Back to the intake…
This is a six part construction that is fairly straightforward, but do be aware that the inner-part of the intake should extend over the outer shell at the front as the lip will sit on this.
If you keep the inner and outer flush (as I initially did), you will have a gap on the inside of the intake where the lip fits.
The kit has the option for an open cannon bay to expose the Mk.61A Vulcan cannon, which the Tamiya kit doesn’t. The basis is there for some extra detailing if you are to leave panelling open, but I chose to seal it up.
The intake itself consists of two sections: the front part, which has already been discussed, and a rear section that leads-up to compressor blades.
The fit of the two sections is very good but some careful filling and sanding is required to eliminate the internal seam lines.
The main undercarriage bay is built-up first and then fitted into the lower fuselage, before joining the halves together.
The detail is OK out of the box and the fit is very good. The forward bay is part of the forward intake assembly and the fit is again good, with just a smearing of filler being required along the intake to lower fuselage seam line.
The Exhaust
As I said earlier, the kit has the option for both the F-100 and F-110 engine exhaust.
Both options in the kit are good straight from the box and the fit is good. The interior of the exhaust is painted white and is stained with Mig Productions Black smoke pigments, thinned with their own pigment fixer. The outside is sprayed using various shades of Alclad, including their Hot Metal Tints to give a blue burnt metal hue.
The fuselage halves fit together well, with just a smear of filler here and there. The tail unit again goes together with no problems and fits nicely onto the fuselage top.
In order to mask off the wheel wells, I blue-tacked the kit doors in place and they are an excellent fit, if you are considering building this model in a wheels up flying pose. The Aires Targeting Pod set also includes the sensors that are located on either side of the intake.
That’s the main building now complete.
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