Ozmods

1/144 Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star

Kit Number: 14409

Reviewed by  Walt Fink, IPMS# 2447

MSRP: $12.95 AUS Available from: www.ozmods-kits.com. OzMods' 1/144 scale release of the Lockheed F-80 is molded in dark gray plastic and comprises 29 injection-molded parts plus two vac-form canopies. Both the standard drop tanks and the long-range Misawa tanks are included as options. The parts exhibit characteristics typical of cottage-industry productions... fairly large sprue gates and some surface irregularities... but recessed panel lines are featured throughout. Two choices of markings are given, one from the 22nd FS, and the other - which I chose - an F-80 from the 94th FS. The cockpit tub and seat took a little cleaning up, but look nice when painted. The kit-supplied control stick was way oversize, so I substituted a piece of brass wire in its place. The instrument panel and side consoles have detail molded into them which is pretty nice in this scale. I "detailed" the interior with paint as best I could, given its small size and the fact that I just wanted to suggest I'd done something in there to lift it out of the ordinary. I installed the interior into the right fuselage half, white-glued some bird shot into the nose of the left half for weight, then glued the halves together and proceeded to tackle sanding the seams and other irregularities. Construction of the kit was straightforward, but a little complicated by its small size - I had trouble holding some parts and working on them. In the case of the drop tanks, I used a piece of brass wire inserted into each one to act as a handle. The one-piece wing in my sample was slightly warped and exhibited anhedral, so I figured I'd just bend it a little bit to give it the correct dihedral. After all, I've done that to lots of kits. SNAP. Rats. Well, that was my first indication that OzMods' plastic was just a little more brittle than other kits I've built. After gluing the right wing back in place and letting it dry, I then had dihedral in one wing but not in the other. Not wanting to repeat my previous performance, I ran the wing under hot water and oh-so-carefully bent the left wing up just a tad... and... SNAP. Arrghhhh. After gluing the LEFT wing back onto the center section (with dihedral this time) I added a piece of sheet styrene across the top of the open main wheel wells to blank them off and to give added rigidity to the "three-piece wing" I'd now inadvertently created. The recess for the wing in the bottom of the fuselage had to be deepened and cleaned up to get a good fit when those two assemblies were joined. The nose wheel well is just a depression on the underside of the nose - I briefly considered opening it up and constructing a wheel well before common sense thankfully took over and told me I was probably biting off more than I could chew. The gear doors were much too thick, and with their minute size, they'd have been virtually impossible for me to hold and sand down to a thinner contour, so I took the easy way out and replaced them with doors made from sheet styrene. The nose landing gear and wheel is a one-piece molding, while the main gear struts had separate wheels. All three wheels are too thick, but if I'd sanded them down to scale thickness, I'd have lost the hub detail, which is actually very good in this small scale. All three landing gear struts were too long and had to be shortened to achieve the correct sit of the F-80. Following a final sanding, the model looked like I was ready to begin the finishing process so a coat of gloss white acrylic primer (Gunze Sangyo H1) was applied to the model to reveal any seams or spots which needed attention. (... and yes, it really IS white, though my attempt at digital photography made it look yellowish). Once those had been touched up and the primer recoated, I sprayed the nose and tail tip Bright Blue and applied the anti-glare panel. When all the acrylic had dried, I masked those colored areas and sprayed Testors Non-Buffing Aluminum Metalizer on the model, masking and spraying a few areas with a darker shade to achieve some tonal differences.

The decals went on great and snuggled down with just a bit of setting solution. When I started the finishing process with the 94th FS markings, I thought briefly about the great markings for that "Hat In The Ring" Squadron F-80's with the blue scallops on the tip tanks and nose, and Arctic Red wingtips and tail section. Now THAT would be colorful. Fortunately, that Voice Of Reason spoke up again and reminded me that if I couldn't even HOLD the thing well enough to work on it, how did I think I was going to mask and spray anything that complicated? Thus (thankfully) admonished by that inner voice, I just went with the kit markings. The decals are just slightly off-register so a sliver of white showed from beneath the turbine warning stripe. I used thin strips of red decal film to replace this marking as well as the No Step areas over the flaps - not specified in the instructions - and small circles to represent the fuel tank filler caps. Strips of black decal were used to make the wing walks. I'm not good at vac-formed parts - never have been - so the canopy was the last item to be addressed. With all my eye-straining work on that little interior, I wanted to show it off, so opted to section the canopy and pose it open. Baaaaaad move. The sliding portion went well but the windshield turned out to be a real chore. After ruining the first one, I turned to the second vac-formed canopy in the kit and tried to use its windshield instead. The good thing about OzMods' supplying two canopies is that I had twice the opportunity to mess things up. And once again, I succeeded. I finally ended up making my own windshield from celluloid ... it's not totally correct, but that's the price I pay for tackling a very small project that takes more visual acuity than I've got and attempting to hone my vac-form skills on it. The thing's finished and by gosh, LOOKS like an F-80; OzMods got the proportions all correct and though my model won't win any contests, it looks pretty good sitting among my 1/144 scale collection. The instructions caution that "This Kit Is Not Suitable For Children" and boy, I'll second that motion. Modelers with experience building cottage-industry offerings (particularly those with the eyes of an eagle and/or the patience of Job) will welcome this addition to their small-scale stable.

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