After many, many months away from the bench, time to return!
For professional reasons I had to spend the last 8 months in Portugal and I had to leave all modelling stuff in Ireland. While working in Portugal, I've met an ex-pilot from the Portuguese Air Force, now a captain in civil aviation. As I found out he flew T-33's while in Portuguese Air Force, I remembered that I had this kit on my stash. He was kind enough to provide me with loads of reference photos, so it became obvious I have to build a T-33 in Portuguese Air Force scheme.
The kit is a 1:72 scale T-33 Shooting Star from TanModels. This kit is a rebox from Platz Models, with a few extras. The kit, while having an amazing 10 options of different schemes, doesn't include any Portuguese Air Force scheme. However, I was lucky enough to find a local model shop in Portugal that actually had the decals scheme for the T-33 in 1:72 scale for the Portuguese Air Force!
So, the game is on! I haven't completed a model kit since a year and this will be my very first jet fighter ever. I hope I can come up with something decent.
The Aircraft
"The Lockheed T-33 Shooting Star (or T-Bird) is a subsonic American jet trainer. It was produced by Lockheed and made its first flight in 1948. The T-33 was developed from the Lockheed P-80/F-80 starting as TP-80C/TF-80C in development, then designated T-33A. It was used by the U.S. Navy initially as TO-2, then TV-2, and after 1962, T-33B. The last operator of the T-33, the Bolivian Air Force, retired the type in July 2017, after 44 years of service." (wikipedia)
The Kit
As said before, this is a TanModel 1:72 scale. The kit is a rebox from Platz Models kit, that includes besides the usual sprues, an extensive decal sheet with 10 different schemes (printed by Cartograph) and a canopy mask. This kit was already reviewed by Paul, so you can see everything that's in box. (
The Decals
The decals are from Santa Cruz Decalques, a Portuguese company that close its doors a few years ago. However, a local hobby shop managed to get hold of the rights for the decal sheets and holds the rest of the decal sheets that are still available for sale. These are 2 different decal sheet that represent 2 different schemes, a normal one and a special scheme for the 38th anniversary and 65000 Flight Hours for the Portuguese Air Force.
Both liveries have their appeal, and for the moment I haven't decide which scheme I'll be using. Even if the Special Commemorative scheme seems more exclusive, the regular scheme is exactly spot on as the jet my good friend was flying... I guess will be a work in progress, and I'll decide during the build.
As always, opinions and suggestions are welcome, feel free to comment!
Cheers!!! 
