Albatros Modelworks
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1/32 F-105D product # 32003
Review by Steve
Bamford
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With the
release of the new Trumpeter F-105 kit in 1/32, Albatros has come out with
a new decal sheet featuring 4 different "Thuds" from the Vietnam
Era. Of note is that 3 of these 4 jets was lost by being shot down
or in ground accidents. The remaining plane...."Memphis Bell
II" resides in the AF Museum. So...let's have a look what you
get.
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Plane
#1 is an F-105D-RE-10 #600504 called the "Memphis Bell
II" with nose art that is copied from the nose art of the
original and quite famous B-17 of WW2 fame. This F-105 served
in Vietnam. It includes the nose art you see to the
left. |
| I'm not sure
if it's the romantic in me......but I find this nose art
particularly attractive from a historical perspective as well as a
romantic perspective. This nose art contains no nudity and
instead has a certain sexy but reserved "Lady Like"
southern Belle feel to it. Alluring and classy.....she's a
lady. This jet shot down a MiG-17 and
resides in the AF Museum. The nose art was only featured on one side of
this jet. There are 2 "Red Star" kill markings on the left
side of the fuselage in front of the canopy. |
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Plane #2
is a F-105D-RE-25 "JEANIE II / I DREAM OF JEANIE" and served in
Vietnam. This jet will appeal to all you 40 something modellers.
You all recall the sexy Barbara Eden as she did her Jeanie role on the I
dream of Jeanie" show in the mid to late '60's. It was a very
racy show that pushed all boundaries.....but she never showed her belly
button on the TV show.....of course the young guys |
| today just wouldn't
understand. Anyhow....this jet has nose art that refers to that
special TV show. You can see the nose art above. This plane
was lost on 31/08/77 while assigned to the Virginia ANG but the pilot
ejected safely. The nose art was featured on both sides of this jet. |
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Plane #3
is a F-105D-RE-5 "DAISY MAE" and served in Vietnam and crashed
30/09/76 while assigned to the 121 TFS, DC ANG out of Andrews AFB.
The nose art was only featured on one side of this jet. If my guess
is correct.....this nose art is based on the Daisy Mae character from the
Li'l Abner newspaper comic strip that ran from 1934 to 1977......heck I
remember that comic strip well....Daisy Mae was a Hill Billy babe. |
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Plane #4
is a F-105D-RE-31 "PUSSY GLAORE II" and served in Vietnam.
The nose art is on the top side directly in front of the canopy. The
decal for this nose art is a separate decal printed up to get the delicate
shading that regular decal printing can sometimes have trouble
printing. Pussy Galore is the executive jet pilot for the arch Villain
in the late '60's James Bond movie "Goldfinger". This nose
art was apparently designed to amuse the otherwise bored boom operators in
the in-flight tankers and I suspect no boom operator ever forgot refueling
this jet. Sadly the Pussy Galore II F-105 was lost in a ground
accident on 16/12/68 during overhaul depot in Tinian, Taiwan.
Printing quality of these decals is very crisp and in register.....and of a very high
quality.
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The instructions are clear enough to follow
and should prove no problem. There is also a page of black and white
diagrams showing various F-105D profiles with the camo scheme. |
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You now have a selection of some very
interesting nose art to choose from for your Big F-105D....now it's up to
you to decide which one to build?
Steve |
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Special thanks to Albatros Modelworks
for the review sample.
Photos and text ©
2003 by Steve Bamford
