hun used any Ti in the aircraft skin.

Yes it did, NA used 80% of all the Ti used in the aircraft industry until 1954...  It didn't matter if they had the original J-57 petal type afterburner installed or the Later F-102 type.... the paint still burned off and the Ti discolored on all of them in direct proportion to AB use..

 

9 hours ago, king derelict said:

I'm thinking its heat effects and the striations are caused by varying metal thicknesses and structural members. Its a whole new aircraft for me so I have no idea what the back end looks like inside so this may be totally wrong.

The reason for it was most of the Aircraft parts were machined from billet stock instead of riveted formers and panels, it was thought that by using solid parts to build the airframe they would act a heatsinks and keep the heat off the skin panels... (see, even great engineers can sometime be real dense) what they thought would serve to protect the panels actually served to concentrate heat in the AB areas.... 

7 hours ago, CDW said:

I think it may have been our first supersonic combat aircraft. Also, its shape and resemblance to its predecessor, the F-86 Sabre, is remarkable to me. 

It was, I don't see it, it was a completely redesigned aircraft using completely different materials and machining processes... All resemblance to the F-86 is purely coincidental...

 

 

As far as the Tail heat/paint, burn/discoloration issue, here are some pics I've been holding on to for my 1/32 trumpy version...

There are any number of explanations of how to get that color effect on the net... Which I'm sure you have seen... Several things to note, USAF birds flying over the USA did not have discolored tails... this was simply because the banning of sustained supersonic flight over most areas of the USA proper... Over seas and in aircraft in foreign service, all have this discoloration....

 

Most of the Birds that flew in Vietnam were "D" models with some "C" & "F" models, the "C" model was the fastest of the Super Sabres with a top speed of 925mph at 35K feet... (the "D" was the second fastest at 910mph) In standard combat load as well, Yes it was the first production supersonic aircraft in the Airforce inventory, (closely followed by the F-102) It's maiden supersonic flight was flown by none other that George Welch CMH the fighter ace of Pearl Harbor, two weeks later that first production aircraft killed him... 

 

For a brief time the Super Sabre held the world's Absolute Speed Record  as the fastest thing in the sky quickly surpassed by the F-101, F-104 and the F-110 (F-4 Phantom) Known as the "Hun" in SEA service it was the primary fighter bomber of the US military until gradually replaced by the F-105 around 1969... As such, (during it's time in Vietnam) it carried and dropped more ordinance than the entire force of 15,000 some odd P-47's that flew in the entirety of WWII...

 

It was a remarkable plane... Bit of a widowmaker, (when it first was adopted) but loved by the pilots that flew it and even more loved by the troops it covered and supported on the ground....

 

Hope this helps brother...

 

Edited April 2 by Egilman
Corrected the MPH stats....

[Egilman]

7 hours ago, CDW said:

Just some interesting photos of the subject aircraft found on the net. These help me get revved up and show me the way to go to simulate the real aircraft finish.

You have a Private Note Brother...

[CDW]

38 minutes ago, Egilman said:

You have a Private Note Brother...

Got it. Thanks!

 

I think that Mr Color super silver 2 will be perfect for the painted silver surface of my model. 

[CDW]

1 hour ago, Egilman said:

Afterburner Heat... would discolor the Titanium skin and got hot enough to burn off the paint.... and BTW- All F-100's were aluminum/silver painted from the 100th aircraft on... YES, All of them, it was to deal with severe corrosion issues the airframe developed during testing at Edwards.... The paint was retro applied to those first 100 that survived... Bare metal is not appropriate for this aircraft, except the titanium sections of the tail skin... So the reflectiveness comes from the shinyness of the paint not the surface condition/fineness of the metal...

Yes it did, NA used 80% of all the Ti used in the aircraft industry until 1954...  It didn't matter if they had the original J-57 petal type afterburner installed or the Later F-102 type.... the paint still burned off and the Ti discolored on all of them in direct proportion to AB use..

