Nanosatellite Starfighter

[Angus Tura]

Hello.

 

I'd like to add this Starfighter:

 

 

The F-104 was in Modelzone's closing down sale. The Italeri (previously ESCI?) kit is not great but it has Cartograf decals and cost  was about £6.00 on E-bay. I've bought the Italeri paint to try to match the decals' blue.

 

I've just added an F-15 to KUTA X, and this is maybe too much, but I've wanted to start this for some time. I'm hoping the kit can be quite a quick build, and the real planes are very clean. So, I'm hoping it can be quite a quick paint job also. I'm probably deluding myself of course! I've got some pictures on Google of these equipped with a nanosatellite launching rocket on a starboard wing pylon and an electronics pod on the port. Those look OK to scratchbuild. I don't think I'd better put the pictures here, copyright-wise.

 

If anyone has sprayed Italeri paint before I'd be interested to know their experience.

 

Thanks for looking. How cool must it be to privately own your own F-104?

 

Alan

[Giorgio N]

IMHO the Esci kit is an easy kit to build. In general the F-104 lends itself to be represented quite easily on a model, even the hasegawa kit is a relatively easy build compared to some other subjects. Yiu should have no problem here. The only area that can get tricky are the intakes. Oh, and on the Esci kit I prefer to glue front and rear section of each fuselage half together rather than assembling the rear and the front section separately. In this way I can get a smoother transition between front and rear without the risk of ending with steps along the junction.

 

Italeri paints are made by Vallejo and therefore behave in exactly the same way as Vallejo's Model Color range. If you have sprayed these paints before you'll have no surpsie. If you haven't, they spray pretty well, however it's better adding a few drops of acrylic retardant in the mix to prevent the paint from drying on the tip. Only thin with water or their thinner, some alcohols make a mess of these paints so test before is using any alcohol to thin them.