F-100F Wild Weasel

[Scotsman]

As you may have seen I've just bought a Trumpeter F-100F , and as a fan of all things SEAD, I'l trying o tie down the visible changes to F-100Fs modified for the Weasel role in Vietnam,  

 

from my brief reading it looks as tho' my dream of a Shrike armed 100 is not a runner  so any other armament suggestions are also welcome , 

 

Ta

 

ColinR

[thierry laurent]

Out of my memory the missiles were possibly used for a very short time, at the end of the F-100F SEAD era. Nonetheless, I should recheck that. I'm sure Tony can give you immediately the final word on that.

However, lead or cluster bombs were the standard warload for the short length of the Wild Weasel Supersabre use.

 

Another possibility is a FAC F-100F with rockets warload.

[Ben Brown]

Here's what I've been able to learn over many years of researching.

 

First, run, don't walk, over to Amazon and buy the Kindle version of the Detail & Scale F-100 book. There is a fantastic photo I've never seen before of a Weasel F-100F carrying a Shrike on the left inboard pylon. It appears they only carried the Shrike on the port inboard pylon, using what an F-100 pilot friend tells me is a Type X pylon that was earlier used for the Bullpup missile. The Type X is smaller and doesn't extend downward quite as far as the normal Type I pylon we're all familiar with. Here are the best shots I've been able to find of this pylon (vid caps from the F-100 Great Planes videos on YouTube):

Carrying a Bullpup:

 

Here's the Shrike on a Weasel (vid cap from First In, Last Out, @12:15 on YouTube LINK):

 

The Shrike is the AGM-45A-1 version, with a black nose cone and fuse antennae (via Mick Roth). Here's a good closeup of the missile (large photo, so I'm just going to link to it): LINK  On this particular mission, the Weasel is carrying a single Shrike, along with two white LAU-3 rocket pods on the outboard pylons.

 

Ben 

 

 

 

Edited February 3 by Ben Brown
Updated with new info

[Ben Brown]

Some notes on the F-100Fs themselves. They were all Block 20 (58-xxxx) jets. The first four were 58-1221, -1226, -1227, and -1231. The later batch of 3 were 58-1206, -1212, and -1232. The only external difference I've found is the two avionics bay cooling vents on each side of the F-100F nose were replaced by a single, louvered vent on each side on the Block 20s. 

 

One thing the D&S photo shows is a sun shield mounted on the canopy that looks like it would cover the right side of the instrument panel, plus what looks like a small instrument, probably a compass. The cover is different from the standard white cover they used to protect from light from a nuke blast. 

 

EDIT: Here is a scan of a photo of the rear instrument panel from a report on the WW F-100F. A gentleman over on Britmodeller posted it. I have lost his name, so I can't give him proper credit. I don't know if all WW F-100Fs were outfitted like this or possibly only the last 3. The front cockpit was standard F-100F, with an azimuth display replacing the two drop tank fuel indicators on the left side of the glare shield. No waring lights like those added to later RHAWS-equipped F-100Ds and Fs were fitted to the Weasel jets.

 

 

Here is a USAF photo I notated a few years ago showing the Weasel antennae and the rectangular vent. I've since learned the "unknown antenna" under the nose is the data link antenna for the Bullpup missile system. The antenna fairing on the tail is a different shape than the one found on the later RHAWS system fitted to F-100s. It's just scabbed onto the standard fuel tank vent fairing, while the RHAWS system had the entire tank vent fairing widened. Trumpeter has the original fairing on their D and F kits, while the 1/48 Monogram F-100D has the RHAWS style fairing. I can post some pics showing the difference, if anyone is interest.

 

I think that's all I've got for now. I'm happy to dig through my notes if anyone has any questions.

 

Ben 

Edited July 2, 2023 by Ben Brown

[allthumbs]

Hi Colin,

 

Shrike missiles were indeed used on F-100F aircraft from April 1966 through the end of the type's SEAD deployment in Vietnam. Like Ben, I highly recommend Bert Kinzey's new monograph on the F-100, available in print and digital formats for a very reasonable price. The book illustrates all of the antenna mods and discusses in detail the mission of these aircraft.

 

Also, Eduard has announced the release in December of 1:32 AGM-45 Shrike missiles in their Brassin range.

 

So the stars are aligning for a cool Wild Weasel 1 build in "manly scale!"

 

 

Edited November 6, 2020 by allthumbs

[Scotsman]

Thanks immensly guys, believe or not the vendor included a copy of the DEtail and Scale F-100 book FOC - I so love the French sometimes!

 

Those Pictures featuring the Shrike are just what I've been looking for, 

 

The F-100 when done will take it's place alongside an  EF-4C.,F-105F, A-6B and a  Block 50 F-16 , anyone notice a theme here!

[Dave Williams]

Is the new D&S book different that the old one from years ago with regard to the main content (I understand that the kit review section may be updated)?

[Ben Brown]

2 hours ago, Dave Williams said:

Is the new D&S book different that the old one from years ago with regard to the main content (I understand that the kit review section may be updated)?

It has more and newer content than the print version. The photo of the Weasel discussed above isn’t in the print version, unless it’s been updated recently. The Kindle version is well worth the money.

 

Ben

[thierry laurent]

There is a new paper version that has contents comparable to the ones of the kindle version. 

[Scotsman]

Ben , and all the others who suggested the Detail and Scale F-100F book , and it arrived to-day , wow , you were right , the coverage fo the WW F is excellent  and yes the model section of the book does indeed cover the Trumpeter 1/32 F-100 

 

A must buy for any F-100 build , and thanks again 

[thierry laurent]

According to Bert Kinzey, the WW  F-100F got the AN/APR-25 radar scope over the front IP (on the port side) but they did not get the warning light nor the system panel. It looks the rest was quite standard. 

[Ben Brown]

Just to help anyone in the future looking for Weasel F-100F info, I've added a scan of a photo of the rear instrument panel to my post above. 

 

Ben

[LSP_K2]

Squadron/Signal did at least two books on the Weasels, possibly three, but I don't have them handy to see how much F-100 coverage is/was given.