Alan P Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 (edited) Hi all, This is a build blog of the very nice Italeri Starfighter in 1/32. I'm building it as a commission/present for a work colleague's father who flew them for the Royal Netherlands AF in the late 70s/early 80s. It's quite a familiar and popular kit and there are many builds of it available online. Mine's not intended to be an "event build" but just a simple step-by-step to see how a big, nicely-produced kit like this can be built and adjusted without resorting to masses of expensive aftermarket bits! This is the intended subject: LINK to original copyright photo - F-104G D-8300 of 311 Sqn based at Volkel. It was the pilot's favourite aircraft - apparently it had a good crew chief who kept it in top operational condition. So what's in the box? First, lots of nicely detailed plastic: There's a whole J79 engine included which can be displayed separately on a provided trolley à la Tamiya F-16 if required. The kit provides decals for eight different versions from various European air forces and one RCAF option. There's also an option in this release to produce a recce RF-104G version. Even at the relatively steep price you can't complain about the bang for your buck! So, on with the build! Alan Edited September 1, 2019 by Alan P 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 2, 2019 Author Share Posted July 2, 2019 One nice thing about this kit is the instructions. Clear, simple and in that CAD style I find very easy to follow. The ejector seat was the first thing I tackled, and produced my first mistake...🙄😤 Spot the difference? I didn't! The seat on the left is the downward ejecting Lockheed C1 seat, the one on the right is the upward ejecting Lockheed C2. Both were fitted to KLu Starfighters early and late, but all I saw were the funky footpads on the C1 seat with the attachments for those groovy spurs the pilots attached to their boots. I didn't notice the C2 seat (the type provided in the kit) also had the spur attachments (unfortunately not detailed in the kit!) Of course, I discovered this AFTER I'd modified the kit seat to look like the C1. Ah well, nobody will be looking too hard, I hope 😁 The cockpit is nicely detailed out of the box, a bit thick but everything is there. The kit provides PE fascias for the instrument panel and side consoles but I think the raised detail looks better. Best crack on... Alan 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
exdraken Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 nice start on the pit! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Riot Posted July 2, 2019 Share Posted July 2, 2019 Downward ejecting seat!? Must have been a bit unnerving for low level sorties, especially given the Starfighter's accident record. I'm surprised they didn't all get converted to upward ejecting by the 80s. As a pilot you'd have to be damn sure what version you were sitting in too wouldn't you! What a silly idea. Like a forward facing airbag in your rear headrest! Anyway, looks like a great kit! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeffreyK Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 Looks very interesting indeed - but what is your reference re. the C-1 seat? TO my knowledge, the Stanley/Lockheed C-1 was used only in the F-104A, B and some very early C's and D's, relatively soon to be replaced by the upward firing C-2 seat. I don't think any G models were ever fitted for downward ejection - the C-2 was standard before the G came along. The canopy internals would have been visibly different as well. Is there perhaps a confusion between "early" and "late" seat relating to the early C-2 seat vs. the late Martin Baker GQ-7? Your picture looks very much like the C-2 seat. Cheers, Jeffrey 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 11 hours ago, JeffreyK said: Looks very interesting indeed - but what is your reference re. the C-1 seat? TO my knowledge, the Stanley/Lockheed C-1 was used only in the F-104A, B and some very early C's and D's, relatively soon to be replaced by the upward firing C-2 seat. I don't think any G models were ever fitted for downward ejection - the C-2 was standard before the G came along. The canopy internals would have been visibly different as well. Is there perhaps a confusion between "early" and "late" seat relating to the early C-2 seat vs. the late Martin Baker GQ-7? Your picture looks very much like the C-2 seat. Cheers, Jeffrey Thanks very much for this input Jeffrey, this is good news. Any confusion on the issue appears to be mine rather than the source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Uncle Uncool Posted July 3, 2019 Share Posted July 3, 2019 16 hours ago, Lord Riot said: Like a forward facing airbag in your rear headrest! This has brought some back memories... Nice build, Alan. Me's following. Cheers, Unc2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 3, 2019 Author Share Posted July 3, 2019 6 hours ago, Uncle Uncool said: This has brought some back memories... Nice build, Alan. Me's following. Cheers, Unc2 Ha ha! Welcome aboard and very glad to have you along 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted July 4, 2019 Share Posted July 4, 2019 Good kit and good start, Alan! 