1/48 Trumpeter F-100D Super Sabre

Gallery Article by Burt Gustafson on Sept 16 2011

 

For your viewing pleasure, here are some photos of my 1/48 scale Trumpeter F-100D Super Sabre. The North American F-100 Super Sabre was a supersonic jet fighter aircraft that served with the USAF from 1954 to 1971 and with the Air National Guard (ANG) until 1979. It was the first of the Century Series collection of USAF jet fighters, and was the first USAF fighter capable of supersonic speed in level flight. The F-100 also served in several NATO air forces and with other US allies. In its later life, it was often referred to as "the Hun," a shortened version of "one hundred."

Construction
The Trumpeter F-100D Super Sabre kit is a superb kit to build. Lots of detail and the parts fit is excellent. Only one area of the build proved to be a little difficult and that was building the main landing gears, lots of tiny parts. Additionally, the illustrations for installing main landing gear parts were not very clear.

Painting
Prior to the Vietnam War, most F-100s had a bare metal finish. For the bare metal finish, I first primed the model with a coat of Model Masters Gloss Black and let it cure for 48 hours. For the engine area I first airbrushed a coat of Alclad II Pale Burnt Metal, followed by a light airbrushing of Alclad II Jet Engine Exhaust in between the panel lines. For the polished aluminum finish, I airbrushed the model with two light coats of Alclad II Polished Aluminum.

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

Decals
The decals for this kit were flawless. They are well printed, easily placed on the model and laid down nicely to the model with the help of some Solvaset decal setting solution. The kit offers decals for four aircraft. I chose to go with the decals for USAF aircraft #53668 of the 668th Fighter Wing.

Comments
This kit was a pleasure to build. The parts fit was very good. Cockpit and external detail is excellent, and the decals are super. The overall quality of this kit is excellent, Trumpeter engineered a superb kit. I was very pleased with the finished model—an impressive model.

Burt Gustafson

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

Photos and text © by Burt Gustafson