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West German F-104G x 2


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2 hours ago, mirageiv said:

Well I read up on the RF-104 and I remembered they were updated with chaff/flare dispensers which are also included in the DACO kit, catch is it only happened in the early 80's. I want to model my MFG2 RF-104 with those dispensers so I will have to knock the RF idea on the head, it is leading the way though for the F-104 STGB later on this year! So a special weapon jet it will be :)

 

Just a thought and possibly stating the obvious, but you could leave the chaff dispensers off until after the photos for this GB?

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14 hours ago, RMP2 said:

 

Just a thought and possibly stating the obvious, but you could leave the chaff dispensers off until after the photos for this GB?

 

It had crossed my mind ;), however the control panel box for them is needed on the rear avionics hatch. It is I think the only discernible feature (apart from the chaff/flare launchers obviously) on the jet for this mod. The problem is no way I could add that under the canopy afterwards. Plus I've already glued up the nuke! ^_^ 

 

cheers

 

David

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Well I've worked on this pretty much flat out this weekend to get the cockpit done for closing the fuselages today. Not sure I'll complete the latter though as I will have to sort out some sort of brace to support the Aires exhaust going in the rear. Anyways here is the completed cockpit, I took too many photos probably but I'd rather do it now as when the seat is in, canopies on, and the fuselages closed up most of it will be impossible to get a decent photo of later on.

 

I painted most of it but added one or two tiny decals painstakingly cut out from one of my kit's sheets for a few of the side panel knobs etc.. I've not painted or weathered the top of the cockpit sills yet as they have more things to gone on there later so they are looking a little plain at the moment.

 

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Now and again I watch some of the Flory model youtube vids and saw he recommended getting some US Pledge Floor care, which by all accounts is just like the old Johnson's Klear we could get here in the UK. I ran out of my Klear a while ago and have tried many things from Aqua gloss to Gauzy canopy dip for restoring canopies but none of them were quite as good as the original stuff imho. So I got a bottle of the US Floor care off eBay, expensive for a bottle of floor polish, but  cheap for a bottle of modellers gloss varnish by volume. 

 

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I dipped the canopies the other day. Whilst they were not the worst canopies in the world they were not crystal clear either with a little distortion,  I was amazed at how clear and shiney this stuff made them! It is like there is no glass there at all, better than Aqua gloss, Gauzy and even the old Johnson's stuff by my eyes. I have no relation to the eBay seller but thought it was worthwhile sharing it with you guys if you want something similar, really recommend it. I might try it also for the gloss layers for this build to see how I get in spraying it too.

 

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I did the glass for the instruments with it and when caught at the correct angle the result is quite nice,

 

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I started to fill some of the rivets on the Hasegawa kit. A long talked about feature of this kit, seen amazing builds with or without them and you can find photos showing them invisible or quite distinct. Its down to personal taste imo so I elected to begin filling them with superglue, dabbing each rivet with a tiny drop and sanding. Very tedious but it doesn't take too long. I still have quite a few to do and I won't completely fill all of the them on the wings etc..unlike  the DACO replacement parts, there are more screws and rivets there than what DACO provides which are completely plain. I'm just working off close up shots of an airframe and filling the ones I can't see. 

 

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Just taped up for a final check to see the cockpit parts fit, success! The cockpit was probably the trickiest part of this build, the rest should be plain sailing.

 

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Thanks for looking in and any comments/tips/corrections always welcome, 

 

cheers,

 

David.

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Thank you Col and James, glad you like the cockpit!

 

James- As I was painting this Aires tub I kept looking at the very nice cockpit decals and tub Hasegawa provides, I swear with some strong decal solution with Hasegawa's cockpit decals the results would'nt be too dissimilar on the panels! Certainly food for thought on my future F-104s and definitely will be the way I'll go for canopy closed F-104s. I shall look forward to see how your OOB example turns out.

 

cheers fellas,

 

David

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David  ,impressive, like the painting in the pit ,by the way the pledge i have is like a milky colour, ive not had any problems with it, i know they changed the formula a while back  got it from asda, its worked a treat on your dials 

Glynn

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16 minutes ago, exdraken said:

Great cockpit work! 

 Looking good!

Are therr any strike alert dedicated panels or control boxes in the Zipper?

 

Cheers Werner, Glynn  and Softscience!

 

According to the DACO book the special weapons panel is the little black one below the radar scope, the real one has a white label 'SPECIAL WEAPONS' on it, I couldn't paint that though! A lot has been published on the F-104purchases by European countries, especialy Germany. Given that this nuke panel was incorporated like this on the G version, it is a clear indication for the main role of this jet and one that by most accounts it was was pretty good at. Manned missile in more ways than one!

 

David.

 

edit. Glynn, I think I tired some milky 'clear' a while back and never got on with it if I'm honest, probably not your version but if we end at the same results its all good :)

Edited by mirageiv
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2 hours ago, JeffreyK said:

Sterling work so far, that's going to be a stunner!! Fitting the Aires pit is a bit of a pain, but think it's still worth the effort...

Jeffrey

 

Cheers Jeffrey! hmm still in two minds with the Aires pit, add maybe an etch instrument panel and some scratch sidewalls to the base kit parts and there isn't much in it imho, it would take less time for me to do than fit the Aires pit. Still, I like the result! :)

 

1 hour ago, modelling minion said:

Superb work David, as usual.

That cockpit is one of the best I've ever seen, very realistic.

