Spad Posted September 15, 2012 Share Posted September 15, 2012 Hello sorry, bit late but I would like to join with the 1/48 Hasegawa F-104S in the 51 Stormo 50th Anniversary markings. Essentially out of the box but with Eduard self adhesive cockpit set. Here are the sprues to show the kit is un-started. Hope the mods can let me join the party albeit a bit late. Thanks in advance Here's hoping cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted September 16, 2012 Share Posted September 16, 2012 That's a nice one Rick. Which Eduard set do you use? I'm building a F-104S aswell for this GB. Watch for some errors in the kit at my build. There are some mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 17, 2012 Share Posted September 17, 2012 It's not too late to join, welcome to the STGB ! Looking forward to see this one built. This scheme could have been the very best commemorative ever done in Italy... if they had repainted the aircraft on both sides ! Still, it's interesting as allows a modeller to have a nice commemorative scheme on one side and a more menacing camo on the other one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 It's not too late to join, welcome to the STGB ! Looking forward to see this one built. This scheme could have been the very best commemorative ever done in Italy... if they had repainted the aircraft on both sides ! Still, it's interesting as allows a modeller to have a nice commemorative scheme on one side and a more menacing camo on the other one. Thanks for the welcome Giorgio N. It's exactly the split personality of the scheme that particularly attracted me to this one. I did the 1/72 scale version a few years ago and loved that one so when I saw the 1/48th version it was a no-brainer for me. @Lex77 - I shall keep watching your thread - don't think I'll be changing the air intakes except for perhaps the auxiliary door rescribing exercise. As for the Eduard set, I am using the F-104G self adhesive set. Terrible admission I know, but I bought it when I was only planning to build it for myself so was not too concerned by the inaccuracy. Are there any differences major enough to be worried about at this scale? cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Rick, the main external differences are the intakes (where rescribing the larger door is likely enough) and the ventral fin assembly. The center fin is slightly different in the S, with the leading edge having a sharper angle. Very easy to sort with a knife and files. I'll post a picture later to show the shape of this part. The S also has the longer exhaust (included in the kit) and has 1 small teardrop fairing on each side of the rear fuselage. The 1/72 kit has these moulded on, not sure about the 1/48 one. IIRC the outer pylons also need adding... this if you are building an aircraft with the pylons of course ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Rick, Except for the rescribing I won't be making adjustments to the intakes. Other adjustments I made are ventral fin and adding a GPS antenna in the cockpit behind the seat. @ Giorgio, the Hasegawa 1/48 kit hasn't got these fairings molded on the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted September 18, 2012 Author Share Posted September 18, 2012 Ah! thanks for that chaps, what I had meant by any major differences was with regards to the Eduard "G" cockpit set as compared to an "S" cockpit. I had picked up the external points from Lex77's "S" thread. @ Giorgio N, if you can post that pic, that would be excellent! I think I can see the disfferent angle but it would be good to be sure. thanks again cheers RIck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 Sorry Rick, I totally misunderstood your request ! The best reference on the differences between the panels and instrument layout is here: http://theaviationist.com/works/italian-f-104-versions-explained/ Not only this page explains the differences between the G and S but also between the original S and the later S/ASA and S/ASA-M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike N Posted September 18, 2012 Share Posted September 18, 2012 This will be very interesting, I have this kit too and love the scheme! Can't wait to see it go together! Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Well I've been a bit quiet on this one so I thought I had better prove I'm still around! Having trouble at present getting pics posted so words is all I can do at the mo' - will try to post pics at the w/e. So far I have drilled the holes and fitted the additional lights that are a feature of the "S" in the fuselage and wing tanks. The tanks themselves are assembled now and going through the cleaning up process The cockpit components have had the raised detail removed in readiness for the Eduard set to be added. To be honest, I was in two minds about it as the moulding is so nice - but I reasoned that I had the set and although it's wrong for the "S", I figured that the moulded detail is probs just as wrong so what difference would it make. This is not my normal attitude but I have spent too many years with projects stalling while I try to address a small detail. Maybe I'm just getting old....... I have also filled the blow-in doors on the intakes ready for the re-scribe - this is mentioned as it happens in the instructions so Hasegawa clearly recognise the inaccuracy but they don't mention anything about what the doors should look like. I think I may have made a mistake in using Green Stuff to fill the door detail as the rescribe will cut through the filled lines and my experience is that Green Stuff tends to rip out when a scriber goes through it. If that happens I will use superglue/talc or maybe Milliput - keep you posted. This evening I will be trimming the shape of the ventral fin and attempting to produce a couple of Sparrow datalink antennae for the rear fuselage. I'm thinking a piece of aerofoil section strip rounded at the end and then sliced off, mounted onto a tiny bit of 0.005" sheet - if you follow me. I'll update with pics soon. cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted September 26, 2012 Share Posted September 26, 2012 (edited) The hase kit should have a black square to reproduce the blow-in door, the shape is the same of this decal. There's a great close-up of the door on this page: http://www.tantoperg...04-asam/page-2/ The panel lines on the italian overall grey scheme are very visible and this helps a lot in this case ! To help with the modifications on the rear side, here are two pics I took a while ago. This shows the angle of the center ventral fin: And this shows the teardrop antennas The pictures are of the F-104S ASA-M at the Rimini museum. A very interesting museum with a good number of interesting pieces including several eastern european types and a Javelin ! Edited September 26, 2012 by Giorgio N Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 Thanks Giorgio, that's terrific. You're absolutely right about the decal sheet - there are some black outline rectangles, I just hadn't looked. My rough gauge by eyeball had come out with something very slightly