When asked by a customer to build this kit, it was with a real sense of dejavu as I'd previously built the same kit, albeit in 1/72 scale, almost a decade ago. However, I wanted to do something really special with this larger scale offering and decided to invest in an Aires Detail Set (#4096), Quickboost Ejection Seat (QB48493), Eduard Canopy Masks (ED EX167) and a set of Aeromaster Decals (48-407) as I've always found the Tamiya decals somewhat thick and difficult to work with.
The only real issue I had with the fitment of the Aires Detail Set was with the main wheel wells - something I'd already read about - and these required the top surfaces to be sanded to almost a wafer thin thickness and the interior surfaces of the upper wings to be ground down to almost half their thickness. Once this was done the wheel wells fitted perfectly and the wings were able to be assembled without any problems. As for the rest of the Aires Detail Set, the parts merely required a small amount of clean up and sanding and were pretty much a drop fit. The rest of the kits construction was also fairly straight forward, with almost no filler required anywhere.
With construction completed the model was then thoroughly cleaned and sprayed with a coat of Tamiya Grey primer. The model was then masked and the metallic colours applied (AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium & Dark Aluminium), followed by the application of colours to the fin tip, jet exhaust, anti glare panel and a homemade zinc chromate mix to the undercarriage interiors. The model was then sprayed with a coat of SMS Gloss Clear, followed by the application of the decals, followed by another application of Gloss Clear to seal them all in. Using a Mig Air Weathering Set for Metallic Airplanes & Jets (AMIG 7423) I then applied a grey wash (PLW Deep Grey) to all of the panel lines, however I didn't want to overdo the weathering on this model, as the photos I had showed that this units aircraft were always maintained in a near pristine condition. The model was then given an overall coat of my own mix of an SMS Satin Clear, the canopy masks removed, followed by the fitment of the undercarriage components, drop tanks, Jato pods canopy and the pitot tube made from brass tubing.
So apart from a few issues that were of my own making, I really enjoyed the opportunity to build this larger scale version of the Tamiya kit and in the end it turned out exactly as I'd wanted it to.
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| F-84G #52-3197 'Cynthia VI', 8th FBS, Misawa Japan |
