Kinetic F-84F Thunderstreak 1:48

Progress is good and I have had a bit of a re-think of the plan. Firstly, the cockpit isn’t too bad as is and so I’ll just add the pre-painted belts to the seat. If you are careful in placing the new items, you don’t need to remove the slightly raised moulded straps on the kit seat. I just carefully dry-brushed and painted the main instrument panel that was painted Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black. Other colours used for things like the speed brake interiors etc are also shown.

The instructions call out for Olive Drab Base for most of the cockpit parts although after research, it seems like the cockpits were anything from a light, almost Tamiya Sky Grey colour through to grey and so on. I decided to go for something in between and you can just make your own mind up but I like the look of the cockpit and seat now it’s done. I also added a small drop of Tamiya Gloss Clear to the faces of each dial.

Installation into the fuselage is easy and the fit good…

The gun pack/nose gear assembly attaches to the forward fuselage and again, slips in neatly without any fuss…

To add a bit of peace of mind I added some more plasticine and metal pellets in the space below the cockpit and hopefully there is enough in there now to avoid a tail-sitter.

The fuselage is closed and the fit is good. I used Tamiya Extra Thin Quick Setting Cement and lots of tape to hold everything fast for a couple of days to allow the join/cement to fully cure.

Nose intake…