Jump to content

Eiko has left the chat


Recommended Posts

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.

 

52235557475_5738638a92_b.jpg

 

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.

 

52234090057_ea1c88ee9f_b.jpg

 

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.

 

52235349814_b3543217d1_b.jpg

 

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 by Wings unlevel
  • Like 11
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

 

🇺🇦

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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! 😁

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

 

🇺🇦

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have made a start, incidentally.

 

Painting and prepping

 

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!

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Some progress to report. First, a basic cockpit:

 

Some assembly

 

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.

 

Some assembly

 

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!

 

Some assembly

 

  • Like 7
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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

And now it is all buttoned up:

 

Some assembly

 

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).

 

Some assembly

 

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.

 

Joined

 

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

  • Like 5
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

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...)

 

Masked

 

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.

 

Masked and primed

 

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now I have another Kelly Johnson Blackbird:

 

Masked and primed

 

Masked and primed

 

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...

 

Masked and primed

 

...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

  • Like 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

First coat Is now down, of the lighter of the two blues/blue-greys.

 

First blue

 

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

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...