Blitzenbuild: 1/72 Italeri F-104G (No. 1296) - Done!

[RaceAddict]

Never done a blitz build myself... Heck, I'm not sure I've ever finished a model in the same calendar year that I started it. 

 

This may be fun though. I'm off work for 2 weeks, and planned on making big progress towards finishing my Victor, but putting that off for a couple of days to tear into this simple kit will be fun. 

 

 

No aftermarket, not even canopy masks... we'll see how it goes. 

 

This will definitely be a 'Great Escape' build, sneaking off to sniff glue when I can. Wristwatch to be included in subsequent photos! 

 

(Note: The bulk of the build - if all goes according to plan - will be accomplished on Monday as SWMBO will be at work the entire day.)

Edited December 30, 2021 by RaceAddict

[JOCKNEY]

Great to see another stealth build being done while hiding from SWMBO !

Good luck.

 

Cheers Pat 

[Enzo the Magnificent]

This is a lovely kit!  Enjoy  

[RaceAddict]

This afternoon's Start:

 

I will say the plastic is showing the age of the molds... there was a lot of excess flash that needed cleaning up. In some areas the fit was a hit, in others a big miss. 

 

Stopping for family supper now. Hopefully later this evening I'll get back for some more bench time... laying down the first paint in the cockpit, seat, and perhaps the landing gear struts and wells.

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by RaceAddict

[depressed lemur]

Long pointy airplane, what's not to like?  What will be the scheme though? so many choices, so many difficult ones as well.

[RaceAddict]

Going with the German RAL 6014 Gelboliv and RAL 7012 Basaltgrau on the upper surfaces and RAL 9006 Weissaluminium on the lower. (More specifically, the closest approximation that I can get with the Tamiya colors I have on hand...)

 

It's a bit (er, a lot) ambitious to do a 3 color camo on a 24 hour build, but I think the fact that it's all straight lines is in my favor. They just look so good: http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/2527.htm

[RaceAddict]

Continuity reference for today's start:

 

Getting the cockpit done and fuselage together was this afternoon's goal... and I more or less accomplished it. The fit is less than perfect, but the time it would take to get everything lined up and gaps removed would put the build well outside the range of "doable" before the deadline... 

Snapped a quick pic before the cowl went in and got ready to put on the canopy. 

 

I finished up here:

... but, had a few minutes to spare right after I snapped the pic, so I put the canopy in place and hit it with a little glue. There's a small gap though, so tomorrow will be an early start to a long day that will (fingers crossed) end with much grey, green, and silver paint on the Starfighter! 

[RaceAddict]

Got to the work bench after lunch today, but started in without snapping a pic... maybe 12:30'ish.

 

Stopped for a spell around 15:30. Landing gear is on (despite the kit being somewhat ill-fitting) and it's preshaded. After supper it'll be all hands (both of them) on deck for painting. 

 

Might not make the deadline. 

[RaceAddict]

The after supper push:

 

Painted the undersides with Tamiya aluminium, which is the closest I have to Weissaluminium. 🤷🏻‍♂️ I rubbed it down once it had dried to remove a bit of the metallic, but it's not a perfect match the Luftwaffe color had a bit of a sheen, but it wasn't metallic. 

 

Gave that coat as little time as I thought I could get away with before masking it off to hit the top sides with a homebrew mix of XF-24 and XF-19 to approximate the Basaltgrau. I think it came out OK.

 

A clear coat may darken it up too much though... we'll see in the morning after I lay down the Gelboliv (or at least the Tamiya equivalent). 

 

Thus far my math puts me around 13:14 invested. (Geez I'm slow!)

Edited December 28, 2021 by RaceAddict

[RaceAddict]

Tuesday afternoon state of play:

 

Started today around 11 am, right after breakfast. 

 

The big question is: do I have until midnight UK time, or local time? I doubt I can get a coat of future down and all the decals done in 3 hours, but likely in 8. 🤔

[Jinxman]

That looks great, dayglo as well! If it were me I would keep on building, just in case. 😁

[RaceAddict]

So, darned, close... 

 

For all intents and purposes, it's finished... but a few of the decals are not laying down, so it may take several soakings with microsol before I'm ready to apply the last clear and actually put this one on a shelf. 

[JeroenS]

"Close" is a valid state for Blitzbuild builds 🙂 

 

Looks good! You can keep updating this thread, just no pics in the gallery because it's closed. 

[RaceAddict]

Calling this one done: F-104G Jagbombergeschwader 51 (Boelke) Norvenich AB, 1983

 

Overall I'm super happy with the result. It looks decent enough to sit on my shelf (maybe not front and center, but I'm not gonna' colonize it either) and it was done in basically 5 days. 

 

I learned a few things about my building too... I can work a lot quicker than I thought. I used to be a stickler for timing, always waiting long periods between gluing, sanding, priming, painting, etc. I always used to wait at least 24 hours between a layer of paint and masking... no idea why, it just seemed prudent. On this build I went from pre-shading, to a 3 color livery, to clear, to decals in a little more than a 24 hour period! 

 

If this wasn't a blitz build I'd have corrected a few errors I made on the camouflage pattern, and I'd have waited to get the correct bottom color (though mixing up the Tamiya paints by eye for the top surfaces came out rather well I think). I'd also have done some panel line wash... though there's nothing stopping me from going back to do that later. My Flory wash is a little old and seems to have thickened, so perhaps I'll order a new bottle and get some on this kit at a later date.

 

I definitely see more F-104s in my future, though perhaps the Hasegawa edition. 

Edited January 4, 2022 by RaceAddict

[JeroenS]

Nice result! Build speed is definitely something to take away from the Blitz Building process. Sometimes it's good to just roll with it and stay in the build, and getting a finish. I for one get a lot of energy from a finished build and I have trouble with the dragged out builds which is why I tend to build in Group Builds because of the deadlines which keep me building!

[Jinxman]

Lovely result - can't beat a 104.

[reini]

7 hours ago, RaceAddict said:

I definitely see more F-104s in my future, though perhaps the Hasegawa edition. 

 

Youve made a great job of the Italeri kit in a very little time! I like your paintjob too, very well done. 

 

I can recommend the Hasegawa kit though, its the best 1:72 Zipper at the moment. Great subject, I have quite a few 104's in stash and several already done. Love the plane.