 

The reason for it was most of the Aircraft parts were machined from billet stock instead of riveted formers and panels, it was thought that by using solid parts to build the airframe they would act a heatsinks and keep the heat off the skin panels... (see, even great engineers can sometime be real dense) what they thought would serve to protect the panels actually served to concentrate heat in the AB areas.... 

It was, I don't see it, it was a completely redesigned aircraft using completely different materials and machining processes... All resemblance to the F-86 is purely coincidental...

 

 

As far as the Tail heat/paint, burn/discoloration issue, here are some pics I've been holding on to for my 1/32 trumpy version...

There are any number of explanations of how to get that color effect on the net... Which I'm sure you have seen... Several things to note, USAF birds flying over the USA did not have discolored tails... this was simply because the banning of sustained supersonic flight over most areas of the USA proper... Over seas and in aircraft in foreign service, all have this discoloration....

 

Most of the Birds that flew in Vietnam were "D" models with some "F" models, the "D" model was the fastest of the Super Sabres with a top speed of 925mph at 35K feet... In standard combat load as well, Yes it was the first production supersonic aircraft in the Airforce inventory, (closely followed by the F-102) It's maiden supersonic flight was flown by none other that George Welch CMH the fighter ace of Pearl Harbor, two weeks later that first production aircraft killed him... 

 

For a brief time the Super Sabre held the world's Absolute Speed Record  as the fastest thing in the sky quickly surpassed by the F-101, F-104 and the F-110 (F-4 Phantom) Known as the "Hun" in SEA service it was the primary fighter bomber of the US military until gradually replaced by the F-105 around 1969... As such, (during it's time in Vietnam) it carried and dropped more ordinance than the entire force of 15,000 some odd P-47's that flew in the entirety of WWII...

 

It was a remarkable plane... Bit of a widowmaker, (when it first was adopted) but loved by the pilots that flew it and even more loved by the troops it covered and supported on the ground....

 

Hope this helps brother...

 

When I was a kid in the early 1960's, I was playing in my grandparent's yard when I threw a 9-volt transistor radio battery, pretending it was a hand grenade. By mere coincidence, just as my pretend grenade hit the ground, jets flying to/from the Avon Park bombing range broke the sound barrier causing a thunderous and ground shaking BOOM! I was almost paralyzed in fear, thinking I had caused that sound by throwing that stupid little battery. My grandpa got a laugh out of it. It wasn't the last time I heard those sonic booms from the jets flying in and out of Avon Park. 

[Egilman]

33 minutes ago, CDW said:

Got it. Thanks!

 

I think that Mr Color super silver 2 will be perfect for the painted silver surface of my model. 

My pleasure Brother, yep aluminum silver, shiny, but barely reflective, your color should work well... For General Reference, Do note: the thunderbirds aircraft, (F-100C's & D's) were stripped to bare metal when they served in the unit, when they were transferred out and R&R'ed they were repainted to standard... No active operational F-100 was bare metal otherwise, a lot of modelers make that mistake with this aircraft... Only the T-Birds aircraft were bare metal...

Edited April 2 by Egilman

[Egilman]

13 minutes ago, CDW said:

jets flying to/from the Avon Park bombing range

Yep, they were a supersonic ground attack aircraft, the only place they could fly in that envelope was in the ground target ranges and test areas designated for supersonic practice...

[king derelict]

Some of those tail sections were getting impressively warm. Those blue bands suggest they got over 900F if thats the titanium showing.

 

Alan

[Egilman]

4 minutes ago, king derelict said:

Those blue bands suggest they got over 900F if thats the titanium showing.

Yep the grade of Titanium they used could go to 2100 degrees before it would start to degrade... Everything in the tail of that aircraft surrounding the AB was Titanium....

[CDW]

I have my eyes on a set of decals to match that Greg Wright Sky Blazers jet photo you posted, EG. While I said I had no plans to buy aftermarket for this build, I'll make an exception for a nice set of decals. That's a beautiful jet.

