ATLANTIS ADDS TO ITS COLLECTION OF VINTAGE, HISTORIC AIRCRAFT MODELS WITH ITS 1/70 F-100C

BY BILL ENGAR

This was one of the legendary Revell model kit company's first aircraft kits.  While considered “fit the box” scale at 1/70, it’s so close to 1/72 that you really can’t notice any size difference when displayed with your other 1/72 aircraft models, if you have them.  Being “Atlantis Scale,” it will look fantastic when displayed with your other Atlantis aircraft models.

All-new box art depicts an F-100C in markings like those found in the kit.

Vintage plastic from a 1954 mold (if anybody's keeping track, that's about 2/3 of a century at time of posting).

Being one of the historic kits from the early days of the hobby, it has raised panel lines and decal locator markings.  Putty and sanding may be needed to assist with parts fit.  Be sure to test-fit parts before gluing and make adjustments as needed so that everything fits well.
 
A “retro-vintage” build preserves decal locator markings and leaves seams visible.  With this strategy, there’s no reason you couldn’t build the model in an evening or two.

We were super-excited when Atlantis announced the return of this vintage Revell kit.  We provided photos of our build, one of which ended up on the back of the box!  Here's another view.  We're just getting started on this webpage.  Thanks for checking out this preview; Much more to come!

 
 

The underside shows all the "hangy-stuff."  We thought the landing gear was nicely executed; it has some fine details and feels appropriate to the scale.  You could pose the aircraft gear-up if you'd like.

BUILD IT!

Note that a thin shim was applied to the wing root to improve wing-fuselage fit.  Raised details were sanded off for this build.

We like Alclad-II metal finish.  An airbrush is mandatory for application of this lacquer-based spray-on finish.

The Revell kit I built for this review and the box photo was was actually the 1987 re-issue of the kit in a blue-band box.  There were some fit issues with the wing joint; the fuselage needed a small plastic shim so that the lower fuselage section attached to the wing matched the rest of the fuselage.
 
A contest build may require sanding off all raised detail and sanding and puttying seams.  The wings have engraved details for panel lines and flaps.  Some of it is a little soft and might benefit from re-scribing.  This is what I did for my build.
 
One area to be aware of for potential parts-fit issues is the canopy.  I found that the canopy wouldn’t seat on the rails thanks to the pilot’s helmet.  There are two things I did to take care of this.

Photos were used as a reference for masking different parts of the aircraft.   This simulates different alloys used for various panels and surfaces on the real aircraft.

That's not a piece of flash; the pilot has his oxygen mask hanging below his chin.

First, be sure the cockpit “sled” is dropped down into the model slightly.  I managed to trim the cockpit piece so it could be dropped into the fuselage after the fuselage halves were put together (the instructions say to glue the cockpit in place prior to gluing the fuselage halves).  It was much easier to paint the cockpit and attached pilot as a separate part while the fuselage was being painted.  The cockpit rests on horizontal posts; these posts can be trimmed and the part of the cockpit that rests on them can be thinned.

Getting the drop tanks and ordnance to hang straight takes a little patience, but it's the same sort of work needed for any model kit of a fighter jet.  Note that we used burnt-metal shades for the rear fuselage and exhaust tail-feathers.

Another hint is to shave down the pilot’s helmet a little.  The top-rear appears to impede with the canopy.  If you add paint to the helmet after doing this, be sure to remember the added thickness of the paint.  Again, a combination of dropping the cockpit “sled” and shrinking the pilot’s helmet a little will eliminate the clearance problem.

Varied shades of Alclad II finish for airbrushes were masked and sprayed.  An undercoat of glossy dark gray provides a deep, simulated polished aluminum sheen.

There is no question that this is a vintage kit from the early days of the plastic modeling hobby.  With that said, some work will be involved to get a contest-type finish.  This means sanding off raised detail, re-scribing some flight surface lines, trimming, filling, shimming, etc.  Yes, you'll have to work a little to get a high-quality result.  However, that's not to say that the modeler won't enjoy a leisurely weekend build experience.  One of the biggest appeals of a kit like this is the vintage experience of a historic box-scale model kit.  Atlantis has brought it back with best-ever quality decals and they write a new chapter for the kit's collectibility with new box art.

We're glad to see this classic Revell kit return after a long absence.  The 2Modeler guys give it four thumbs up!