🙂 I'll take a seat... 🍿 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) On 7/4/2019 at 10:22 PM, Nikolay Polyakov said: Good kit and good start, Alan! 🙂 I'll take a seat... 🍿 Thanks and welcome Nikolay! Been very busy on lates at work, so the first time I managed to devote any time to this was this weekend... I preshaded the wheelwell prior to applying Alclad Honey primer. More on that later... Cockpit and ejector seat painted and first wash applied - I used Mig Starship Wash which is a nice browny-grey, perfect for cockpits! Finally, painted the instrument panel - the radar screen is painted with Tamiya Smoke and masked. The basic cockpit parts finished - I added a yellow primer colour and aluminium powder finish for the worn parts of the pedals and seat.. All the best, Alan Edited July 7, 2019 by Alan P 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 (edited) Hi again, I sprayed the preshaded wheelwell with AK Xtreme Metal Aluminium. It had zero effect. Still looks pretty good, but Alclad it ain't. I made some T-handles out of plastic card and rod: And here's how the instrument panel came out... Still needs a bit of tidying up but I'm really pleased with the result. The instrument faces are a mixture of Airscale and the kit decals. To finish off the ejection seat, i needed to add a flexible hose: I made it by wrapping enamelled wire round a length of plastic rod and painted it olive drab. And here's the finished seat: I'm soooo pleased with this! It's one of the best seats I've managed to date. All the belts are from the kit, quite thick PE that needed plenty of convincing to form those natural-looking folds. Added a bit of AK Landing Gear Dust 'wash' and I'm leaving it alone now before I ruin it! Here's the finished panel and cockpit: And with the seat: I'm happy with it! Cheers, Alan Edited July 7, 2019 by Alan P 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stephen Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 The seat looks great. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MvD Posted July 7, 2019 Share Posted July 7, 2019 First post on this forum.... And my mind is blown with how good you guys are in making these kits! This build is coming along fantastically and very much looking forward to see this kit developing... (Alan knows why ;) ) quote: "I'm happy with" is an understatement, you should be thrilled! That looks simply amazing... M 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 7, 2019 Author Share Posted July 7, 2019 Thanks very much Stephen and 'M' 😉 2 hours ago, MvD said: quote: "I'm happy with" is an understatement, you should be thrilled! That looks simply amazing... M Thanks, now I have to sustain that standard for the rest, no pressure...😂😂😂 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MvD Posted July 8, 2019 Share Posted July 8, 2019 11 hours ago, Alan P said: Thanks very much Stephen and 'M' 😉 Thanks, now I have to sustain that standard for the rest, no pressure...😂😂😂 😁👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nikolay Polyakov Posted July 9, 2019 Share Posted July 9, 2019 Very impressive work, Alan! The cockpit looks excellent. 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 9, 2019 Author Share Posted July 9, 2019 3 minutes ago, Nikolay Polyakov said: Very impressive work, Alan! The cockpit looks excellent. 👍 Thank you Nikolay 👊 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 25, 2019 Author Share Posted July 25, 2019 (edited) Been trying to finish the F-35 in time for the end of the Lockheed GB so the poor F-104 has been neglected! Once the nose gear and bay were completed, the kit kind of falls together. It's a very good fit, only needing a bit of filler on the underside. The large underside panel in particular fits perfectly. A very enjoyable and relatively simple kit to build. It's a different story at the back end! The rear half is detachable in the kit (optional, should I say) to reveal the engine, but that means if you want to close it all up you've got your work cut out! The circumference of the tail section is a few mm bigger than the fuselage, meaning a lot of scraping sanding and puttying to get it all smooth. I departed from the instructions, choosing to assemble the entire fuselage so the engine could just drop in and then glue it. It worked very well. Managed to capture