Euro Penguin: 1/48th Academy T-33 Shooting Star
- @PlaneThought41
- Aug 2
- 4 min read
The 1/48th Academy T-33 Shooting Star, released in 2000, is actually just a re-box of the 1982 Hobbycraft kit. While a decent 80's model with engraved panel lines and details, it is a basic kit with some shape issues that you'll need to factor into your purchase / build.
Notable Kit Features:
Basic cockpit with raised detail for instruments
Simplified ejection seats
Overall rudimentary kit with low parts count
Engraved panel lines
Nose guns or blank panels provided
Pylons, bombs & rockets provided (however it is rare to see anything loaded on a T-33)
Large wingtip tanks are separate
Two piece canopy can be posed open
Build Inspiration:
Due to this aircraft's long service life, there has been a wide variety of markings applied to Canadian Armed Forces' CT-133 Silver Star. In this case I chose to do a Euro Camouflage paint job with a bit of a special tail marking from 4 Wing "Penguin Flight" circa 1965. The PRU Blue undersides with the Dark Sea Gray / Dark Green upper camouflage was a well worn livery of quite a number of NATO nations during this period. It will be a good complimentary aircraft to the couple of Sabres I have in the RCAF wing of The Hangar.
Heads-Up Report:
Ejector pin marks are present on most parts in the gear door / flaps area
I had to clamp in the intake piece on one side to get it to settle into the area
Careful when fitting the main-gear wheel well as getting the piece centred properly will be critical for its gear stance (the parts fitting allows it to drift in direction)
Flaps area lack backing (and detail) at forward and inner areas
I bonded the wing to fuselage fit in three stages to get the best fit on all mating surfaces - Starting with the front, then rear, then wing joins (Trimmed the rear wing to fit as well)
FYI: I will also provide you with the (edited) "GingerBob" Long List of kit Grievances:
Fuselage too "slim"- max diameter should be 56", the kit measures out to about 50"
From the back end of the canopy (or sooner) to just before the removable tail section, it should be a level, straight line. The kit rises up and then curves back down again
As the nose rounds toward the windscreen it is level, whereas it should still be rising
The fairing at the back of the canopy is a bit abrupt. It seems about the right angle, but needs to be faired to the fuselage line a bit more smoothly, and again the "hump" might accentuate this.
The windscreen is too far back from the angled rear edge of the nose compartment doors
Intake lips not accurately shaped and also the "mouth" isn't at the right station. (It lines up about right with the windscreen- but the windscreen is too far aft.)
The canopy is not as long as it should be.
The wing gives the impression of being too thin, not having enough "airfoil curve" to it at the root.
Wing root/ fuselage/ intake duct juncture seems a bit clunky
The shape of the back end of the wing fillet also doesn't seem accurate
Shape of fin tip not right.
The armament bay doors in the nose are a bit shorter front to back but the bottom edge is noticeably low
To his credit "GingerBob" ends with, "For the rest of you, beginning to grumble about rivet-counters, it will be clearly recognizable as a T-33 if you build it straight out of the box"
Kit Additions / Modifications:
Added some additional details to the cockpit and ejection seats
As I opted for flaps down, so I added styrene cardstock to frame in this area
Vent added in rear fuselage below fin fillet on left side (for Canadair aircraft as they had the larger engine installed that required venting)
Added fuel dump to rear fuselage (Thanks for the reminder Steve D.)
Used Canuck "CT-133 Silver Star" decals (029-48) - Highly Recommended
Finishing:
The finish began with the underside PRU Blue, which was faded out a bit for scale. I used the Vallejo Air paint for this. After that had cured, I masked off the blue and sprayed the upper Dark Sea Gray (using Tamiya Acrylic stock). After the gray had cured I masked that area off and sprayed the Dark Green camouflage colour (also Tamiya Acrylic). Weathering was kept to a minimum. The white vertical fin stripe was painted on over the gray to get it toned down a tad. I sprayed my usual Pledge (floor finish) gloss coat in preparation for the decals and panel washes. The final matte coat was a Model Master water-base finish. With all that dry, I removed the canopy masks to reveal the final results. All done except for some minor post painting, re-attachment of the landing gear parts, fuel dump and a few more touch ups.
The After-Build Report:
For our 1/48th T-33 series builds, model makers have a couple imperfect kit choices. While the 1/48th Academy T-33 Shooting Star kit has its shape accuracy issues, it is typically a very inexpensive kit and will look like a T-33 to most viewers. If you want to spend more in order to build the ultimate T-33 you will want to option for the 1/48th Great Wall Hobby kit. While not without issues, it does have the advantage of a modern tool kit with a much a much higher level of detail, although finding a G.W.H. may be a challenge.
Feel free to comment or ask any questions - Keep on building, gain experience, challenge yourself if you like, but try not to stress yourself out over the build - it is supposed to be an enjoyable hobby after all - Cheers