1/32 T-38A Talon

[themongoose]

Doesn't it always work out this way, I have everything lined up now to start the project and I'm out of town for work through Thursday and then traveling to the parents for the whole weekend starting Friday! My new rivet tool and flexible metal rule were delivered. The last major piece of the puzzle arrived today which has me excited, the Daco book on the T-38. With that and the pictures and info Peter sent me I plan to knock this front fuselage outta d'park!

 

 

I started on the official fuselage now. My practice piece taught me where the weak points were and what ‘not to cut' lol check out that gap, the gun doors were never meant to be closed for sure. I found a couple other builds with the same problem. I chose to fill the gap at the bottom because the curve didn't match. I figured i could round it off nice with putty. When I return the vacuum form canopy should be ready for show. Till next week, turn and burn!

[themongoose]

One step back and two forward today. The fit of the gun doors was just terrible so i pulled out the 3rd fuselage i have for this. I lucked out in that the guy I bought the Belcher conversion from had saved a 2nd set of the Hasegawa parts. Wish I'd have done this when i first noticed it but i just thought they'd all be the same.

 

 

Next i laid out the fuselage on the enlarged plans from my Daco book. The profile from top and sides looks pretty good. On the sides i possibly need to trim off this flat rail that is on the Belcher piece to get the coke bottle shape true to form. On the nose I need to round it off. It's way to sharp now. I also checked my canopy length. I originally did it by scaling out the canopies from a straight on side view of the real thing. Looks like I'm within 1mm from the plans. The front of the canopy will be pretty long the way my mold is set up and the front section is squared off a bit as it goes across the top of the fuselage so i think I can trim it to fit and look good. Will know more after Friday when i try to form my 1st canopy!

 

 

[Guest Maxim]

Boy that's closer in profile than I thought it would have been. Look froward to see your progress. Everyone wants a T-38 in 32 scale.

[Out2gtcha]

Boy that's closer in profile than I thought it would have been. Look froward to see your progress. Everyone wants a T-38 in 32 scale.

 

 

Exactly what I was thinking in every respect including wanting a T-38!

[alaninaustria]

Nice!!!

[checksix]

Could you elaborate on your introductory post and list exactly which kit(s) you're combining to make this model? I'm new here and trying to figure out what bits and pieces you're using to do this project. Following with great interest. Thanks!

[Kagemusha]

Great work.

[themongoose]

Could you elaborate on your introductory post and list exactly which kit(s) you're combining to make this model? I'm new here and trying to figure out what bits and pieces you're using to do this project. Following with great interest. Thanks!

 

Glad to checksix. I bet others are wondering too so let me throw out some details.

 

 

I had 1 full Minicraft kit and 1 full Hasegawa kit. When I bought the Belcher bit kit the guy I got it from had saved parts from a F-5E kit to cut up for the conversion and to add the extra cockpit. I think his parts were Hasegawa because they seem to match the full Hasegawa kit in shape. Fit of parts from Minicraft kit was not good as I found out. I'm using it now for the trial pieces and to do my intial cuts and fit-up on.

 

This is the Belcher bits kit. It converts the F-5E to an F-5A. It's Product No. BB19: $59.99 on their web site.

Overall it looks pretty good as you can see from my photo's above. The panel lines are soft in some spots and strong in others so it does need some work. The fuselage is pretty heavy and I also expect to do some work to improve the connection between it and the cockpit section. There is a very small lip on the resin part vs one about 3x the size on the plastic part. I'm worried it won't hold together well without deepening the fit on the resin. 

 

Something else I learned as I went is that the kits each have a different canopy design. The one I'm making up fits the hasegawa version. The Minicraft version has a different width and angle on the rear of the canopy where it meats the fuselage.

 

Let me know what else I can add to this. Glad to help. 

[Jack]

THIS IS MODELLING, CREATING, .......i'm impressed.

[themongoose]

Thanks for all the positive comments. I'll work hard to keep this build at a high level. Trying to put all I've learned, and still am learning, together at once 🤓

tonight I learned to vacuum form. It's to late for me to do anything with them tonight but I'll post the pics of the process here and in the tips forum for all to see now. This wouldn't be so easy without the great help I got. Isaac from Cincinnati Scale Modelers looked over my form and gave me advice on improvements before we did our forming. He does this alot for his paper models (wonderful work btw). Kudos to him because we got good parts the first time!

Started out with the basic mold on his vacuum box. Hooked up to a small shop vac. I tapered the sides of the balsa wood base to match the flare at the bottom of the canopy. I drilled holes in the balsa wood for additional vacuum due to that flare just to make sure the plastic pulled in there.

 

We're using the kitchen oven here. Gas stove set at 350F. Firebrick on each side to support the frame.

 

The frame is metal picture frame style held together with aligator clips. Yep that's me doing my best Vanna, the correct letter was T...-38A

 

It took 1min 20 sec for the 0.020†petg to sag and be ready to form. The first canopy was really good we thought. A little later we found it didn't quite form completely in one corner so it will be my test fit piece and the one I use when i try to cut my first canopy out of the plastic form!

 

 

We did 3 good ones out of 0.020†petg and 2 out of 0.030†petg. The 030 petg was really really hard to get off the mold. We stopped after the 2nd one. I was worried we'd break the mold trying to get it out. We had to do a lot of cutting where the plastic pulled in around the edges and then pry it up with a stick between the plastic and the balsa wood.