SPECIAL THANKS TO ATLANTIS MODELS FOR PROVIDING OUR REVIEW KIT! 
​ 

BONUS FEATURES

THE HISTORIC F-100:  THE WORLD’S FIRST SUPERSONIC FIGHTER JET

The F-100 Super Sabre can trace its DNA back to the famous P-51 of WWII fame.  Symbolic of Allied cooperation, it was the fusion of the North American P-51 airframe with the British-built Merlin engine that ultimately created what many consider the best American fighter of that war. 
 
Post-war, jet engine technology had great promise.  In the quest for increased power, the piston engine had evolved to its limits.  Compounded superchargers added weight, bulk, and increased complexity as the cost of squeezing more horsepower from already refined piston engines reached the point of diminished returns.  Propeller technology had likewise evolved as far as it could and it was generally acknowledged that a propeller-driven aircraft could not exceed the speed of sound in level flight.  Turbojet engines promised to cut the number of moving parts by huge fractions and push aircraft into the supersonic realm.   The potential of phenomenal power-to-weight ratios alone drove further development.

The iconic Mustang’s wing design was incorporated into North American’s FJ-1 Fury, the US Navy’s first jet-powered fighter.  Along with jet engines, another concept emerging at the conclusion of WWII was swept wings.  Ironically, it was dropping the P-51 wing planform and replacing it with a 35-degree swept design that finally created what became the F-86 Sabre,  a fine aircraft that could go toe-to-toe with the vaunted Russian MiG-15 during the Korean War.  Another problem with the straight-wing Fury is that it did not have folding wings which made storage in a carrier hangar a problem.  Only 30 Fury aircraft were built and they were used for testing and training and not deployed on carriers.

Aurora released its "P-51 Mustang" in 1956--in 1/48 scale!  Cool insider-information from an official USAF source:  Aurora's P-51 is actually an "H" instead of a "D" as listed in Aurora documentation.  The kit has operable landing gear and removable engine panels.  And what does that "USAF" insignia under the wing mean?  That's right; it's an F-51 since that became the aircraft's proper designation after the USAF was formed on September 18, 1947.  Our Air Force consultant also proclaimed this kit as "fun."  Let's hope the tooling is around and it can be re-released some day!

The F-86 Sabre eventually attained an outstanding 10:1 kill-ratio during the Korean War and the aircraft was produced in great numbers.  North American saw the need for further evolution of the successful design and the airframe was tweaked beyond its transonic domain into the supersonic realm.
 
The J57 jet engine was a promising platform and the F-100 Super Sabre was designed around it.  During its first flight on May 25, 1953, the YF-100 flew beyond Mach One.   Just six years after the Sound Barrier was broken by Chuck Yeager, the U.S. Air Force had its first faster-than-the-speed-of-sound fighter jet.

Yikes!  Aurora's Mig-19 didn't particularly resemble the MiG 19, Russia's first supersonic fighter jet.

The MiG-19 flew before the F-100, but it entered service later.

The F-100 had a top speed of Mach 1.4, over 900 MPH.  But its speed came at a cost with some dicey handling quirks and the design required adjustments.  By 1954, the “C” variant of the F-100 improved upon the initial “A” version with the option of attack/bombing mission capability.  This is the version that Revell depicted with their 1954 kit.  In-air refueling was also added, but this appeared on later “C” aircraft and Revell’s kit does not include the refueling probe.  The Atlantis model of the F-100C portrays the early version of this variant.
 
The F-100C was a handful for pilots with some serious handling difficulties in certain flight regimes and it was the “D” version which attempted to address these with a larger wing and tail.

The FJ Fury was the US Navy's first jet aircraft.  North American Aircraft utilized many components from the P-51 in its design.   But simply wrapping parts from the legendary WWII fighter around a jet engine did not work for a Navy aircraft.

North American took the Fury's configuration and made it great by incorporating swept flight surfaces.  The MiG-15 truly had its match in the form of the F-86.  But the general design had even more potential.

The F-100 still required diligence on behalf of its pilots, yet it became heavily used during the Vietnam war starting in 1961.  F-4 Phantoms and F-105 Thunderchiefs eventually replaced the F-100’s but the F-100 performed well in close air support and attack roles.  No F-100 was shot down during air-to-air engagements.  The F-100 remained demanding of its pilots but far more aircraft were shot down by ground-based anti-aircraft fire than crashed in operational accidents.
 
As the 1950’s progressed, engine technology and aerodynamics evolved at breakneck speed.  The concept of area-rule fuselage design revolutionized supersonic flight and operational speeds in excess of Mach 2 became routine for the generations of fighter jets that followed the trailblazing F-100. 
 
