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F-104G Starfighter Revell 1/144


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I like this tiny 1/144 kits as I take them as a stress-reduction therapy between bigger projects.  I wanted to give it a try to a couple Luftwaffe jets, the first one being this, the F-104G from Revell.

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The kit offers two options for markings, I will build the 26+53 from WTB61 (Technical Test Facility 61) at Manching, 1991.

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The kit provides a decent cockpit, main wheel well, workable front wheel well, nice landing gear, and jet engine exhaust, scribing is really nice.  Only thing I would have expected is an option for open canopy, only closed option is available.  Fuselage is split in left/front and front/rear halves.  

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The ejection seat has enough resemblance to the real one, just adding couple seatbelts and it will be good under the closed canopy.

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The fitting between front-rear fuselage gave me issues, not that it was a big gap, but where it was located.  Tamiya gray putty and patient sanding solved the issue.

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I don´t like fitting the main landing gear at this stage, but there is no other option.  Detail inside the front wheel well is completely lacking, I had to issue a "floor" for the front half of the wheel well (the rear will not be visible under the landing gear structure).

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The kit provides a decal for the instrument panel, looks nice for the scale.

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Not much will be noticeable at the end anyway.

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The cockpit had a crack where it joined the sprue, cleaned and sanded as much as I could, will try to hide some more when I paint the cockpit frame.

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Can´t imagine what is the purpose for that neat gap below the tails of the fuel tanks.  All the 4 of them have the same issue.  Filled them with putty.

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And here I am, about to start painting this tiny Starfighter.

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Marco

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  • 1 month later...

I continued with the masking process of the tiny 104G, scale is too small to try freehand here, so I issued the separate masking patterns using Tamiya´s masking tape (I tried first frisket paper, but was too stiff).  Norm 83 camo includes RAL 7021 (Anthacite), RAL 6003 (Olivegrün) and Dark Green (FS34079). I scanned and resized the paint instructions and used that to cut the patterns.  First painted RAL 6003, then masked the whole thing, removed the Dark Green masking, painted, put back the masking, removed the Anthracit masking, painted, and removed all the masking.

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With a few tiny details, I am completely satisfied with the results.

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   The instructions indicate to paint the wingtip tanks in a combination of Orange, Olivegrün and Aluminum, but in operational aircraft using this camo, I can´t find the orange tanks, just camouflaged ones (it seems that Revell might have taken that idea from a couple units currently exhibited in museums, using orange painted wingtip tanks).  Nice in-between projects tiny Starfighter, issuing and putting the masking was not so relaxing, though!

 

Marco

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Stunningly clean job on the camo. I have a couple of these little beauties so I can gauge just how small the airframe is.

 

Phil

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5 minutes ago, PHIL B said:

Stunningly clean job on the camo. I have a couple of these little beauties so I can gauge just how small the airframe is.

 

Phil

Like changing from Hulk in 1/48, to Antman in 1/144!  🙂

 

Marco

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5 minutes ago, PHIL B said:

Marco,

Judging from the writing on the kit box, will your F-104 have a pilot? 😁

 

Phil

That was the intention, Phil, standing though, not seated... but I abandoned the idea after checking the canopy, too difficult to cut it open.  So I reserved the pilots for another, better suited, kit.

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Marco

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I applied Tamiya´s Clear in preparedness for applying the decals.  I chose 26+53, from WTD61 (short for Wehrtechnische Dienststelle 61, Bundeswehr Technical and Airworthiness Center for Aircraft), one of the last operational Luftwaffe´s Starfighters.  Revell decals are soooooo good!  I wish all decals would be like these, perfect print, very thin carrier, sticky, you can feel how sticky they are just by touching them.  They went on without any issues, I like to apply a touch of Decal Sol and Decal Set always, which I did.  I did not find any silvering at all.  The red band around the rear fuselage was difficult to apply, so thin that it might bend if you are not careful and result in a mess.

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The wingtip tanks have 3 decals running like 2/3 of the length of the tanks, not a hint of carrier.

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I had to correct as issue with the front wheel well doors, they are molded with square ends, but the front one should end in a diagonal cut. 

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An easy fix using Evergreen plastic sheet.

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Masked the canopy.  I had thought of showing it in the open position, but the plastic is too thick for the scale to cut, and didn´t want to risk any cracks.

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The tan part of the canopy frame was issued using double masking, first painting the lateral frames tan, then applying thin masking tape stripes, and painting green.

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Marco

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Final steps, I bored a small hole in the front cone to insert a new pitot tube made of surgical needles, much better than the plastic part provided in the kit.

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I applied a flat coat (Tamiya) and removed all masking.  It was a relief to see that the details inside the cockpit, including the ejection handles, were not damaged.

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And started working on the landing gear doors.  They all had been thinned to a more to scale thickness, and I added the two landing lights on the inside of the rearmost doors. Notice that the main wheel well front doors are not completely closed, following references showing them marginally open whenever the landing gear is down-

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Finished the base.

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Everything falling in place as expected!  Attaching the external fuel tank was a breeze, fitting (and I didn´t trim nothing) was excellent, used CA for that.

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One of the last details, the dorsal position light, made of clear sprue, painted with Tamiya clear red.

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And I added couple of wheel chokes to the base, a printed badge of the Manching Squadron, and that is it, done!  I enjoyed this kit a lot, such a high quality!

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Marco

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Marco. Brilliant work in that scale!

Would you share which specific colors you have used? They seem spot on to me and I am currently also working on a Norm 83 Starfighter and did not yet find a satisfying set-up.

Thanks!  

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On 10/17/2020 at 2:48 PM, MaWi said:

Hi Marco. Brilliant work in that scale!

Would you share which specific colors you have used? They seem spot on to me and I am currently also working on a Norm 83 Starfighter and did not yet find a satisfying set-up.

Thanks!  

Hi MaWi, thank you!  The colors I used are these, according to the Norm 83 drawing:

 

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Marco

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