Rob K.

Hi, Here my second attempt to building Kinetic’s F-104 G. The first attempt was troubled by some mistakes I made regarding over-sanding the intakes, damaging the decals and the ejection seat which was probably not pushed down all the way and sat too high. (See footnotes/signature section with link to CF-104) So, I am hoping to avoid all these earlier mishaps by paying closer attention when attending to those sections of the build. Not sure which scheme to go for yet. Contenders are: 1. a rare Dutch NMF version. ( leased from German AF see link: http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/kg125.htm 2. Belgian NMF 3. Norwegian NMF 4. Early Dutch all grey version 5. Belgian camouflaged version Have got a couple of Decal sheets to choose from: The kit: Meanwhile started some work on the cockpit with the use of Quinta decals for the instrument panels and Eduard seatbelts for the ejection seat: Had to match some of the Quinta background grey to what I thought the cockpit colour should be. By the way, below my previous Kinetic Starfighter cockpit. I like the hand painted cockpit with individual dial decals a little better I think: Anyway, that’s all, thanks for watching, Cheers, Rob

2 great looking Super Sabres. Nice and neat panel lines. Good to see these Monogram models given an uplift. Nice work!

Hi Don, thank you for your kind words Thank you Dan. Glad you enjoyed the build. Hopefully you will have some use of this WIP thread to prepare you for the more challenging aspects of the Kinetic kit should you opt for this manufacturer. If I ever build one again it will be “wheels up”…..

Hi, Sort of finished the Mirage. Encountered some problems during the last 2 days which prohibited me from finishing the model to my complete satisfaction. Unfortunately upon removing the Eduard masking from the windshield there appeared to be a blemish. Managed to remove most with Tamiya polishing compound after an hour carefully polishing with a cotton swab (The compound also ended up underneath the windshield, which was a pain to clean up). Then also discovered a tiny crack, which probably occurred after trying to slightly bend the windshield outer edges together, which must have caused too much stress in the transparent part. Positioning the main gear is very difficult. There is still too much play possible and I couldn’t get the position right. Attached the Reskit wheels, but also here a misalignment on my part made it just not look right. Also, where the kit wheels are too narrow, the Reskit wheels just look too thick. I may revisit the issues at a later stage, but at the moment I need to start something else. Am all Miraged out. Not an easy build trying to eliminate all the gaps between fuselage and wings. Am reasonably pleased with the paint scheme, but not quite happy with the end result. Hence holding off with a post in the Ready for Inspection section: The wheel miss alignment is clearly visible and is so bad it needs to be addressed again. The Reskit wheels look too thick to my eye. I lost the transparent port and starboard wing nav lights, so I cut some from a curved Marauder vac form canopy. That’s all, thanks for watching and the “likes”, feedback and comments along the way. Regards, Rob

Hi, Not much to show, but completed the missiles: Rgds, Rob

Thanks @Dstream, @Klaasdebouwer, @SarmaT. Am relatively pleased at this stage.. Wish I had used a different shade for the 3 small panels on top of either side of the inlets as they stand out a little stark. Other than that I always liked this NMF scheme. Thanks for your comments, Rgds, Rob

Wow, this looks quite nice. Been looking at 1/48 scale Jaguars recently. This Heller one looks quite nice. Haven’t build a Heller kit in decades. May need to change that. Great build. Regards, Rob

Hi, The Mirage at this stage was a little too shiny to my taste. Therefore slightly reduced the shine with MRP semi gloss. Then applied a mix of black and dark dirt Flory wash. This didn’t stay in all of the detail, probably due to the many protective clear coats. Therefore resorted to some oils: Decide to go for a brownish tint. Not sure if it shows, but this the result: Still working on the Missiles. Thanks for watching, Regards, Rob

Great looking Buccaneer. Like the folding wings with weapon load out , open air brakes and the canopy slid back. Nice build! Rgds, Rob

Hi, Whilst ordering the kit, I looked at some aftermarket options. Initially I thought I had read that the kit didn’t come with the Matra 530 missile so I ordered the PJ production resin version. However, to my surprise the kit does offer no less than 2 Matra’s. The part that is missing though is the center pylon for the Matra. Luckily the PJ production Matra does come with the weapon pylon, so I will use this part instead. The Resin Matra needs quite a bit of tidying up, so I am going to use the kit one instead, which looks fine. Left of the weapons pylon are the kit parts and to the right of the pylon the PJ production replacement Matra. Had to conduct a little bit of research to discover how they were mounted, but I found the following images for reference: And quite a clear picture of a Magic as well, although the rail appears to be of a different kind then what Kinetic supplies. And another one: To be continued, Rgds Rob

