CliffB Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Earlier in the year I drew out a 1/100 Tamiya F-104J, as my entry for my club's annual 'random kit build' competition. The guy who had donated it into the pot was very apologetic! Sure enough, despite the Tamiya name, the kit turned out to have some tricky fit issues - particularly around the air intakes. The kit dates from the 1960's, so maybe that's the reason. Funnily enough though, I really enjoyed the build and have since become a convert to the 1/100 scale cause. Here's how the Eiko turned out (please ignore my attempt at providing a pilot figure!). I the 1980's, the kit was re-released under the Ben Hobby name. There were two boxings (I believe) - one providing decals for German and Dutch aircraft; the other providing decals for two more Eikos. From time to time these kits come up on EBay and, being generally unloved, can be snapped up for next to nothing. Here are the two schemes provided - I intend to build both. As I've said, the plastic is from the original Tamiya moulds, although with a little more flash than I remember. Unfortunately the decals lack the crispness of Tamiya's and have yellowed somewhat. I hoping that careful trimming or copying/re-printing will sort this out. I'm looking forward to it Cliff 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Nice choice Cliff. I especially like the fact that both schemes are for ACM aircraft. Looking forward to these. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted December 8, 2017 Share Posted December 8, 2017 Now this is an unusual kit ! I remember these Tamiya 1/100 kits being sold for very little back in the days, I believe they are all very old mould but they had quite a few interesting subjects. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted December 11, 2017 Author Share Posted December 11, 2017 On 08/12/2017 at 5:06 PM, modelling minion said: Nice choice Cliff. I especially like the fact that both schemes are for ACM aircraft. Looking forward to these. On 08/12/2017 at 11:14 PM, Giorgio N said: Now this is an unusual kit ! I remember these Tamiya 1/100 kits being sold for very little back in the days, I believe they are all very old mould but they had quite a few interesting subjects. Thanks Craig and Giorgio. I will be making a start soon and am hoping to feature several more of Tamiya's 1/100 scale jets during the 2018 Group Builds. Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted December 27, 2017 Author Share Posted December 27, 2017 Just a little progress to report over the last couple of weeks. Fuselage halves joined (there's no cockpit detail - just a seat, for later), plus I've added the air intakes. The fit is poor. I've tried to match up on top as best I can, but then you do suffer particularly badly underneath. There are no splitter plates provided, so on the last one I built I ended up fairing the intakes back to the fuselage. It didn't look too bad (in this scale ). It's filler time! Cliff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 They're beginning to look a bit more like Starfighters now ..... The fit of the wing section into the underside of the fuselage was also very poor - much filling and sanding required. The first shot of primer shows that I'm 95% there . In 2004, Tamiya re-released many of the 1/100 scale jets - but the F-104 was not included. I'm wondering whether its fit problems were too much of an embarrassment? Two other kits omitted from the re-release were the Buccaneer and the Skyhawk, both of which are on my 'to do' list for 2018. It will be interesting to see how well they go together. Cheers Cliff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 These kits really show their age, wonder if the poor fit was there from the beginning or was the result of the moulds having been used for many years. You managed to sort the problem well, don't want to know how much filler you needed here 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 6, 2018 Author Share Posted January 6, 2018 I've been nibbling away and here's how things currently stand.. Once I've got the canopies on and masked, the two builds will diverge as there's virtually no commonality between the two paint schemes. You'll note the two missiles. Whilst the kits provide two per plane, the photos in Giorgio's excellent link (page 1 of Modelling Minion's build), all appear to show aircraft carrying only one (or no) missile. The colours seem to vary, green or red, with green missiles being carried on the starboard pylon and the red missile on the port. That's my interpretation, but I could be completely wrong! Either way, I'll be giving my two Js just one missile each. I'm looking forward now to getting some colour on... Cheers Cliff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 8, 2018 Author Share Posted January 8, 2018 Canopies and red stripes now masked - not a lot of work, but fiddly Cliff 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 (edited) Looking great! Fiddley.... 2 times! Edited January 11, 2018 by exdraken 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 21, 2018 Author Share Posted January 21, 2018 Thank you exdraken So now the Alclad is on... and I guess I'd be banned from the Group Build if I didn't include a photograph that looked something like this..... Time now to put away the smelly stuff and get out some colourful acrylics See you later. Cliff 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 21, 2018 Share Posted January 21, 2018 Excellent job on the metallic finishes Cliff, they look really good. Looking forward to seeing you get some paint on these. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 22, 2018 Author Share Posted January 22, 2018 On 21/01/2018 at 5:37 PM, modelling minion said: Excellent job on the metallic finishes Cliff, they look really good. Looking forward to seeing you get some paint on these. Thanks Craig - your wish is my command... There's a little bit of touching up required between the two blues, but nothing to worry about. As I mentioned before, the blues are disappointingly subdued (being the kit's recommended Tamiya colours), but are an excellent match for washed out, faded period photos! I'm sure the decals will brighten things up though 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 23, 2018 Share Posted January 23, 2018 Ooooh, very nice indeed! Nice work Cliff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 27, 2018 Author Share Posted January 27, 2018 Thanks again Craig Today I've been brush painting in some details. If you look very closely on the black aircraft, you may be able to see that I've painted the air intakes a darker shade. I think it was worth the effort (maybe ). Next up will be glossing and decals. Barring disasters, it looks as though the deadline should be achieveable..... Cheers Cliff 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 27, 2018 Share Posted January 27, 2018 Excellent work Cliff, and yes I think that picking out the air intakes in a darker black was well worth the effort. Look forward to seeing the decals on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted January 30, 2018 Author Share Posted January 30, 2018 A good day today and they're finished! I'll put some better photos in the Gallery later this evening, but in the meantime I just couldn't resist a threesome Thanks to all of you who have supported these builds and, of course, to the hosts Cheers Cliff 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Superb result Cliff, outstanding. The trio looks really good together. Well done mate. Craig. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkSH Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 A really nice set of colour schemes, all fished extremely well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted February 1, 2018 Author Share Posted February 1, 2018 Thanks Craig and Mark . 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcin Wojciechowski Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 (edited) Superb Eiko models!!! I like and very, very nice!!!!!!! Beautyfull !!!! I love F-104 Starfighter !!!!! Edited November 9, 2019 by Marcin Wojciechowski 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CliffB Posted November 9, 2019 Author Share Posted November 9, 2019 4 hours ago, Marcin Wojciechowski said: Superb Eiko models!!! I like and very, very nice!!!!!!! Beautyfull !!!! I love F-104 Starfighter !!!!! Thanks Marcin. I glad that you like them Cheers Cliff 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcin Wojciechowski Posted November 9, 2019 Share Posted November 9, 2019 4 hours ago, CliffB said: Thanks Marcin. I glad that you like them Cheers Cliff The F-104 Starfighter is my beloved aircraft type. I am currently working on a model from the old Matchbox set. At Britmodeller there is a report from work on this model. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcin Wojciechowski Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 I have one F-104G / J Starfighter from the Tamiya 1/100 scale set. In Poland, this model is a real unique. I am going to buy one more model because I can see that the effects of your work are very elegant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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