F-107 Ultra Sabre

Trumpeter

Reviewed by Terry Ashley

Trumpeter's 1/72 scale F-107 will be available online from Squadron.com

The F-107 was one of the Century Series fighters that never made it, not due to any fault of the aircraft but due to the politics of the day. Starting life as an extension of the F-100, the number of changes and improvements meant it developed a life (all but short) of its own as the F-107A.

Only three F-107s were built and flight tested, the first flight being made on September 10, 1956 with the second and third aircraft following shortly after. The F-107 was cancelled in favour of the F-105 early in 1957.

Trumpeter have now released a kit of the F-107A in 1/72 which consists of 57 parts in light grey plastic and a further 6 in clear, plus a small decal sheet.

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

The parts feature engraved panel lines which in some places look a little overdone are quite good overall and with a coat of paint should be acceptable.

The fuselage is in two halves split in the normal manner with the large overhead intake made up of three separate pieces.

For the cockpit you get a 5 part ejection seat which isn’t bad for this scale as well as a separate rear bulkhead and a lower tub which also includes the nose gear bay. The instrument panel has finely engraved details and to finish off is a separate control stick.

You are provided with three large clear parts, the section behind the canopy which is mostly painted the fuselage colour only leaving the small side panels clear, the canopy itself and the forward windscreen, the thickness of these are about normal for a 1/72nd kit and are quite clear without distortions.

At the blunt end there is a three part exhaust nozzle and rear fuselage fairing while the wings have a full span upper wing and two lower wing panels with the inboard flaps as separate parts.

The wing assembly fits into the fuselage centre section and a separate lower fuselage centre panel then added, with this including an indentation for the recessed fuel tank.

The undercarriage legs are nicely detailed and include clear parts for the landing lights. These fit into bays which have separate doors although these are a little on the thick side. The insides of the bays are basic with few details included.

The decal sheet has markings for all three F-117s but only stars and bars for one plus a few data panels, the decals are respectably thin and have good colour register.

One thing you will have to do is get out the masking tape as the large red sections on the aircraft are not provided as decals and require painting on.

Overall a nice kit of this unusual but interesting subject which I’m sure will be welcomed by 1/72nd jet fans.

Trumpeter kits are distributed in Australia by J.B.Wholesalers.