In addition to its fighter and attack roles, The F-100 also became the first “Wild Weasel” aircraft.  In this mission, the aircraft would bait ground-based enemy surface-to-air (SAM) missile systems to activate their search radar.  The Wild Weasels had hardware that could pinpoint the locations of these radar emitters for dispatch by separate attack aircraft.   Later, with the mounting of an AGM-45 Shrike antiradar missile on the Wild Weasel aircraft, a single Wild Weasel F-100 could also destroy the enemy radar installation after baiting and locating it.

Revell's original box art for the F-100C.

In 1980, Monogram released an F-100D in 1/48-scale.

F-100’s were exported to France where they became the primary fighter-bomber aircraft during the 1960’s until replaced by the Sepecat Jaguar.  Republic of China (Taiwan), and Turkey both used F-100’s.
 
The USAF Thunderbirds used F-100C’s between 1956 and 1964.  The USAF in Europe (USAFE)  had a separate demonstration team known as the Skyblazers and they flew F-100C’s starting in 1956.  The Skyblazers team was disbanded by 1962.  In 1964, the USAF began flying F-100D’s which had in-air refueling capability.  Sending the Thunderbirds around the world to do their shows demonstrated the rapid, long-distance deployment capability of Air Force fighter assets and the USAF was only too happy to show it off thanks to the long reach provided by in-air refueling.
 
The F-100’s served the US Air Force throughout the 1960’s and were all transferred to Air National Guard units by 1971.  As ANG assets, the F-100's certainly did not sit at the sidelines.  A number of ANG units were deployed to Vietnam and Guard pilots made significant contributions to USAF war efforts via tens of thousands of F-100 sorties against enemy targets.  After the war, the ANG F-100’s continued in standby and training duties until retired in 1979.  As the F-16 began to be produced and delivered, the F-100’s days ended after roughly a quarter-century of operational use by the USAF. 

The Skyblazers resembled the Thunderbirds.  F100D's with air-to-air refueling capability could make the trip to Europe from the United States and a second aerobatic team in Europe wasn't needed.

The F-16 began to be delivered as the last F-100's were retired from the U.S. Air National Guard.

In 1954, there was a lot of excitement about the new F-100.  Young modelers couldn't wait to get their hands on models and Revell's F-100C represented the latest and greatest version of the Super Saber up to that point with bombs and fuel tanks.  Revell's kit was released while the F-100 was still front page news.  It's hard to believe that the kit could be 70 years old; it is indeed a true piece of aviation and model kit history.  Atlantis Models brings this kit back after a long absence with great new box art and high-quality decals.  Why not order one today!!!

THE "CENTURY SERIES" -- A BOX ART PHOTOESSAY

The historic F-100 began a line of trendsetting supersonic USAF fighter aircraft engineered in the 1950's known as the "Century Series."  Prior to the USAF resetting the numbering designations of its aircraft, this special grouping of aircraft pushed new frontiers of military aircraft engineering.  The era represents a transition from WWII designs with jet engines to what might be considered the modern supersonic fighter aircraft.

This 1954 Aurora F-100 kit was released in 1/77-scale.

Aurora's 1958 F-101 was a small and inexpensive kit in 1/136-scale.  They had a nice series of small fit-the-box subjects in the late 1950's.

Young modelers were very excited about the latest advances in aeronautics.  I recall seeing newspaper and TV news stories about new aircraft.  Of course we all wanted to build models of these aircraft as soon as we could.  The various model companies responded; it wasn't unusual at all to find the same aircraft made in different kits from multiple manufacturers.  We thought it might be fun to present a collection of Century Series model kits from the 1950's and 1960's.  Most of the images are from BoxArtDen.com.

The F-101 was designed as a long-range bomber escort aircraft but became a tactical fighter-bomber.  It was quite a bit faster than the F-100.  Monogram's "Forty Niner" (as in 49 cents) F-101 was a 1/109-scale model.  While small, it was still a nice, simple little kit.

Revell's "S" F-101 Voodoo came out in 1956.  It was 1/75-scale.  "S" meant it had to use S-type cement specifically made for styrene plastic models.  Model companies faced a bit of a challenge with some young modelers not fully understanding the need for what was then a brand-new type of glue required to build a plastic model.  Of course Revell conveniently sold "S" cement!

