Wings unlevel Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 (edited) Time to jump in! Due to work/illness/travel/life/winter I haven't done much modelling of late, so this should be a good motivation booster, and hopefully a worthy (if modest) contribution to the GB. This is a really neat little kit. Mine has a little bit of flash, but looks like it will build up really nicely. I'll do it out of the box, hoping for a relatively quick, fun build. My subject will be an Okinawa-based 207 Squadron jet, wearing a (trial?) blue and grey air superiority scheme from circa 1984, using the kit decals. Colour pic here. Something I learned doing some reading on the weekend, 207 Sqn's tail markings featured the Southern Cross, with Okinawa the only place in Japan from where it is visible. (Wikipedia says the squadron disbanded in 1986 with the retirement of the F-104J.) Few aircraft could fly faster and higher than the aptly-named Starfighter, making it perfectly-suited for service with the JASDF, which almost uniquely among F-104 operators used the type largely as an interceptor - just as Kelly Johnson intended. My build won't set any speed or time to climb records, but it should be fun! Gerard Edited September 4, 2022 by Wings unlevel 11 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Great Gerard. 👍 A lovely intro for a lovely subject - and yay a sharkmouth! Hope you enjoy the build. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 25, 2022 Author Share Posted July 25, 2022 2 hours ago, Dansk said: and yay a sharkmouth! Thanks Paul - yes the shark mouth was the tiebreaker when trying to pick a scheme! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 Welcome to the GB Gerard, always room for a Starfighter, especially a JASDF one. The colour scheme for this one was applied for the JASDF's annual Air Combat Meet and some great temporary schemes were applied to aircraft for these including F-104J's and F-4EJ's. There are some 207 Sqn aircraft, including some in ACM schemes in this link; http://nabe3saviation.web.fc2.com/explanatione-fr.html 🇺🇦 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 If you look at the JASDF section on this link there's a picture of the aircraft you wan to build; http://www.gonavy.jp/bbs2-f104f.html 🇺🇦 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RidgeRunner Posted July 25, 2022 Share Posted July 25, 2022 You’ll get no complaints from me :). The more ‘104s the better Martin 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 26, 2022 Author Share Posted July 26, 2022 20 hours ago, modelling minion said: If you look at the JASDF section on this link there's a picture of the aircraft you wan to build; Thanks for those links Craig, very useful indeed. It is going to be a fun challenge getting the colour scheme ‘right’. I’ve found three different paint guides for the same scheme - Hasegawa’s with the kit, the Eduard Eiko F-104J boxing’s kit instructions, and an aftermarket Fundecal set - with three slightly different colour call outs. And then the few photos of the scheme I’ve found differ slightly from each other, as you’d expect given the many variables in photography. I guess in the end after some experimentation I might end up with something that looks good to my eye if not being technically correct. 17 hours ago, RidgeRunner said: The more ‘104s the better Happy to oblige! 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 4 hours ago, Wings unlevel said: Thanks for those links Craig, very useful indeed. Very happy to help Gerard. I will see what I can find out for you colour wise although a lot of the colours used during the ACM's were not to FS or any other standard. 🇺🇦 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 26, 2022 Share Posted July 26, 2022 Right then, I have checked my best reference, "Samurai Starfighters" written by my mate Andy who is @Red Dot on here, and I know Andy spent a lot of time trying to sort out the Japanese colours. For 46-8635 he has the colours as N7.5 Bright Grey and N6 Grey from the Japanese specification Z8201E-2, I believe Andy helped supply information to Fundekals so if you can't find a reasonable match for the Japanese system then I would probably go with what Fundekals suggest. 🇺🇦 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 17 hours ago, modelling minion said: For 46-8635 he has the colours as N7.5 Bright Grey and N6 Grey from the Japanese specification Z8201E-2 That’s brilliant! The Fundekals instructions have FS equivalents but from memory labels them as approximate. I’ll have another look and see what I have or what I need, and do some test painting/experimentation to see how close I can get. I’m looking forward to that stage! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 27, 2022 Author Share Posted July 27, 2022 I have made a start, incidentally. Have done a bit of prep work, painting bits and cleaning parts. This kit is just the right level of size and complexity for the time I have available at the moment, I feel I can potter and do small bits here and there while still making progress. I think over the weekend it should come together quite quickly, which will be rewarding. i really do like this kit and this subject - such a fast, futuristic looking aeroplane. Incredible to think this thing was designed 70 years ago! 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 27, 2022 Share Posted July 27, 2022 Good to see your build underway Gerard. Prep work is an important part of any build and once done can make the actual build progress quite quickly, looks like you've done a good job on the cockpit. 🇺🇦 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 Some progress to report. First, a basic cockpit: Looks better to the eye (the zoom does it no favours!), but yes, fairly simple, and I forgot to give it a light wash before glueing it in place. As others have remarked, how the cockpit sits within the nose and in relation to the nose undercarriage bay is not particularly clear in the instructions. So I did a bit of dry fitting to make sure the canopy lid closes on the ejection seat box - it's pretty tight. So this is how its sits in the nose for future reference. Looking at @Mr T's build thread in this GB and @billn53's recent thread on his Red Baron F-104 were particularly useful. If in doubt, search Britmodeller! 