1/48 Hobby Boss F3H-2 Demon - Victory 210

Gallery Article by Michael Phillips on Feb 7 2018

As you can probably guess from my ARC member name, Fighting Eighty-Four, I am a big fan of the US Navy squadron VF-84, as well as the other squadrons to carry the Jolly Rogers name. So here I am now, my second submission to the ARC gallery, with another Jolly Rogers build... The 1/48 Hobby Boss F3H-2 Demon in VF-61 Jolly Rogers markings from 1957. I promise, not all of my builds wear the skull and crossbones! 

The kit is really quite nice, mostly accurate with really nice fitment almost everywhere. I had some issues with the assembly in the cockpit/forward fuselage area, but nothing that held me back very long. I did, however, make a couple of rather boneheaded errors on this build. First, the ejection seat (Aires) is for a later version of the Demon, and is not correct for the version that VF-61 flew. The other one, well, do you see it? It is tricky to spot, but once you do it can't be "unseen"!

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The markings come from a mix of OOB decals and AZ Model decals. I had a pretty rough time with both of these, but the AZ Model ones were worse. They really like to fall apart whilst being moved. I guess you could say I have been spoiled by using high-end aftermarket decals on most of my previous builds. I really wanted to use the Furball Demon Part 1 sheet, but that mofo was impossible to find anywhere!

So, about that other boneheaded error, did you find it? Well, it had to be pointed out to me too, but the US National Insignia is upside down on the port upper wing. Doh! I considered fixing it, but ultimately decided to just let it go. It is just kinda part of the character of the model now. LOL

I am very happy with how this turned out. I am getting better with my weathering, trying to keep it within the range of "just enough, not too much" which is not an easy thing to balance.

Hope you like!

Here is what I used on this build:

Kit: 1/48 Hobby Boss F-3H-2N Demon

Decals: OOB and AZ Model Decals

Aftermarket: Aires Ejection Seat.

Paints: Gunze Mr. Surfacer Black 1500 (primer base), Tamiya White Liquid Primer (for pre-shade stippling), Gunze Aqueous H314 FS16440 Light Gull Gray, H316 FS17875 Insignia White, H329 FS13538 Insignia Yellow, and H12 Black, Tamiya smoke, and Alclad II Gloss Black Primer, Aluminum, Jet Exhaust, and Burnt Iron. Future Gloss coat for decals and Future+Tamiya XF-21 Flat Base 6:1 ratio for final matte coat. MIG US Navy weathering set for panel washes.

Michael Phillips

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Photos and text © by Michael Phillips