Northrop T-38C Talon
Comments
34 1 May 2022, 19:03
James CWelcome aboard mate 😉👍
I made a start on this one a couple days ago. So far its turning out to be a very nice little kit, and especially with the cockpit interior detailing straight out of the box. Just a couple more exterior components left to clean up, then will begin shooting a coat of primer on everything.
1 May 2022, 19:18
James CWelcome guys 🙂
I've finished painting the cockpit interior, and struggled a bit with the p/e harnesses, but just about ready to put it all together and install into the fuselage. Will update the album when it's finally in position... hopefully later today.
4 May 2022, 18:26
James CWelcome Mark and yes I agree... despite it's age, it still looks like a recent design to me.
After doing a bit of dry-fitting yesterday I found that the rear ejection seat was sitting slightly too high, and enough to fowl the canopy when test fitting over the top. After thinking it over and having another look at it this morning, I decided to just trim approx. 1.5mm of material from the bottom of the box (no idea what it is) that attaches to the back of the rear seat.
This then allowed the seat to sit flush with the mounts on the floor of the cockpit.
With that minor problem solved, I mounted the nose gear bay and added a little nose weight and then closed the fuselage up. With the nose gear bay and cockpit tub now providing a little more rigidity to the fuselage, I found that the upper and lower joins of the fuselage closed up much better than it did without them in position when test fitting.
I'll leave it now for the glue to properly cure and make a start on cleaning up the joins tomorrow.
5 May 2022, 00:00
James CA little more progress made with the canopy's masked off and mounted along with the wings. I've not decided yet if I will permanently mount the elevators before or after painting, so they are just resting in position at present.
Also made a start on cleaning up the fuselage joins and have applied a little Mr Surfacer where needed.
Not far off shooting a coat of primer on the airframe now.
7 May 2022, 01:58
James CThanks Neil & Guy
I finished painting it today and am just about ready to shoot a couple coats of clear gloss over it to prep for the decals.
13 May 2022, 00:58
Murad ÖZERBeautiful paintjob James. photo #14 really makes that coke bottle magic on the fuselage and wingroots pop - man i love the t-38.
13 May 2022, 04:22
Robin (WhiteGlint)He, coke bottle magic. That's a nice way to describe it. 😄
But I totally agree, the T-38 has a great shape.
13 May 2022, 05:38
NeilNo problem James. 🙂 Looks ACE! I agree with WhiteGlint, the Talon airframe is just beyond sleek. Such a beautiful shape - your paint job doing it absolute justice... Another build that'll look fantastic in your display case 😉 👍
13 May 2022, 08:40
James CThanks Murad, Robin and Neil 👍
It is indeed a cool and slick looking aircraft, even by modern standards visually.
I love the style, even cars of the era... 1969 Dodge Charger anyone?
13 May 2022, 16:06
James CFinished placing the decals this afternoon. Not too many stencils which was nice and they settled down really well by themselves. Will leave them overnight before shooting another gloss coat to seal them ahead of final assembly.
22 May 2022, 01:50
James CThanks John 🙂
I finished it off a little a while ago and rushed it outside to take some quick shots while the sun was still out briefly this afternoon. It's been a bit wet and overcast this last week with no improvement forecast anytime soon, so I may re-do them if/when the weather improves under better lighting in the coming days.
Quite a nice kit, with the only issues encountered being of my own making as is usually the case. Being a trainer, there were no pylons or ordinance to hang beneath the wings etc, but it did include a luggage pod. However, I decided early on that I wasn't going to use it, preferring instead to keep it clean.
The only fit issue I encountered was with the rear canopy over the ejection seat and needing to remove a little material for clearance. Should you decide to build the kit with the canopies closed as I did, be sure to test fit them in position prior to securing the seats permanently.
The only other thing to note is that the paint guide indicates to use medium gunship grey for the dark grey. I felt this was too light when compared to pictures of the real aircraft so opted to use standard gunship grey instead.
In short an inexpensive and quite enjoyable build right out of the box.
Cheers for following 🙂👍
23 May 2022, 02:16
Konrad -What a beautiful airplane! Awesome work on this one and the camo looks cool too!
I have the NASA one in my stash, once I see yours I can't wait any longer to start mine😬!
23 May 2022, 06:50
Robin (WhiteGlint)Beautiful looking trainer, James. 👍
The smooth gloss coat really highlights the shape of this aircraft.
23 May 2022, 08:33
Murad ÖZERWonderful build James. good thing you kept the canopies closed also, lines of the jet looks much better in this way eventho trumpy dropped the ball on the general shape of the kit imho. 👍👍👍
23 May 2022, 09:04
James CThanks guys 🙂
@ Murad - Yes, I always try to close my aircraft up if I can so as not to spoil the natural lines.
I forgot to mention that the airbrakes on the bottom of the fuselage can be displayed open as well, but I also chose to close them. The fit of them in the closed position was perfect with no gaps!
23 May 2022, 16:33
Album info
The Northrop T-38 Talon is a two-seat, twinjet supersonic jet trainer. It was the world's first supersonic trainer and is also the most produced.
The first test flight took place on 10th April 1959, and began its operational service on 17th March 1961.
The United States Air Force (USAF) operates the most T-38s and in addition to training USAF pilots, the T-38 is also operated by NASA.
The U.S. Naval Test Pilot School in Patuxent River, Maryland is the principal US Navy operator.
Pilots of other NATO nations also fly the T-38 in joint training programs with USAF pilots.
The T-38 has been in continuous service for over 50 years, primarily with the USAF, but is also currently flown by the German Luftwaffe (stationed at Sheppard AFB, Texas and painted in US markings) as well as the Turkish Airforce.
Past operators include Portugal, South Korea and Taiwan.
In September 2018, the USAF announced the replacement of the Talon by the Boeing-Saab T-7 Red Hawk with phaseout due to begin in 2023.
Completed 23rd May 2022