[Egilman]

1 hour ago, CDW said:

That's a beautiful jet.

Only one purtier was the Tbirds...

 

That Aircraft is a late "D" model with the bent refueling probe on the starboard side.... (the early ones had a straight probe) The reason they raised it was cause some of the pilots would lose their visual distance relationships cause they had to angle their heads to see the drogue when guiding the aircraft to connect... it would also cause havoc with having two critical operations occurring at the same time... (flying the aircraft and guiding the probe, any good pilot will readily tell you that is not a good situation while flying, two operations related to each other but impossible to watch both at the same time)

 

The resolution brought the probe's mating end up to the pilots horizon scan level of vision so he could easily see everything around him, Probe and drogue in the same vision window without having to bend his head in a different direction and still guide the probe....

Edited April 2 by Egilman

[Canute]

Head movements like that could induce vertigo and or tumble those tiny gyros in our ears.

 

The Sky Blazers was based at Bitburg and were the USAFE (Air Forces Europe) version of the TBirds.

[CDW]

Besides the fueling probe, are there other obvious visual differences between the C and D variants? The kit comes with both types of fueling probes and if I remember correctly, two different air brake assemblies.

[Egilman]

Yes brother, There are several visual differences, Yes the Airbrake is a different shape to accommodate centerline ordinance... The fuel dump on the vertical stabilizer is larger and more boxy looking... The tail is substantially taller with a much larger rudder... It has fowler flaps under the completely redesigned main wings to lower landing speeds... The wing shape is completely different... (like the F-104 it was considered a "hot" aircraft to land and if you didn't pay attention to it it would bite you) The second Squadron Aircraft in Action book #190 has all these and more details fully explained...

Edited April 2 by Egilman

[Egilman]

4 hours ago, Canute said:

Head movements like that could induce vertigo and or tumble those tiny gyros in our ears.

Thanks brother, I knew that an experience flyer would know the specifics... The things you guys had to learn to compensate for flying on the edge all the time is simply amazing.... To the point of fighting your own body to do it it's a miracle that your all still here...

 

Thank you for your service...

[CDW]

I started off with paining and assembly of the intake trunk and the cockpit. In an attempt to use only the kit parts, placed the decals on the kit cockpit consoles and instrument panel. Not happy with the results. Too toy-like in appearance. I ordered up an Aires cockpit found at an online source for $16, then a resin pilot figure to go inside the cockpit. Will put this build on a short hold until I receive the parts I ordered.

A dry fit of the fuselage halves reveals soft engraved details that will be lost once the halves are glued together and the seams filled/sanded smooth. So, there is some panel line engraving and rivet replacement in my future.

On the decal front, I did not find a suitable replacement set for my C version, so will make do with the kit decals when that time comes. Reports say the stock Trumpeter decals are not very good.

[Egilman]

Skyblazers decals are hard to find especially in 1/48... they are usually sold out...

 

The Trumpy decals will work you just have to be extra careful with them...  the Thing with skyblazers decals? the research shows that there isn't a great deal of demand for them so the printers don't print a lot of them, but when one does, they sell out quickly so fast you have to be there when they put the ad up... 

 

One of the weird things about modeling that comes about from time to time...

[CDW]

14 minutes ago, Egilman said:

Skyblazers decals are hard to find especially in 1/48... they are usually sold out...

 

The Trumpy decals will work you just have to be extra careful with them...  the Thing with skyblazers decals? the research shows that there isn't a great deal of demand for them so the printers don't print a lot of them, but when one does, they sell out quickly so fast you have to be there when they put the ad up... 

 

One of the weird things about modeling that comes about from time to time...

There is a guy on EBay who has a set of TwBobs decals for sale for around $45 plus shipping. Too much IMO, and he won’t negotiate. I can buy the entire Trumpy F-100D with Thunderbirds decals for around $40, so guess what I’ll do if I still want a Thunderbird? A no brainer.