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr T Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 Some of the JASDF Starfighters are in very tasty colour schemes. The Hasegawa kit is very nice and holds up well even today. A good start, it is a kit you can dip in and out of until the fuselage is together. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 And now it is all buttoned up: The fuselage halves quarters joined together pretty cleanly, especially along the spine along the top and the nose. I then joined the two halves together, after fitting the main undercarriage bay floor, cross beam and gear legs (which have to be added before joining the fuselage). I thought joining the fuse then adding the intakes would help me get better fit (the instructions have you do it the other way around). But despite that the intake joins to the fuselage are probably the most problematic of the build so far. Not terrible by a long way, but hopefully they clean up a little more seamlessly. But overall really pleased how this has come together today. I had a box of bits this morning and tonight I have a nearly fully assembled aeroplane. Just wings and tail to add. Better start experimenting with my paint colours soon! Gerard 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 7 minutes ago, Mr T said: Some of the JASDF Starfighters are in very tasty colour schemes. There were some cracking schemes! Such a shame that contemporary 5th gen fighters (I'm looking at you, F-35) with their relentlessly grey low observable/radar absorbent paint schemes means we'll never see the likes anything like the variety of interesting schemes the JASDF and others once applied to their jets. 12 minutes ago, Mr T said: The Hasegawa kit is very nice and holds up well even today. I rate it. Very decent for a 33 year old molding. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 30, 2022 Author Share Posted July 30, 2022 And the (ridiculously small) wings and tail plane are now fitted. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted July 30, 2022 Share Posted July 30, 2022 You have really motored along with this one Gerard! She's gone together very nicely too, as you say very good for a 33 year old kit. Very much looking forward to seeing the paint go on, which shouldn't be too much longer by the looks of things. 🇺🇦 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted July 31, 2022 Author Share Posted July 31, 2022 11 hours ago, modelling minion said: You have really motored along with this one Gerard! There's not much to it! But yes, good to have a solid few hours at it! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 Grabbed a few hours here and there during the week filling and sanding and prepping for primer And then with my magnifying lamp, lots of (im)patience, and a bit of swearing, I was able to wrangle semi respectable masks for the canopy sections this morning (I'm not expecting a call from Eduard any time soon...) Undercarriage bays and main gear masked too. Blutack should work, not so many nooks and crannies in the wheel bays for Blutack to get stuck into to.🤞 Plus some semi successful rescribing of panel lines lost in sanding. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted August 6, 2022 Author Share Posted August 6, 2022 Now I have another Kelly Johnson Blackbird: Pretty happy overall, not perfect but fairly neat. Happy enough that after a very light sand with 2000 grit to smooth the surface I'll be ready for paint... ...Which means figuring out which paints to to use... The Hasegawa paint callout has you mixing light ghost grey and medium gunship grey in two different ratios, but neither has enough blue. Eduard suggests light ghost grey for the lighter colour and a LGG/med gunship grey mix for the darker colour - again, not enough blue. Fundekals suggests (warning their callouts are approximate) FS3540 air superiority blue for the darker colour and light grey (FS36495) for the lighter colour. But air superiority blue is too light for the dark colour, and ghost grey not blue enough for the light colour... So I think I've landed on air superiority blue for the lighter colour and aggressor blue (FS35109) for the darker colour. On my drop tank samples above (all AK Real), they are painted on the left hand side of the bottom drop tank halves (the top shows a couple of mixes I was playing with, the spoon had samples from various paints I have that are in the ballpark). So some lights air superiority blue and aggressor looks a pretty close match for the actual aircraft in photos that I've found (noting every photo is different given lighting/time of day/shutter speed and aperture/film type and speed/print chemical quality/scanner settings/Photoshop adjustments... Let's see what it looks like on my model. Wish me luck! Gerard 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 She's looking good Gerard, aircraft do seem to look good in all over black. Looks like you have the colours sorted, I'm looking forward to seeing what she looks like with them on. 🇺🇦 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dansk Posted August 6, 2022 Share Posted August 6, 2022 good luck gerard, seems like a sound choice. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wings unlevel Posted August 7, 2022 Author Share Posted August 7, 2022 First coat Is now down, of the lighter of the two blues/blue-greys. In the end it's air superiority blue mixed with a little aggressor blue to darken it a little. Depending on which photo you look at I think it's pretty close. This is my reference pic on 916-Starfighter.de In the ballpark if not quite spot on. Will see how it looks with the darker blue - once I steel myself to get in the ring with my masking putty! Gerard 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
modelling minion Posted August 7, 2022 Share Posted August 7, 2022 That looks really good Gerard, the colour looks very good to me and it also looks like a nice smooth coat of paint. The picture you linked shows how effective this camo was against a blue sky. 🇺🇦 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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