smaller so I will use the decals as a guide. cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted September 29, 2012 Author Share Posted September 29, 2012 As I promised here are some pics. Lights drilled and fitted in the fuselage and in the wing tanks, tanks assembled Those lights are a bit of a test of the eyesight! Ventral fin trimmed to more represent the "S" variant Slow but sure progress! Other stuff has been going on but no pics - figured it would be too boring a sit's only the sub-assy jobs e.g. cockpit consoles and panels have had the relief detail removed ready for paint/Eduard Wings are being assembled Main gear bay is assembled Radome assembled and sanded smooth By the way - is there something wrong with the seat? Like, it's too wide to fit comfortably into the cockpit tub. I can just get the dry assembled seat into the cockpit but it seems to be a bit of a squeeze. I'm away at the mo' but more progress to be had on Monday! Onwards and upwards! cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted September 30, 2012 Share Posted September 30, 2012 Some nice progres. Used the seat from the kit and it's a tight fit. Don't need glue to keep it in place. In the F-104S there's a GPS antenna behind the ejection seat wich is not in the kit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GForceSS Posted October 17, 2012 Share Posted October 17, 2012 I have a spare decal sheet for this kit if you should need it please let me know. Can't wait to see this split scheme take shape. MP Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted October 18, 2012 Author Share Posted October 18, 2012 Thanks for the kind offer GForceSS - Ill keep that in mind. Lex77 - I can see that GPS antenna in pics of the 104S but not in any of this particular machine. Was it a later life addition? This a/c crashed some years ago. Cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted October 19, 2012 Share Posted October 19, 2012 IIRC the GPS antenna only appeared on the ASA/M, so I'd expect your aircraft not to have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Hi all progress is a bit slow I'm afraid but here's what I've been up to. Cockpit: Started to slap on the self adhesive Eduard placards just to find they're not terribly self adhesive, nothing a spot of cyano can't fix!. Also, managed to remove all of the relief detail on the instrument panel - note to self: read the Eduard instructions carefully! So after I added a couple of bits of plastic sheet to the centre portion and applied the decal to that are it all looked like this: and the side consoles like this: Next, I had a crack at the blow-in (out?) auxiliary doors on the intakes. Hasegawa tells you to fill the existing moulded outlines and apply a black decal to represent the doors. Not very realistic I feel so a bit of relief is needed. Besides, photos show a raised piano hinge along the bottom edge which needs representing. I mentioned in a post above that I had filled with Green Stuff. As I feared, that filler doesn't take too kindly to scribing through so I went over with some cyano to make a plastic-hard filling. Worked better but scribing the doors was a pig of a job anyway - I found holding the intake still while applying the necessary pressure with the scriber/straight edge well nigh impossible. Any-hoo, thi si what i ended up with: Sparrow antenna next. Zoom and boom! cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 So, as mentioned in posts above, the Sparrow data-link antenna are missing from the rear fuselage. To fashion these I rounded-off a piece of strut material, sliced off the tip and mounted it onto a piece of 5 thou plastic sheet. Once dry the sheet was trimmed around the pip and then glued onto the fuselage. Here's the result: seems to represent what's visible in the shot from Giorgio N in post #11 Other fiddly work is the resin insert thoughtfully provided to blank off the gun trough. It's a little oversized but once super-glued into place it sands back pretty easily. So far, the airframe is together and has just received it's first coat of primer so, TBH, time is against me on this one - fingers crossed! thanks for looking. Cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Some nice progress here Rick! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Good job Rick, the rear fuselage antenna came out very well ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted November 3, 2012 Author Share Posted November 3, 2012 (edited) Thanks Giorgio N - actually I was quite pleased at how they came out and how easy it turned out to be. Progress has been slow and I am not going to make the deadline tomorrow evening but this is how far I have got this evening. Massively underestimated the complexity of the masking job to be honest - that and how many different paint applications and maskings have to go on! This is my first attempt at BluTak masking - seems to have gone OK. Primary finish is on using Xtracolour International Orange onto a base white, and Xtracolour for the Dark Sea Grey, Dk Green, ADC grey radome and FS14097 for the anti-dazzle panel. Same source for the Aluminium painted undersides - that after a false start where I tried using a Mica Silver from Zero Paints as it dried quickly (feeling the time pressure!) but unfortunately it was way too bright - Doh! Will probably get some decals on tonight and tomorrow - I'll post 'em up when I do. cheers Rick Edited November 3, 2012 by Spad Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spad Posted November 4, 2012 Author Share Posted November 4, 2012 Aaargh! Disaster! The orange and white were not particularly glossy so in prep for the decals I put a gloss varnish over the top. It reacted with the orange and caused the paint to wrinkle - like a decal does with setting solution. Unlike a decal though it didn't smooth out when it dried so I have had to sand back, re-mask and spray another thin coat of orange on. While I was at it I noticed that the instructions have an error in the camo-side colour scheme in that the extra sub-fins unique to the S model are called out as being silver. That's correct for the orange side but I have yet to see a pic of a camo Italian jet (hi-viz or lo-viz) where they are other than camo finish. So I took the opportunity to spray the right side sub-fin accordingly. Funnily enough this error is not present on the Hasegawa 1/72 scale version I have in my collection. Anyway, paint rectified and decalling is underway but I am way behind now and definitely will not make the deadline. - sorry chaps! cheers Rick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike N Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 Looking good Rick, hope you will share the finished article here, even if not in time for this GB. Really nice scheme Mike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lex77 Posted November 4, 2012 Share Posted November 4, 2012 That really is a disaster! Hope you complete the build as I'm really interested in the finished F-104! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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