Doug

hi Jeewee, Are you going to add any of the basic improvements to this kit of build OOB? by improvements I mean box in the Wheel wells, airbrakes etc.

Will do, many thanks for the heads up on this subject Starfighter. Doug S

many thanks Shar2, very sorry for posting it in the wrong place in the first place! . Doug S.

Sorry I have posted a WIP in the wrong part of the forum, can you move it please: At present it is in the Airfcraft discussion area - Cold War Jets: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234964777-academy-172-f-104g-starfighter Can you please move it to Work In Progress Aircraft for me. Doug S.

Hi Giorgio, That last link (http://blog.yam etc) is a bit good isn't it, lovely information, will be useful a little latter on. Doug S.

Ok, so pretty much standard on most models then, be they single or duel seat, but need to look out for rear wing shapes on early starfighters as they differ from the later models. Doug S.

Hi all, Can anyone help me with this question please, does this wing tip tank "winglet" appear on all Starfighters, I.e. single and duel seat models? The reason I ask is that I have only seen them on duel seat models in photo's. Doug S.

As those of you who have or have built this kit there are a number of shape issues as well as component issues. Lets start with the cockpit, or lack of: as you can see from this photo, the seats headrest is integrally moulded to the fuselage halves, which as we older modellers know, is the old fashioned way of filling a basically empty or badly detailed area. there is a cockpit tub/set moulding, see below, which fits inside this area: the tub and seat are the lumps of plastic hiding in the top right of the sprue, the lump at the top is the pilot by the way!!!! oh and that straight lump with a sort of hook on the end is the arrestor hook, if you think that looks funny, wait, it gets better!!!! I have already mentioned the canopy, the canopy is well to say the least, dreadful. It is just a bubble, there is no shape, no real detail and looks nothing like the real thing. here's a top view: and here's a side view: if you have an Esci/italeri or Hasegawa kit have a look at the canopy shape and compare it with the academy one and you'll soon get the picture! Finally, at last I hear you all cry, perhaps the thing that most upsets me is the total lack of any bays, and by this I mean undercarriage bays, just large voids of open plastic! (This also includes the air brake areas). What you see is what you get, no inserts or anything, even for a kit of the 80's this is really not good, ok, so this is not a hard fix for a modeller with some experience, but can you imagine what a beginner will make of this? probably put them off for life. Ok so now I have had my moan and got it out of my system, the fact is that this kit suits my needs perfectly, as I said above I only brought this kit because it was cheap and so if my planned scratch-building goes pear shaped it doesn't matter in the slightest. Easier to swallow throwing a cheap kit against the wall than an expensive one! One last thing if I may, I'm no Starfighter expert, but this kit is more akin to an early F-104A or C than a G, so perhaps someone who knows more about Starfighters than I do would like to comment on this.

Ok, so what's in the box: You get two grey sprue trees: one containing the fuselage, exhaust, wheels and undercarriage: and one containing the main wings,intakes, cockpit and external fuel tanks: and finally a clear sprue with a canopy. For some reason Academy decided to put all of the canopy detailing on the inside of the moulding so when painted none of it is visible????

Hi all, Before i get stuck into this build I would like to make the following statements: 1: This kit is defintely a sow's ear not a silk purse and to be honest it'll never make it into my collection along side the Esci, italeri and Hasegawa Starfighters i have built and are in my stash, so please do not post there are better kits why are you messing around with the Academy kit.......... as I will ignore you and tell you to read this, the first, posting. 2. the reason for the build is purely to try out new scratch-building techniques I have been following and want to try out, and I'd rather try them out on a cheap kit than on a £15 to £25 kit, especially if it all goes pear shaped and i end up giving it a test flight into a bin or the wall!!! Right that said, anyone who has built or attempted to build this kit will know this is a very, very basic kit indeed and even to make it look reasonable, if such a thing is possible will take some doing. Despite being molded in the mid 80's this kit seriously lacks some basics such as undercarriage bays, cockpit, airbrake bays etc. For this reason I have created two lists, one covers "must" does and the other "want" to's The "Must" does: Main and nose undercarriage bays, Airbrake internals and the cockpit tub and seat, correct the air intake cones. All these items will need to be scratch-built or heavily modified, as I will not be wasting money on resin or white metal aftermarket parts as to be honest the kit isn't worth it. The "Want" to list: Open up the gun-bay and add a scratch-built cannon, open up the avionics bay with scratch-built details, open up the bay behind the cockpit, scratch-built cockpit, cut off nose and add a radar installation, open up the ventral engine inspection bay and add the parachute deployment flap/bay and finally lower the flaps and leading edge flap. I may not get around to doing all of these modifications, but I will have a go at as many as possible. photo's of the kit to be shown in the next post.

