Let
me refer you to my build article here on the F-89B from Hobbycraft for a general
synopsis of what it's like to build a Hobbycraft/Academy series 1/72 Scorpion
and what their faults are. A lot of the things I did with the F-89B apply
to this F-89D as well.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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Ever
since seeing the 1/48 scale decals that Repliscale released years ago for the
59th FIS commanders bird, I have wanted to replicate this aircraft, but the
decals unfortunately never got downscaled to the proper scale!
I waited for many years to see if anyone would deliver on these in the
after-market world, but apparently Scorpions are going to stay ignored... which
is a crying shame considering the amount of colorful schemes that the Scorpion
family sported during their operational careers. Lack of decals is
probably the # 1 reason Scorpion kits are not seen built very often!
I
finally decided to have a go at trying to create the markings for this one using
my Epson Stylus C66 Dura-Brite printer and Testors clear and white decal film.
All of the markings that would be needed were created in Photoshop Elements and
I set about the tedious process of replicating this bird.
In
hind-sight, it's probably a good thing that the Repliscale sheet did not get
downscaled as I have not found photographic evidence that fully supports their
version. A photo of this plane can be found inside the cover of the
Squadron "In-Action" on the Scorpion, so this is what I based my
markings on.
The
59th's bat & missile insignia for the rocket pods was printed on clear film
and applied over the pods which were already painted yellow.
I then masked the yellow stripe behind the insignia and used liquid latex to
mask the yellow edge around the insignia.
The stars on the nose and the rocket pods, the serial #'s on the tail and the
blue & red striped rudder were all created and printed on clear decal film.
The rudder was painted white to provide the white-backing for the blue & red
striped rudder decal.
This
particular bird sported a segmented "U.S. AIR FORCE" on the nose that
I've never seen in such a style on any other high-vis USAF aircraft, so this had
to be created as well... as I could not find any existing decals in this style.
The
white C on the vertical stab was printed on white decal film with a
red-surround. Once applied over the already red-painted vertical stab, I
applied the decal and hand-painted the red up to the red surround.
Pollyscale railroad acrylic SP Scarlett paint was used for the Arctic red
paint on this bird as it most closely seemed to match period color photos of the
red used on these aircraft.
Floquil
Old Silver enamel was used for the natural metal finish.
Once
painting, final decals, landing gear and clear coats were completed, this bird
was basically done.
A
minor irritation with this model is that Hobbycraft did not include the
under-wing fuel tanks that were commonly seen on F-89D's. Haven't quite
figured out how they could've overlooked this, but special thanks to Tom Teliczan
of Hawaii for sending me a spare set from one of his Revell kits (Another
reason to build the Revell kits instead of the Hobbycraft kits).
Again
the nose-wheels on this one are scratch-built to more closely resemble the
originals than the machined wheels that come with the kit.
J.C.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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