Released for the first time in 1980 the 1/48th Monogram F-100D Super Sabre was part of a full set of Century Series fighters produced in 1/48th by Monogram. For several decades this kit remained the undisputed choice if you wanted a F-100 in 1/48th (and there wasn't much choice). That fact may still be true today, depending on your priorities.
Notable Kit Features:
Nicely moulded raised cockpit detail
Ejection seat has moulded cushions and seat belts
Overall good dimensions
Slats & speed-brake can be positioned down
Optional open gun-bay, ammo bay
Two different styles of exhausts provided (F-102 style for some post war versions)
Nice gear and wheel-bay details
Boarding ladder included
Stores include Bullpup, Mk.82 bombs and wing tanks
Raised panel lines with nice recessed details
Very reasonable cost (comparatively)
Build Inspiration:
While searching for some inspiring markings to re-do one of my 1/48th Monogram F-100D Super Sabres I came across this decal sheet of a Vietnam Veteran aircraft at a local hobby shop. "Pretty Penny" was flown by 1/Lt. Jerry Salome in 1965 while with the 481st TFS based at Tan Son Nhut AB (South) Vietnam. Penny was named after Jerry Salome's wife. The art on the Hun's nose was done by 1/Lt. Pete Vanderhoef who also flew the aircraft (amoung others). The aircraft was also featured in the Squadron Signal F-100 in Actions series books.
Heads-Up Report:
Careful test fitting of parts is best for this circa 80's kit construction
Raised cockpit detail possibly not accurate
The fit of the gun-bay cover will have notable gaps to fill (card stock and filler) other open bays fit slightly better but require work
Nice (but partly imaginative) moulded detail in the gear bays
The nose air intake duct two halves will require some work to get that seam to disappear (possibly cut off the rear backing so you can work from both ends)
Best test fit the intake duct to the nose (and don't follow the instructions to first glue the duct to the upper fuselage) Find what works best before gluing the duct pieces into the nose
Some of the Monogram kit's fit problems can be worked around if you first build the fuselage without the wings, and remove the horizontal tails (this will allow better clean-up of the rear fuselage joins)
If you remove the horizontal stabilizers, re-join them later using stiff wire or small tubing passed through the fuselage as the attachment point - drill out holes in the ends of the stabs to fit them on the kit as this will allow you to position them later (careful of your drill angles and depth)
The gap to fit the fuselage between the wings (which are joined as a single unit) is too narrow, so best to separate the two wings and put a spacer in or fit the wings individually
Both the nose fit and the exhaust fit required some sanding of surfaces to smooth over the steps and seams
The wing tanks provided in the kit are the 275 Imp. Gal. tanks used by the early F-100s - The later tanks were the 335 Imp. Gal. type (about 28" longer)
Half-tanks are pre-attached to the pylons with a resulting gap that you may want to deal with (by severing the tanks and reattaching them later)
Wing pylons do not fit well to the wing and must be gap filled or re-contoured to fit
The Monogram fine panel lines were sanded off (mainly because I sanded off a lot of it in the construction process)
The "102" style exhaust was only found on post-war types (Typically ANG) - so yes, I got that wrong as well for these markings
Note: all this work is even more challenging on a NMF as the seams, imperfections and even scratches even become noticeable.
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Kit built Out-of-the-Box with the exception of the (Microscale?) decals
Finishing:
The NMF was airbrushed using lacquer-based paints without much weathering. A gloss coat was then sprayed using a lacquer finish to prepare for decals. The final matt coat was sprayed, using lacquer (Testors Dullcoat?) to complete the finish. Dark washes which were used to highlight the controls and various inlets. I stopped using the Testor's Lacquer after I discovered it yellowed badly after a few years. At some point I realized I forgot to paint the 481st Green Crusaders tail triangle as well a get the other tail colour details, however after the decals yellowed I lost interest in that correction.
The After-Build Report:
While not perfect by any means, the general consensus is that, shape-wise the 1/48th Monogram F-100D Super Sabre remains a better representation of the Hun than the competition's kits. The 1/48th F-100 Monogram kit is not an easy build, however it is doable with patience and intermediate (or better) model making skills. In the end it should net you a good looking Hun for a very reasonable cost, assuming you don't go to town with the aftermarket (which is another route you could take).
The 1/48th Trumpeter kit is easier to build, with scribed panel lines however these attributes are the only advantages over the Monogram kit. Problem areas (on the D) include the shape of the intake, canopy, tires, early 275 tanks, and rivet detail to name a few.
(Refreshed the paint and decals on this kit in June 2003.)
Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers
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