Giorgio N, No, at the moment it's more a generic build than a individual build, however this may change. I was going to build a CF-104, but the kit looks more akin to an F-104A and as I want a silver jobbie with white wings it might turn out to be a USAF scheme. Hi Andre, Yes your quite right about the leading edge flap and yes it is a case or dropping not extending, my mistake, but thanks for reminding me. I am at present compiling a list of mods for the kit, I am also doing some measuring up. As i said I'm not trying to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear as this kit will never be that silk purse, but as a scratch-build project it could be great fun or a total disaster!!! for this reason I will not correct the dimensions of the kit, I will work with them so things may not look correct, to scale, when completed. Doug S.

Hi Giorgio, Glad you agree, I intend to do as much "updating" as I can as I will be using new skills and Techniques previously unused, hence the need for a cheep kit to use as a base. Finally found your Starfighter group build which I have saved to my downloads bar as there is some very useful information contained within it, one question though did the nose cone colour ever get agreed upon, last I saw it was a toss up between white, pale blue and pale grey? Doug S.

they don't look that bad to me! Doug S.

yes sorry chaps, Should have mentioned it when I made my original post, I didn't purchase this kit as the starfighter for my collection I have several Esci/Italeri & Hasegawa kits for that purpose, I brought these to cut up and practice scratch-building techniques on, such as a cockpit, gun bay, undercarriage bays and a radar. I was going to open the avionics bay behind the cockpit but given the state of the canopy I might give that a miss. I also want to drop the flaps and extend the leading edge slats. i quite agree with all of your comments as the kit arrived yesterday and most if not all of your comments are very factual, the total lack of undercarriage bays even on a kit of this age is not good and as for that lump of plastic, which is supposed to be the cockpit, what a laugh. As for the decals, no problems as I intend to print my own Canadian markings as I like the silver scheme with white wings. look thanks to you all for your participation I might, despite the state of the kit turn this into a photo build so that you can see what I am doing to it, before I attempt to screw-up a more expensive Esci/italeri/hasegawa kit!!!! lol. (After all if you are going to screw-up a kit might as well make it a cheap one (£5. rather than £15 to £20), just in case I have bitten off more than I can chew). if you have any hints and tips you would like to share then please post them here or on the build thread (When started), I look forward to reading them and hearing from you. Will post when I start the build. Doug S.

Been trying to find some build reports for this kit and have had virtualy no luck at all, I am aware that there are some issues with this kit one being the rather wide canopy, but other than that is the rest of the kit pretty sound, if basic? TIA. Doug S.

hi all, what's your favorite Suzuki racing scheme? all classes, all engine types. mines a toss up between the HB International scheme and the Skoal Bandit scheme just can't decide. Doug S.

hi all, what's your favorite Suzuki racing scheme? all classes, all engine types. Doug S.

Hi Steve, Missed that one probably because I thought it was a military green which are more earthy brown/green shades/tones rather than a nice deep green. Will probably post the build when I start it as I am half way through another X1 this time using the HB International colour scheme (Yellow & White with the three Suzuki factory blues). Thanks once again for your input. Doug S.

Hi Steve, As it happens yesterday evening I came to a similar conclusion, the light green is very similar to Tamiyia X-15 Light Green, the medium green is similar to Tamiya X-28 Park Green, (But it looks a little light as is from the bottle so may require darkening slightly), the dark green is a little more tricky it could be Tamita X-5 Green or Tamiya XF-27 Black Green + Clear. I think Tamiya list a spray TS-43 racing Green, but not sure they do this colour in their standard acrylic paint range. As I said doesn't have to be an exact match just a close approximation as it's for a fantasy scheme for a Yoshimura Hyabusa X1!!!! Once again many thanks for your input, Steve. Doug S.

Hi all, I don't suppose anyone out there has an idea as to a reasonable match for the three green shades used on the Suzuki Skoal Bandit scheme? Tried all my usual references, in fact I can't even find a kit (Bike or car) that has this scheme so can't even see what they recommend. Also tried Hiroboy but no luck. if you can help don't mind if it's a colour from Humbrol, Revell, Tamiya, Vallejo or even Mr Color. TIA. Doug S.

Well glad to know they are still with us, wasn't aware of the lack of British distributor, which as you say would affect supplies. Never had much luck with over sea's suppliers so would prefer to deal with British companies, but hey if they can't or won't help then I'll have to start looking else where. Many thanks chaps.& chapettes Doug S.

hi all, As a motorcycke modeller I have noticed that Aoshima kits are becoming as rare as hens teeth to buy unless you want to pay rediculous prices on Ebay or Amazon, have they gone bust? Doug S.

Xtradecal sheet X72-166 shows blue undersides with white codes and white inner upper wing panels with decals to match, Ie, white underside decals so looks like they have already corrected this error. Doug S.

Hi all, Purchased the Airframe/Airfix kit the other day and it has now arrived I have searched for a photobuild, but found nothing si has anyone actually completed this kit, if so any chance of some photos of the completed project? TIA Doug. S

Hi Alex, Yes was thinking about that as they look larger than the "open" door set may give that a go first if not Jasman71 may well be getting a me shouting "help"!!! Rodmcq, your right no dark grey paint in either kit, your comments duly noted, will stick with the darker grey shade I have been using, Thanks for the responses guys. Doug S.