Wild Weasel Hun: 1/48th Trumpeter F-100F Super Sabre

This 1/48th Trumpeter F-100F Super Sabre kit was a long overdue modern version of this Century Series aircraft. My initial overview of the panel lines and rivets as well as most of the details of this kit impressed me, however there are some devils in the details.

Notable Kit Features:

• Cockpit detail is impressive (although throttles are missing)

• Ejection seats are a bit lacking

• No internal canopy structure details

• Boarding ladder provided (which is amusing as there does not appear to be an open canopy option)

• Very clear canopy parts

• Full length air intake duct

• Separately molded ailerons, stabilator, and rudder

• Positionable flaps / slats and speed brakes

• Good gear and wheel well details

• Straight as well as angled air refueling booms

• Inverted Y-type Sidewinder pylons or standard option

• TERs and Sidewinders provided

• Straight or stowed pitot booms
  

Build Inspiration:

JP gets full credit for pushing this project to the forefront by generously providing the subject kit (that's how much he likes the 'station wagon' versions of certain fighters). From that point there was only the decision of which Wild Weasel crew's aircraft to depict. I was debating between the "First Kill" and the "First Loss". JP chimed in with the strong suggestion to go with the success and there we have it: Honouring the first SAM site kill by a F-100F "Wild Weasel", I present s/n 58-1226, which on 22 December 1965 with Pilot Al Lamb, & EWO Jack Donovan at the controls destroyed a SAM in the vicinty of the rail yards at Yen Bai, North Vietnam.

Wild Weasel Detachment, 6234th Tactical Fighter Wing, Korat, Thailand. The first Wild Weasel aircrews are (Front row, L to R in pilot caps): Capt. Walt Lifsey, Capt. Sandy Sandelius, Capt. Ed White, Maj. Garry Willard, Capt. Jack Donovan, Capt. Allen Lamb, Capt. John Pitchford, Capt. Maury Fricke, unknown and Maj. Bob Swartz (not pictured are Capt. Les Lindenmuth, Capt. Donald Madden and Capt. Robert Trier

Heads-Up Report:

• Ejection seats are alright but the arm-rests may be incorrect and there are no harness / buckle nor tubing / wiring detail (maybe opt for a Black Box replacement set)

• Missing the cross brace detail between the front & rear seats

• The nose shape is definitely off (Shape of the intake is incorrect mainly being too narrow looking)

• Shape of the aft fuselage and tail received critiques as well (but to me less noticeable)

• Wheels are a bit too thin and too large in diameter

Kit Additions / Modifications:

• This kit was built out of the box with few additions aside from seat belts and the custom tail markings to depict this "SAM Killer" crew aircraft.

  
  

Finishing:

The paint scheme applied to this aircraft is the USAF standard for combat theater planes of the time, TAC Jungle FS 30219 Tan / 34079 Dk. Green / 34102 Med. Green over FS 36622 Lt Gray). Weathering was kept minimal as these Wild Weasel aircraft did not serve for long before being replaced by more capable aircraft for this dangerous role. Weapons are accurate for this mission (believe it or not) with just rockets and guns. No wonder the term "YGBSM" came up. The F-100F Weasels paid a high price in Vietnam, as 5 of the 7 F-100Fs were eventually lost.

Photograph of Capt. Allen Lamb (l) and Capt. Jack Donovan (r) snapped just before they took off on the first SAM kill mission.

The After-Build Report:

If your goal is a relatively easily built F-100F with recessed panel lines then this 1/48th Trumpeter Super Sabre kit may suit you best (beginners may find the separate controls a bit challenging). While it was nice to see a modern kit produced of the Hun series, difficult to fix inaccuracies will be apparent, if you know the aircraft well. On the shelf it looks enough like a F-100F to suit most. The old 1/48th Monogram F-100D kit is considered best for shape accuracy, however it has raised panel lines as well as its own challenges and inaccuracies. If you are a stickler for detail you are still waiting for a great F-100F kit to build, for me, the Trumpeter will do in the meantime to get a Wild Weasel in The Hangar.

Thanks again to JP for getting this two-seater Hun into the collection here.

Completed build #223 - December 2018 using the 1/48th scale Trumpeter #02840 kit.

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 suppose to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers