F-105D Billy Sparks - Every Man A Tiger

[themongoose]

There’s a new museum experience in Kentucky at the Aviation Heritage Park - the future home of the River Rat Museum. This is the commission I’m doing, Billy Sparks’ F-105D. “Sparky” flew 145 combat missions out of Takhli in 1965 with 23TFW, 563TFS and in ‘67 with 355TFW, 357TFS flying the Wild Weasel. He was a Top Gun grad, fighter weapons school instructor and chief of F-105 academics. He retired in ‘77 as a Lt. Col. with 4000 hours in the F-100, F-105, F-104, and the F-4. It’s been pretty cool reading his bio and going over his missions. There’s actually a few recordings of actual mission radio traffic that was something new to me. 
For the build I’m using the classic Trumpeter F-105D kit, upscaling the Microscale decal sheet for “Hazel” although I’ll be painting quite a bit of the graphics, GT Resin canopy rails, and then adding some personal touches from styrene. 
Lots done on these before and I’ve found quite a few builds to review, plus the notes from Larry Davis on Hazel specifically to help modify Trumpy’s bird to the real deal. Going to drop in with updates as I finish up subassemblies so if you’ve got any questions on how I got to the final product just let me know as I’ll have plenty of photos in the background that I can add.

For my 1st update I’ve got the cockpit completed. Been on the road for work but have been driving rather than flying. Which is great because I’ve thrown the box in the car and worked in the hotel every nite. Lots done so far but the rest is putting pieces together so I’ll show those as they are completed.

 

 

 

worst part is that the IP is 3mm too tall for the cockpit! Impossible for our pilot to even see where he’s going, flying on instruments perpetually! Adjustment made and moving ahead at Mach 1.5

[themongoose]

Almost ready to close the fuselage. I really wanted to smooth out the intakes but boy are they rough. Plastic is 1/16” thick on the inlet frames that are part of the fuselage. Ended up using a full size metal file to get them paper thin.

 

With the inner ones thinned i made up a cardboard template to profile the variable intake geometry. This is a great way to cover most of the seam and all of that huge step trumpy created.
 

 

 

While those dry i futured the clear parts so they can dry for a day. Tomorrow I’ll make the hardware that moves the intake ramp and hopefully paint it all up. Did I mention my plan is to mount both wings before I assemble the fuselage?
That will allow me to do all the painting cleanly. Should be an exciting weekend   

Edited January 13, 2023 by themongoose

[Jim Barry]

Enjoy! Looking good.  Mach 2 baby! 

[themongoose]

Going about this slightly different than I’ve seen in any other build. Here’s how it looks doing the wings 1st. Ive got almost perfect joints and was able to cleanly paint the intakes as a result.

 

 

 

Still trying to decide how best to modify the spine. It has to be removed and tapered between the light and tail. Maybe 1-1/2” of spine needs removed. I bought some half round pieces to make the taper with. While i was writing this i had a thought. Maybe i’ll use them as filler from the inside. Then i should have something solid to carve rather than a hollow spot. Hmmmm, interesting. If anyone has done this type of thing before let me know.
Just below my thumb in this pic is where the top fuselage light is.

 

[themongoose]

Today i set up my table in the living room so i could watch the Bengals while i build. I was super paranoid about getting everything to fit within the fuselage! In addition to the fit for the cockpit, the nose gear bay, and the engine i had added a floor for the intake to the fan, a bulkhead in front of the fan, the half round to fill that spine, and several tabs to help the fit.

 

 

here’s the view looking put across the intake ramp i built…

 

So to give the most time to align all these things I used 5 minute epoxy for all the fits

 

and finally here’s the cockpit in-situ. A bit dark in the living room today given it’s snowing like crazy out. Had to use the flash.

 

 

[John1]

Nice work!    I’ll be following along.  

[blackbetty]

Nice work while anihilating my Bills....

[easixpedro]

On 1/21/2023 at 10:38 PM, themongoose said:

Still trying to decide how best to modify the spine. It has to be removed and tapered between the light and tail. Maybe 1-1/2” of spine needs removed. I bought some half round pieces to make the taper with. While i was writing this i had a thought. Maybe i’ll use them as filler from the inside. Then i should have something solid to carve rather than a hollow spot. Hmmmm, interesting. If anyone has done this type of thing before let me know.

Probably a bit late as it looks like you've got the fuselage assembled.  (also not familiar enough with Trumpeter's offering and the Thud in general to know what needs fixing). That being said, I usually back-fill areas that need surgery like this with either resin, super glue or plastic. Anything that will allow me to bring out the heavy tools and not muck up the works too badly.  

 

Anxious to see it come together though as I have a soft spot for anything that was going North in those early days!

-Peter

[jeroen_R90S]

That's some clever trouble-fixing!

I usually back hollow things that need sanding and re-shaping with white Milliput

[themongoose]

Thanks guys. I used plastic for now. I was afraid to use CA for 2 reasons, hard to get into the location so i was afraid I’d get it on parts that I didn’t want it on and then because of how deep and long the trench in the spine was i thought it might get too hot. Will have to try the milliput option in the future as i have seen that on the shelf at the LHS.

 

Peter i have a list of corrections from Larry Davis that I’m working through. He did the original research for the Microscale decal sheet so it’s pretty thorough :-)

[Citadelgrad]

Man, that thing is HUGE.  My "big" P 47 would fit under the wing.  

[themongoose]

20 hours ago, John1 said:

Nice work!    I’ll be following along.  

Glad to have you John!

 

16 hours ago, blackbetty said:

Nice work while anihilating my Bills....

it was a relaxing day, I didn’t have any fit issues as a result of yelling at the tv!  

[themongoose]

Slow progress, but progress for sure on the Thud. I have the basic mods done to backdate the A/C. The last big one is the spine. That long electrical/hydraulic cover along the spine wasn't there originally. I filled it with quarter round styrene before gluing the halves. Then carved it down with a razor saw and my UMM chisels. Now a little filler and some sanding is brining it all together. I think the shape is there now.

 

 

And then in between dry times I filled the nose clamps with black CA and profiled the whole thing. I am a lover of black CA now for sure. I found with it I can hit it with accelerator right away and it still sands great.

 

I might be close to starting primer work by Sunday  

[MikeMaben]

[themongoose]

2 weeks of on again off again work on the spine and I’m finally ready to start putting the details back on. The rivets that were still visible I’ve redone with a blunt needle. Next on to the panel lines and some of the more complex shapes. There’s an oval access panel just where the spine starts up again on the forward side that will be a bear to redo.
This was the intermediate point. 

 

All this is super smooth, sanded to 2000 grit and ready for primer.

 

And now that the major surgery is done i was able to fit the tail. I’ve got to blend in that small portion of the spine to the tail so figured on doing that before final primer.