Looking forward to more progress.

 

1 hour ago, RMP2 said:

Ridiculously good cockpit work, hats off to you, sir!

 

Thank you Craig and Rob. I tried to keep everything as crisp as possible and to limit dry brushing and weathering to what I could see from the DACO book, I usually over do it and it starts to look a bit of a mess when viewed close up but not so much this time. I think I will try this more clean, sharp approach in the future.

 

Cheers guys,

 

David.

Edited by mirageiv
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4 hours ago, mirageiv said:

Thank you Col and James, glad you like the cockpit!

 

James- As I was painting this Aires tub I kept looking at the very nice cockpit decals and tub Hasegawa provides, I swear with some strong decal solution with Hasegawa's cockpit decals the results would'nt be too dissimilar on the panels! Certainly food for thought on my future F-104s and definitely will be the way I'll go for canopy closed F-104s. I shall look forward to see how your OOB example turns out.

 

cheers fellas,

 

David

 

David

 

I had exactly the same thoughts as you with cockpit decals and then went for Eduard etch which in hindsight was a mistake. Like you I'm planning a few starfighter 's so will be bearing this in mind.

 

I did however go for a Quickboost resin ejection seat (Lockheed C2) which is a nice piece of casting work.

 

Looking forward to seeing more of your progress.

 

James

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I just kept looking at you pit and IP. Actually I check if it wasn't 1/32. This is a true masterpiece. The combanation of painting an Pledge looks great!!! Very realistic.

The side panels near the Throttle and on the right side, did you scratchbuild it yourself? Or was it part of the Aires set?

Which grey did you use for the tub?

 

Cheers, Evert

Edited by Flyingdutchman
Another question added.
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6 hours ago, Flyingdutchman said:

I just kept looking at you pit and IP. Actually I check if it wasn't 1/32. This is a true masterpiece. The combanation of painting an Pledge looks great!!! Very realistic.

The side panels near the Throttle and on the right side, did you scratchbuild it yourself? Or was it part of the Aires set?

Which grey did you use for the tub?

 

Cheers, Evert

 

Thank you Evert! 

 

The cockpit sidewalls are from Aires, like most of the rest, I just added one or two minor bits from spare plastic/resin shown on page 1 of this thread, some of the plastic I used looks the same colour as the resin though! Unfortunately for a 1/48 (even in 1/32) F-104 cockpit, when the seat is inside, it becomes impossible for me to get any decent pictures inside the cockpit so I showed as much as I could now. 

 

cheers,

 

David.

 

 

edit..the grey colour. I used Gunze Dark Gull Grey mixed with a lighter grey (I think FS26270) otherwise it is much too dark. I primed in black and added white also to make a little shading. Next time I think I will make it lighter even more.

Edited by mirageiv
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 Hi david your build has tickled a nerve and  I've made another impulse buy,now i know very little about  starfighters,i do know they are awsome looking aircraft,designed by kelly johnson,anyway I've  bought the eduard limited edition nato fighter box 1/48 , i know it gets instant entry to this group build  with most schemes in the box but there's plenty of life in the firebar yet ,and theres a 104 group build later in the year with its name on , it looks a cracking kit,resin , choice of 2 ejection seats,cartograph decals for 5 aircraft,,but no resin cockpit ,and after seeing yours I'm a tad disappointed, but ive bought it to build not collect , but  the point is whats your thought on the kits cockpit ,any good i understand its hasegawa based so should be the same ,

Cheers for your thoughts

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Edited by Hewy
Unfinished
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Hi Glynn

 

I have that kit too and it is a great job by Eduard in my opinion. I'm sure some real F-104 experts can take it to task if you ask in the 'cold war section' but I'll give you my thoughts, my main knowledge is German F-104Gs but most of it is quite the same. 

 

The base kit is as you say the 1/48 Hasegawa kit, which after building most F-104 kits in 1/32 and 1/72, its the nicest of them all so far, only the lack of weapons and under wing fuel tanks is a bit annoying. The cockpit from Hasegawa oob is very nicely done for me, nice raised details, though I think the IP is based on the F-104J and not completely accurate for some versions. The sidewalls have some detail, but it is not that accurate from the box. Thankfully Eduard has some nice IP etch in this kit which IIRC is mostly accurate and also some sidewall and cockpit sill/frame details that are done well. Maybe a dial here or there is out of place but looks good to me, there were sometimes minor differences between users of the same model anyways.  The Eduard Brassin seats are very nice, I've only used one before in 1/32 (Eduard Martin Baker seat, basically scaled up 1/48 version) and it is very accurate but it was missing a few belts that I added, no biggie if you have some pictures at hand, the launch rails with the seat are very nice too. I'll build mine from the box that is for sure. 

 

As always in modelling its how far you want to take it, more detail is in the Aires cockpit for example, but not massively more, only on the sidewalls really and next time I won't bother with it, it took longer to fit than it would have taken to make some semi-decent sidewalls. What I would say is when the seat is in place, really not much is seen bar the IP in this tiny cockpit, even in 1/32 not so much is visible. Certainly if you plan a canopy closed model the detail provided is already overkill! 

 

I look forward to seeing it in the F-104 GB later on then :) , I'll probably be there with one or two!

 

cheers

 

David

 

 

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that cockpit is stunning David!!! And the IP..... I had to check a couple of times just to make sure this wasn't a 1/32nd build! Easily the nicest IP I've seen on here for a long time, well done!! :worthy:

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