Hi Giampiero, Thanks for taking the time to highlight this. I was unaware. For the wheels I did purchase the Reskit resin versions (just because they looked more detailed). They are indeed a lot chunkier as well. I will probably use the kit’s nose wheel as the fork is too narrow for the resin nose wheel. There is a wider fork in the kit for another type of Mirage III mark, but unfortunately I glued the narrower part prior to the purchase of the resin replacement versions and I am reluctant to break it off and damage it and compromise the structure. I will use the main gear struts, hopefully the larger Reskit wheels will at least in part make up for this inaccuracy. Appreciate your feedback Rgds, Rob

Nice looking cockpit 👍

Hi, Spend most of the day affixing the Cartograf decals. They adhere quite nicely after application with some Micro Set & Sol and Daco strong. The result: Next up I will seal the decals with some more Aqua gloss, after which I will start the weathering process. That’s all, thanks for watching, Rgds, Rob

Wow, amazing paint and weathering exercise!👍 From what I gather reading through the WIP, the oil weathering was done on top of a MRP clear coat. Good to know that this is resilient enough to withstand the oils and enamel thinners? Very nice work. Rgds, Rob

Hi, Did some more work on the joint between the pitot tube and cone. There appears to be a little bit of a shape issue compared to the real thing. However, below work is probably the most I can get out of this and it will have to suffice. Next up will be placing the decals. That’s all, thanks for watching, Rgds, Rob

Hi Igna, Yes indeed, I was a little optimistic about the pitot tube’s fit. Used the Master metal version and inserted it in the base of the kinetic version. Looked ok, until I attached it. Hence another sanding session , which should hopefully look acceptable. High time for an after market nose indeed! Regards, Rob

Hi, The polished aluminium was clear coated with Alclad Aqua gloss for protection. Once this was sufficiently cured, I started to pick out some panels with different metal shades by Alclad, Mr Color Super Metallics and AK Xtreme. Used titanium, duraliminium, white aluminium and regular aluminium. At the moment the contrast between original coat and panels is a little stark, but tomorrow after another coat of aqua gloss, I hope it will look a little better. To be continued, Rgds, Rob

Real nice progress so far. Built the 1/48 old Revell (way back), Accurate miniatures and have the Monogram B-25 to complete. Curious to see how the HKM builds up. Following with interest. Regards, Rob

Great Zero with nice images too! 👍 Rgds, Rob

Very nice. Great WIP post by the way. Rgds, Rob

Hi, Spend quite a bit of time applying corrections to some areas where sanding strokes and errors in scribing were still noticeable. Once this was completed and once again covered with Ueno black, I let everything cure overnight. This morning I used AK Xtreme Polished Aluminium to cover most of the model with below result: The Polished Aluminium does have a tendency to rub off when handling the model, especially after touching the wing edges. Therefore I plan to apply a coat of Alclad Aqua Gloss tomorrow. This will hopefully also protect the P.A. when individual panels will be picked out in a different metal tone. That’s all, thanks for watching, Rgds, Rob

Hi, Short update. Re-scribed and re-riveted all the lost detail, mainly around the nose area and airbrushed everything in Mr Color Ueno black as a base for AK’s polished aluminium: To be continued, Thanks for watching, Rgds, Rob

Hi, Airbrushed the entire model with Modo MK12 black primer which showed some areas which require further attention. Some more filling and sanding to do with either a CA filler mix or Mr Surfacer, since the Mirage will be an all metal finish. Below the areas still to be worked on: The panel lines near the wing root are just a little too wide Some panels and panel lines will need to be restored as well: I decided to go for the “super-sonic tanks”, but the seam lines will also need further filling and sanding. That’s all, thanks for watching, Rgds, Rob

Wow, great build and detail thus far.

Looks great so far. Nice cockpit by the way. I built Dora’s Curtiss Interceptor. This was also a nice kit. Rgds, Rob