that typical J79 green inside the afterburner section! The wings fit snugly but I had to cut off a bit of the mounting tabs because the gap was just a bit too tight and I didn't want to split the fuselage seam. Otherwise, once again an accurate and snag-free fit. I must say after wrestling for a few months with the Kitty Hawk F-35, this kit is a breath of fresh air. Simple to build, nicely engineered and a good fit all round. Top marks to Italeri, this is a quality kit. I've got their 1/32 Mirage III and F-35 in the stash, I hope they're as good as this one. Alan Edited July 25, 2019 by Alan P 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jasonb13 Posted July 27, 2019 Share Posted July 27, 2019 Loving your work again here Alan, I think I'll have to become a stalker and check out as many of your builds as I can! Regarding the tail plane being 'detachable'; what is it about kits that have removable parts? 99% of the time that means they don't fit if you try 'not' to remove them. Couldn't they engineer the part to fit, and then just make it separate? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted July 27, 2019 Author Share Posted July 27, 2019 2 minutes ago, Jasonb13 said: Loving your work again here Alan, I think I'll have to become a stalker and check out as many of your builds as I can! Regarding the tail plane being 'detachable'; what is it about kits that have removable parts? 99% of the time that means they don't fit if you try 'not' to remove them. Couldn't they engineer the part to fit, and then just make it separate? Thanks mate, stalk away 😂 I remember being impressed with Trumpeter kits for this exact reason - if you want to close everything up, it tends to fit either way. These days I'm not that interested in all the open panels, engine parts and so on...I only show detail if it's part of the unique selling point of the aircraft, like wing folds or hover jets or whatever. Like this one: there's an option to show the engine, the avionics bays behind the cockpit and the internal gun. I'm only going for the gun as it's a point of interest which was fitted to some aircraft and not others. Thanks for joining in the fun anyway, this is way more enjoyable to build than the F-35 😉 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 (edited) I've working at this off and on, just forgot to provide any progress photos! Getting ready for paint... At least there's not much in the way of ordnance - four drop tanks: Crew ladder is a nice piece from the kit - the only thing wrong with it is the usual ejector pin marks. Wheels and M61 cannon - the cannon parts were very nice, required a bit of cleanup but fitted together really well. More cockpit next... Edited August 15, 2019 by Alan P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 (edited) Finished the cockpit instrument coaming: I added a few wires underneath a layer of Tamiya tape, and added the rivet patterns using a riveting tool. The canvasy effect is just AK sand wash over flat black. The gunsight reflector is a 4mm lens while the glass is an acetate clear rectangle with polarised film stuck on it. You can see the way it changes colour in the next couple of pics: It's a neat effect, very visible under daylight! Alan Edited August 15, 2019 by Alan P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 Assembly complete, masking done. First coat of Mr Surfacer 1500 and it's looking pretty good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 (edited) Paint is on! I used Hataka Orange Line lacquer paints. It needs to be thinned about 50% with their own brand thinners and goes on very thin. However it has the advantage of drying very quickly which made this whole process a one-day effort. I used Basalt Grey, Yellow Olive and Silver Grey from the Modern Luftwaffe set 1. I thought it came out pretty well, especially the green. The nose was a mix of MRP Insignia White and FS36622 Light Gray, with an anti-glare patch of FS34087 Dark Green. I feel like we're living in a golden age of modelling as far as paint and kits are concerned! Edited August 15, 2019 by Alan P 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan P Posted August 15, 2019 Author Share Posted August 15, 2019 Decided to get all the decals on before any weathering - These birds were usually well-kept (I'm told this particular one was maintained in great condition) Excuse the background! We get next door's Daily Mails as waste paper for our pets and my modelling. Cheaper than real paper 😁 The kit decals are superb. Italeri give you two huge sheets of decals and stencils and they go on very smoothly. The stencilling is so clearly printed you can even read the tiniest of them. More soon, I hope... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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