Italeri 1/72 North American F-100F Super Sabre

ITALERI 1:72 N.A. F-100F SUPER SABRE
'INBOX Review'

Reviewer: Myself (rec.models.scale)

Kit Details: Italeri 1/72 #003 - F-100F SUPER SABRE DOUBLE SEATER

Aircraft History: Having put in a history of the F-100 with my recent review, I will let you refer to that. Here a quick discussion about the F-100F. This version was developed to facilitate the transition of trained pilots into the F-100D so is the two-seater trainer version and has a slightly extended fuselage. During the Vietnam war there was a high attrition rate of USAF aircraft being shot down by North Vietnamese SAMs (Surface to Air Missiles) - particularly the F-100 and F-105 aircraft. Recognising the importance to take out SAM sites the USAF hastily developed a program known as "Wild Weasel" which effectively meant destroying the SAM sites before they destroyed USAF aircraft. The USAF also recognised this required a two seat aircraft enabling a Weapons Control Officer (or equivalent) to manage the firing of missiles. So the F-100F two-seat trainer was converted to become the first Wild Weasel aircraft produced. Unfortunately there were lots of shortcomings, not least of which were the fact that they were inferior to the F-105's they were escorting so their role was short lived. A number of F-100F trainer versions were produced serving with many air forces that purchased the single seater including Turkey, Denmark, USAF and France.

Kit Parts: Two sprues of light grey parts float loosely in the box along with a small sprue of two clear parts and the decal sheet. The 57 injection molded parts (including transparencies) are crisply molded with plenty of surface detail and lovely engraved panel lines. Having recently built the Hasegawa F-100D these two kits are ages apart in quality and this looks miles better (and more accurate even on the sprue). Could not spot any flash and all the ejector pin marks are out of the way. While there are 2 clear parts, one is the HUD which means disappointingly for some that the canopy is molded shut.

Instructions: The long fold out strip of which each page is roughly A5 sized, pretty much follows the script for those who have built Italeri before. The opening page is devoted to a very brief history of the F-100F in several languages. Then comes some modelling information and sprue map followed by alphabetic paint labels keyed to the Modelmaster range, with appropriate FS numbers also provided. Six assembly steps provide the construction sequence, although there are also as many smaller detail inset drawings providing painting and close up assembly information of smaller parts, eg: landing gear. Then three pages are each devoted to a colour option the kit provides with decal placement. Here there is a lack of shading clarification for the rear panels of the aircraft (most of us know this is a different shade of bare metal and instructions show this but do not tell you what MM paint should be used). Overall, the instructions are absolutely excellent, with only a few areas (most notably the cockpit tub installation into the fuselage) that will need some interpretation on precise placement.

Colour Options: The kit allows for three versions including:

F-100D USAF, 353rd TFS, 354th TFW, 1958 in natural metal scheme with blue banner and stars on the tail fin and nose as shown on the boxart above. Looking at the boxart there is the suggestion that these banners are also applied to the rear fins of the large underwing tanks. These are not discussed at all on the instruction sheet, nor are there any decals supplied so if these should be there, you will have to paint these on yourself.
F-100F French Air Force, EC 3/11 "Jura", Toul Rosieres 1967 in natural metal scheme and red wingtips. While the red is pointed out on the instructions, they have used a shade seemingly identical to the rear panelling on the F-100 - so don't get the two areas mixed up. Thankfully the scheme is provided in full colour on the bottom of the box, and for once the shades and colour chips are easy to tell apart.
F-100F of Royal Danish Air Force (Denmark), ESK 725, Karup 1963 in natural metal scheme and a large red flair (supplied as a decal) from the nose. This scheme is also on the bottom of the box, but the drawing of the aircraft has a much more bulbous cockpit and nose taper than the French example above. I know it is just an artist drawing, but things like this make you note that down for later research later.

That's right, version A is listed as a D - I don't recall a D being two seater so wonder if this is simply a typo. Even though I have just built the F-100D recently and did my usual delving into research I did not notice any discussing two seat versions. At this stage, I am presuming this is an F.

Decals: Produced by Cartograf, who are my favourite decal producing company (as far as what you get inside kits as I am sure others will argue aftermarket suppliers are better). The decals are printed sharply and have excellent colour register, they look superb. A reasonable amount of stencilling is provided and apart from the stars for the underwing fuel tank fins noted above, appear to supply all that is needed.

Cockpit/Wheel Bay Detail: On most occasions I find that Italeri usually provide the more detailed cockpits in this scale for mainstream manufacturers (as many limited run kits with etched sets etc will *&^% all over mainstream manufacturers), even though often the detail is a bit too generic. On this occasion a cockpit tub is supplied which has side console detail molded, into which are provided two three-piece ejection seats which are very generic and do not contain any detail such as grab handles, belts or anything; and control sticks. Instrument panels with generic molded dials for both crew members are provided and a dashboard onto which a clear HUD finishes off the cockpit detail. Wheel wells and speed brake housing all have very reasonable detail with molded plumbing, hydraulics and boxes to keep most detailers happy.

Optional components: There are only stores as options for this kit including underwing tanks, bombs and possibly ECM pods. The pods are an interesting one, because if these are supposed to be provided for the Wild Weasel version, then where are the missiles? Although there are two types of refuelling probes provided, as well as exhaust cones, the latter of which I am sure why as there is a second one provided.

On the Sprue Impressions: The kit really looks very nice on the sprues, with enough detail as mentioned to keep most 72nd modellers very happy. There are one or two Italeri F-100D reviews on SMAKR which will no doubt apply equally to this kit as far as fit etc are concerned. Breakdown of the parts is fuselage halves missing only the canopy, wings, nose cone and exhaust cone. The wings are upper halves onto a lower underwing piece containing the main wheel wells. The wheels are well detailed although do not contain any tread. The depth of the nose area is quite shallow and the exhaust area is even more shallow. While there are a lot of parts for an aircraft of this type, when you throw in three-piece seats, separate struts for the landing gear and a reasonable amount of choice for stores, you can see how it can add up quickly.

Accuracy: Reputedly the best of the F-100's in this scale and the detail certainly stands up well to scrutiny.

Conclusion: It's excellent that we have a choice of both the single seat and double seat versions from Italeri. The detail is excellent, and the kit looks very nice on the sprue. Forget the inaccurate and clunky Hasegawa versions, this kit looks the goods. The only real issue as noted above is that the wild weasel version cannot really be produced out of the box, unless you cannibalise another kit for missiles. Highly recommended.

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