PoAF's F-80C

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, the venerable Airfix 1/72 F-80C will be my chosen subject for this GB. I've bought the original 1973 boxing for 5 euros on the bay, which, for me was a nice deal.



I only realized that it was missing one of the intakes' splitter plates when i got all the parts out of the box and checked with the instructions last night, but no worries, it's an easy one to scratch-build.





Not perfect but it'll do...



Cockpit and pilot painted up and assembled...





As i'm taking the rest of the week off work, i should be able to give this one a pretty good boost in the next days.

[Captain Canada]

Great start ! I've had that kit for ages and have always looked for an excuse to dig it out.

[NARSES2]

I've been pondering a USAAF Shooting Star in OD over Neutral Grey as part of my extended WWII scenario

[DogfighterZen]

Great start ! I've had that kit for ages and have always looked for an excuse to dig it out.

Thanks, Captain! This has to be one of my favorite jets of all time, simple yet beautiful design.

I've been pondering a USAAF Shooting Star in OD over Neutral Grey as part of my extended WWII scenario

That's a good call, Chris, should look pretty good.
Saw this today while browsing for landing gear bay pics: http://img.wp.scn.ru/camms/ar/129/pics/3_8.jpg
I've also been thinking of a whif for an extended WWII or even post war scenario US Navy jet, but still have to decide from a few contenders.

On this one, today i managed to give it a good push. For starters, i drilled out the guns...





Then glued on the intake splitter plates...





That turned out ok, so i proceeded to glue the cockpit tub and front landing gear bay in place, put some weight on the nose with some Patafix and a bit of aluminum sheet folded several times and compressed with a good squeeze of the pliers.



After a dry fit test, glued the fuselage halves together and this is how it's spending the night...



More tomorrow...

[Modelling_Mushi]

Looking good 

[DogfighterZen]

Looking good 

Thanks!

Well, yesterday i took care of the most critical issue of this kit, the intakes. After a lot of scrapping with the x-acto blade on the mating surfaces, this is how these babies fit...





Here you can also see the gap on the aft wing/fuselage joint and if you look into the front gear bay, you can see the bit left after i snapped it off...



Tried to save as much of the raised detail as i could by covering adjacent areas with tape, before PSR...



After all the seams were cleaned up and putty sanded down...







The tape had to come off to get everything flush so obviously, some lines were sanded away. I was expecting that but, i'd rather have a good shape and surface than panel lines. Today i'll mask the canopy and if that's quick, give it a coat of primer, to check all the seams.

[TheChronicOne]

Great work!!! I like how you built that intake piece. Your pics and descriptions are really good, thanks! I love seeing this stuff so I can learn new techniques.


It's going to turn out great and I can't wait to see.

[DogfighterZen]

Thanks, TCO! I've been trying to improve my pics and my modelling skills so i'm just using the techniques i've seen around the web from other modellers.
I've been watching a few builds on youtube, some are really good and it's very helpful to see some things being done, instead of just explained with pics.

Well, this one has been painted with the XF-16 matte aluminum and needs to be masked for the rest of the scheme...

[NARSES2]

Nice finish  Aluminium (any metal coat) shows any flaw as I know only to well 

[TheChronicOne]

Yeah, that turned out really well.

I'm struggling with getting my filler(s) to smooth out... sometimes I do alright, sometimes I leave a less than smooth or slightly pock marked finish and I have to go back in for more PSR.   

[DogfighterZen]

Nice finish  Aluminium (any metal coat) shows any flaw as I know only to well 

Yeah, that turned out really well.

I'm struggling with getting my filler(s) to smooth out... sometimes I do alright, sometimes I leave a less than smooth or slightly pock marked finish and I have to go back in for more PSR.   

Thanks, guys.
Chris, you're absolutely right, any imperfection is easy to see, that's why i was afraid that i'd have to go back after the paint went on, but it came out good enough.
I used a 400 grit sandpaper first for the rough work and 2000 grit  for the finish. It does have a few minor flaws but i don't care, i've got 6 days to get this finished cause it was also entered in the "Any type of whiffery" GB over on the UAMF forum, so i'm just going for another simple finish and markings on another simple build, which was the initial idea.
With this one, i'm going back in time in relation to the Saab Tunnan i built for the Cold war GB. The F-80 would have been delivered to the PoAF in 1952/53 in my alternative history for the PoAF. 

[Captain Canada]

Great job so far ! Love the details.

[DogfighterZen]

Ok, it's finished and i'm happy with another simple, yet, fun build!
Here you go...

"In 1949, Portugal was invited to become one of the founding members of NATO and, as a consequence, restructuring and modernization of it's armed forces was to follow.
The Portuguese Air Force Generals were to choose the new aircraft to equip it's squadrons, and obviously they were interested in having jet aircraft in the PoAF, the chose the DeHavilland Vampire as trainer and the F-80C as the first jet fighter in Portuguese service.





Stationed at BA3 Tancos air base, the first squadron to transition from the Vampire to the F-80 was the newly formed 1st Fighter Squadron, called "Galgos", which is the symbol of the Base itself, and used on every aircraft of the squadron.





The F-80 flew with the PoAF from February, 1953, and were retired from active duty in 1959, although some were kept in flying condition and were later reactivated and deployed in the Colonial war theater of Guinea-Bissau in 1963, along with F-86E and F, received by the PoAF 5 years earlier. The war was short for PoAF's fighter jets because of pressure by NATO countries, who ordered the Portuguese government to retire the fighters, as it was equipment obtained under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program, and there wasn't any support for the Portuguese military action in it's colonies.





The F-80 was completely retired from service on the 15th of December, 1964, after it performed it's last flight over it's home base of Tancos. Although most of the 58 units were scrapped, about a dozen were stored and prepared to be taken to museums and to be placed on stands and become monuments in several locations around the country."







I only noticed i forgot a bit of masking tape on the right side of the windshield when i was uploading the edited pics...
Well, i have to say, it was a fun build and i'm happy with the simple result, hope you guys like it too!

[Dork the kit slayer]

 

[DogfighterZen]

Glad you like it!