Early Century Series model kits were generally simple and inexpensive.  Most from Revell and Aurora were fit-the-box efforts and so there wasn't a consistent scale represented.  Aurora tried to undercut Revell by making their kits smaller and putting them in a smaller box.  This of course meant that the Aurora kits were less expensive.

Revell's F-102 came out in 1956.  Just a tad bigger than the F-101, it scaled out to 1/77 to fit the same size box.  Sharp-eyed enthusiasts will note that Revell's kit represented a very early version of the F-102 with the short tail.  Only a few of these were manufactured.

Aurora's F-102 came out the year after Revell's.  Like the F-101, it fit inside a small box and was very inexpensive.  Scale was 1/121.

There were of course some gaps in the Century Series.  The XF-103 was being developed as a Mach 3 ramjet-powered interceptor.  The concept never made it to the prototype stage and no styrene model kit was released.

The F-104 was a little hotrod of an aircraft that could exceed Mach 2.  It would scale out at 1/64 in Revell's standard box.

In Aurora's even smaller box, the F-104 was 1/110-scale.

The F-107 was envisioned as an improvement over the F-100.  North American fielded it as a competitor to the Republic F-105.  The F-107 was infamous for its unusual top-mounted intake right behind the canopy.  No doubt this gave pilots pause who were familiar with the need to punch out of an F-100 that was stuck in a "Sabre Dance," a dangerous low-altitude stall.  The F-107's improvements pushed the aircraft beyond Mach 2.  The F-105 was chosen instead as the winner of the contract.  Over 800 F-105's were built.

If the F-104 was designed to reach Mach 2 with a minimalist approach, the F-105 was the exact opposite.  Aurora's F-105 from 1959 was larger than the previous Century Series kits; at 1/75-scale, it made a nice desk model at over 10" in length.

Monogram's F-105 debuted in 1958 in 1/72-scale!  It utilized "action features."  You could push a button and eject both the pilot in his seat as well as a nuclear bomb!  Even though this kit had plenty of rivets, I recalled it being a satisfying build.

The XF-108 was another attempt to create a high-altitude Mach-3 interceptor.  North American used engineering from the A-5 Vigilante program as well as the XB-70 to develop a concept.  Like the XF-103, no actual flying prototype was ever built and the Century Series was left with only proposals and concept paintings.  No styrene model kits were made.

Aurora's F-105 matched Revell's in 1/75-scale.  The Revell kit was released in 1958.

The F-106 was originally an improved F-102 but the number of changes justified designation as a new type.  Revell released a 1/67-scale kit in 1959.

The XF-109 could have been a Mach-2 VTOL aircraft resembling an F-104 with swiveling jet engines at its wingtips similar to today's V-22.  Bell's D-188A didn't get past the concept stage.  Runways and tarmacs everywhere were grateful as those engines in their downward-facing mode would have been awfully close to the ground.  The F-4 Phantom could have been the F-110 if the Air Force hadn't decided to redesignate its fighter aircraft.  The Air Force shared the US Navy's F-4 designation for the aircraft.  The Phantom was originally developed as a US Navy aircraft and it was later adapted for use by the U.S. Air Force.  This joint-fighter project approach was tried again formally for the F-111 program but the aircraft became too heavy for the Navy and it left the project.

Aurora's F-107 was released in 1958 in 1/72-scale.  This is a model we'd love to see re-released again!

Aurora's "F-110" has the distinction of being the first F-4 Phantom model ever released!  It's a big model in 1/48-scale.  Like the box art, the kit is unique as it resembles the XF4H-1 prototype with conforming canopy and straight nose.  Later versions of the Phantom had a taller canopy and the nose was angled downward.

We expect that the tooling for many of the model kits we've shown above is currently owned by Atlantis Models.  Atlantis has already released a number of historic model aircraft kits with the F-100 being their first of the Century Series.  We'd love to see as many of the above kits and others released again as possible! 

Many of these kits have historical significance to the modeling community.  For example, Aurora's "F-110" pictured above is the first-ever model kit of the F-4 Phantom!  The Phantom has been a favorite of modelers for decades and dozens of different versions have been released by a number of manufacturers over the years.  It was Aurora that started "Phantom Fever" among model builders.  Atlantis Models has previously rereleased the former Aurora Cheyenne helicopter, a rather unusual prototype that never made it into production for one reason or another.

Check Atlantis-Models.com often since they are announcing new kits all the time.   We happen to know that they have some very exciting subjects that will be announced in the near future!  To stay up-to-date, don't forget to sign up for their newsletter.  You'll look forward to their regular updates and new announcements of awesome vintage model kits!