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1/48 Ammo F-104G Starfighter


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Well as I underunderstand, this is the reboxed kinetic kit, and as people have been saying it looks amazing. I am sure it won't go together like a Tamiya but it certainly looks like Tamiya quality on the sprues. 

 

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Obligatory sprue shots:

 

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And the fantastic looking decal sheet:

 

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The kit comes with a nice instruction booklet. I only took a picture of the possible schemes, but it also has some really nice walkaround pics of the Spanish Starfighter on the box art, and some decrepit, decaying Hellenic versions which look very sad indeed! 

 

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And this is where it gets difficult... I am leaning towards doing the Spanish version, but it's a tough decision. The only ones I wouldn't do are the tiger scheme and the Italian version as I'm currently doing a green and grey Buccaneer in the jubilee group build, so I want to do a different colour palette for this one.

 

Hopefully I'll be able to decide and start this week, because the instructions show I'll need to decide basically at the beginning of the build.

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Welcome to the GB, always room for another Zipper.

There are some very nice schemes in this boxing, I can see why you would struggle to choose an option, though like you I would be thinking about the Spanish option as you don't see many built in Spanish markings and they were the only operator to not lose an aircraft in service. Though a weathered Greek aircraft would also be nice.

 

🇺🇦

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2 hours ago, Ghostbase said:

The decal sheet is outstanding. I would go for the Greek Starfighter in SE Asia camouflage personally however all the options are good ones.

 

Michael

I have to disagree with that. Have you seen the dimensions of the Greek roundels? That tiny dot in the middle is surely way too small.

 

Jens

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3 hours ago, Jens said:

I have to disagree with that. Have you seen the dimensions of the Greek roundels? That tiny dot in the middle is surely way too small.

 

Jens

You are right. I noticed it too and thought it must be a specific design for the roundels from a certain year but I think it may just be an error. 

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5 hours ago, arfa1983 said:

You are right. I noticed it too and thought it must be a specific design for the roundels from a certain year but I think it may just be an error. 

well spotted jens. do you have a circular cutter? roundels can be easily masked and painted if you want to go with the helenic scheme.

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6 hours ago, arfa1983 said:

You are right. I noticed it too and thought it must be a specific design for the roundels from a certain year but I think it may just be an error. 

 

I am sure it's not a specific design. Cartograf decals are beautifully printed, however, if the artwork itself is wrong (as in this case) high quality printing cannot make up for that.

 

That said, a Greek Starfighter is a good choice! ;)

 

Jens

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14 hours ago, Jens said:

I have to disagree with that. Have you seen the dimensions of the Greek roundels? That tiny dot in the middle is surely way too small.

 

Jens

Now you mention it Jens... 😇

 

I was thinking more of the choice of subjects. The original 1/48th ESCI F-104G kit of the late 70's did have a similar set of choices though it was prehistoric compared to this one. I wanted to build a Starfighter in SEA camouflage but chose the Belgian version.

 

Michael

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Well, my plan in the future is a HAF buckeye 1/32 so I'm not that keen on the HAF scheme for this one. Plus the little dots in the roundels really irk me now!

 

I've decided that I'll do the Spanish or Canadian green one. Only the wheels are different so I can really wait until final paint day which one to do. I don't have any Spanish or Canadian  aircraft in the cabinet or stash, so these seem like good options. I really like the Canadian flag and roundels too.

 

I've started construction on this evening, will update some photos later but it is definitely a nice kit to build. 

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Yes just noticed the bay doors in the instructions too! 

 

Look, even their own reference photos show the big Greek dot! This would be a great subject for the entropy group build should it ever happen! 😉

 

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In any case, I put the cockpit together and got some paint on the cockpit. The washes are drying now so I'll give them a drybrush tomorrow. I'm not big on spending too much time on cockpits so for me it will be good enough. As long as it looks busy and some contrasts it's good enough for me.

 

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Then did a bit of a dry fit of the fuselage and wheel wells and cockpit. I must say it goes together pretty pretty pretty good. I can highly recommended this (kinetic) kit!

 

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I'm off to Poland for a week,  so won't get to do much more on it until next weekend. Anyone know any good hobby shops in Warsaw? 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Got a couple of hours in on this after work today! 

 

Drybrushed the cockpit and picked out some buttons in yellow and red.

 

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Then remembered on this one to add lots of noseweight. This, if anything, is going to snap the front landing gear and burrow through the shelf. The nice thing is it now has some real weight to it which somehow always feels better. Like more expensive or something. 

 

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And the zipper all zipped up. Everything fit together very nicely more or less. Any mistakes were pretty much my own doing, but they'll buff out with a sanding stick and a touch of filler. 

 

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How they decided to put such small wings on this thing I can never understand. Now the main airframe is done, and I'll need to start on all the gubbins. I don't think I will get much more done this week, then I'm off to Slovenia for a week holiday to try and escape this mad heat. 

 

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On 7/6/2022 at 12:27 AM, modelling minion said:

She's gone together very well, and quickly too.

The Kinetic kit certainly seems to be the way to go for a 1/48 Starfighter.

 

🇺🇦

Indeed. This really is a fantastic model. It's a little challenging though. Both inherently and self induced. As I will proceed to show. 

 

The landing gear is all superbly detailed but very jewellery like. There was no way this was going to go together after painting, so I will mask around it. A lot of other very small parts need to go on also.

 

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Then. There was something bugging me about the shape of the plane yesterday as I zoomed it around the living room making afterburner noises. And I realised now what it was.

 

This fin is backwards. :banghead:

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Well, finally that scribing tool came in handy and I was able to do some literal plastic surgery. 

 

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Ah, now it looks proper.

 

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And now she's sitting on her legs. The wheels are not glued on of course. Was never a huge fan of the Starfighter before, but really this is an amazing looking aircraft.

 

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I have pretty much decided to make the Canadian forest green scheme. I think the parallel group build which I am unfortunately not taking part in has something to do with it. I really would like to do a RCAF B-24 coastal command for that but I know I won't finish it in time so will save that for another day.

 

If anyone knows a suitable Tamiya or Mr Colour paint for the Canadian scheme let me know. 

 

Will be on leave for a week then moving house so no more progress on this for a while I think. 

 

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The landing gear does look very intricate but you have done a very good job on getting it together, I think painting it after assembling it is a good idea.

She's taken shape very nicely and I am very glad to hear that the Starfighter has gone up in your estimation.

Eduard recommend Gunze 309 for the green on their boxing of the Hasegawa F-104G, hope this is helpful.

 

🇺🇦

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Good save with the ventral fin 👍

 

I've only ever built 2 Starfighters, the venerable Airfix one, built as kid, probably built and finished in a day, decals straight on the plastic and all. The other kit I built was a Hasegawa 1/48 F-104 C, funny thing is I don't remember ever finishing it, or why it was never finished, I don't have it anymore so it must have been binned, probably during a house move.

 

I really must get around to getting another.

 

   

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not much of an update, just got the wingtip tanks done (dry fitted only) and the rear of the cockpit cover thing on. Does anyone know what colour this should be? I'm guessing a sort of medium grey. 

 

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Prob won't get much more done on this until after 25th when we move house!

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