International Scale Modeller

Hey Guys!

My entry into this SiG will be the famous moviestar F-104G "132", or 63-13269, starring in the movie "The Right Stuff".



I love that film, think I have seen it a 100 times!

[youtube]1Cq7hf4ylvY[/youtube]

Here's the actor Sam Shepard and Chuck Yeager himself


Background:
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft originally developed by Lockheed for the United States Air Force (USAF). One of the Century Series of aircraft, it was operated by the air forces of more than a dozen nations from 1958 to 2004. Its design team was led by Clarence L. "Kelly" Johnson, who went on to lead or contribute to the development of the SR-71 Blackbird and other Lockheed aircraft.



The Lockheed Starfighter was a direct result of America's combat experiences in Korea where USAF fighter P-80 Shooting Star pilots found themselves pitted against the formidable MiG-15. Despite the arrival of the F-86 Sabre, the USAF never quite managed to fight on equal terms throughout the Korean conflict and they began to look beyond the Sabre to the possibility of something better, even before the conflict was ended.

The F-104 served with the USAF from 1958 until 1969, and continued with Air National Guard units until 1975. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) flew a small mixed fleet of F-104 types in supersonic flight tests and spaceflight programs until 1994. It never made it big in the US, but the aircraft was very successful export for Lockheed, where a total of 2,578 Starfighters were produced, mostly by NATO members.



So, the kit will be the Eduard Bundesfighter set, which has a set of decals and a paint scheme for the "132".

Boxart:
20160412_175425 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Sprues:
20160412_180135 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160412_180404 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160412_181048 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160412_181126 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Misc. stuff - decals, resin, PE, masks and nylontubes(?)
20160412_175808 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Instructions
20160412_181228 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I will use this callout for my build
20160412_181404 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Cheers!

Tommy

Oh man...love that jet.

Tasty. That's a wicked looking machine right there.

Got to be the sleekest century series fighter of the lot. Might have flown like a rocket powered brick but it sure looked good. Got the 'other' Eduard one in the stash, the NATO fighter one so will be watching closely.

Nice choise
I have the NATO fighter aswell but as far as i know the kits are the same and only the decals and maybe some small parts are different
Would be nice to see a shiny one as mine will be a full camo Dutch plane (once i build it)
Good luck with the build

Lysus wrote:Oh man...love that jet.

Avgas wrote:Got to be the sleekest century series fighter of the lot. Might have flown like a rocket powered brick but it sure looked good. Got the 'other' Eduard one in the stash, the NATO fighter one so will be watching closely.

I love this jet too... this full-breed interceptor it so different from other aircrafts.

MarkVerploeg wrote:Nice choise
I have the NATO fighter aswell but as far as i know the kits are the same and only the decals and maybe some small parts are different
Would be nice to see a shiny one as mine will be a full camo Dutch plane (once i build it)
Good luck with the build

When I bought this kit I was planning to build the Luftwaffe version that is shown on the boxart, but then I changed my mind and decided to go for the USAF version for this build...


Tommy

A metal finish one can look nice too
But as a Dutchman with a very few Dutch builds i kind of have to do a Dutch one
And i like it better then the other options

Fondly remember the Right Stuff and Chuck Yeager is a bit of a legend.

Looking forward to seeing this.

Good luck with your build ! I build the German Navy version of the F-104 , it is a beautifull kit , careful with the Eduard instructions , there was a step that wasn't quite clear , suppose it was in the cockpit when to place it in the fuselage , I think I mention it in the build thread , but will be one to follow !

I was and check ...yes it is the step on placing the instrument panel , check it properly , if you leave it till the instruction step , you can't place it , so see if you can place it before ...

rodrant wrote:I was and check ...yes it is the step on placing the instrument panel , check it properly , if you leave it till the instruction step , you can't place it , so see if you can place it before ...

Many thanks for the heads-up on that issue, António
I'll have a look in your buildthread later today

I will start the build this weekend, just need to get the Draken out of my hair first...


Tommy

What an excellent choice for the shiny things group build. The F-104 looks absolutely breathtaking in a NMF. Like you I'm also a big fan of the movie that gave you the idea to do this aircraft. When I was going true the pictures got to reading the intro bit about the model. Being from The Netherlands and a bit of a Aviation History buff noticed that Eduard made a bit of a booboo in the write up. The European built Starfighters where actually built under licence of the Lockheed Aircraft factory that supplied only the blue prints and the material specs to Fokker Aircraft. All airframe parts for construction of these aircraft where made in house by Fokker in Amsterdam. They had a special production line where the production for the F-104 and later the F-16 took place.

Looking forward to seeing this project come to life

Happy modeling and keep sticking styrene

Paul

I just find it amazing the plan could even fly - look at those little baby wings - ah so cute...

Thanks guys!

Sorry for the belated start of this build... First I couldn't make up my mind about what to build and then it sort of collided with my Draken build. I'm sooo bad at keeping more than one build active at the same time.

Okay... I have finally put the spruecutter into the cockpit parts and the scissors into the PE

Lot's of nice details here... This is actually my first 1/48 build; in comparison with 1/72 scale aircrafts I think everything is HUGE and there are MASSIVE amounts of details...

20160419_201548 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

... but all those knobs, levers and meters on the tub and IP will be sanded away and the surfaces buffed, to leave room for the PE...
20160419_205733 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I have separated the IPs from the PE fret and I noticed that the metal edges where very visible in contrast to the black panels, so I have carefully coloured them black with a marker pen.

20160419_201658 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Primed with Bagder/Ultimate Primer. The grey primer isn't that far from FS36231, actually.... But I will paint it with XF54 nevertheless.
20160419_220248 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Cheers

Tommy

Hey Guys,

This build is going forward with baby-steps... but atleast it's moving forward.

The afterburner had a couple of ugly ejection pin marks... The one's behind the "fence" will not be seen, but the others need to be dealt with.
20160420_210901 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I tried this product for the first time. Seems awesome, a waterbased putty that is possible to sand. Well, let's put it to the test...
20160420_212820 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Excess putty have been removed with a moist cotton-bud and left to cure for 24h (just to be on the safe side) and it was possible to sand it afterwards.
20160422_214617 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr
The most important thing is to remove the step, the shape don't need to be super-accurate...

All parts (except for the bangseat) fitted into the tub.
20160422_224357 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr]

Cheers!

Tommy

Cockpit's looking tasty.

Stokesy44 wrote:Cockpit's looking tasty.

Thanks, Stokesy44 !

Cheers!

Tommy

Hi!

It's been a while since last update. But I had the opportunity to sit down at the bench today and do some work with the navigation lights. I had to admit that I had to do some research to understand what all this drilling-holes-in-the-fuselage thing was all about...

Tail-lights:


At the air intake:


So Eduard (or Hasegawa) had made an option here (cutting tooling cost could also be a motivator... ) to either keep the fuselage as it is and just paint on the nav-lights or you could drill holes and put transparent lenses in.

I decided to go for the second option; but before I put the drill into the plastic I decided to double-check the drill dimensions; good call, since some holes where 2.0 mm in the instruction but the lenses where 1.5 mm in diameter

20160428_105750 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Some lenses even need the flange to be cut in order to fit....
20160428_112526 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I added some kitchen-foil as a reflector (glued with white glue)
20160428_114714 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Wheel wells and bulkhead glued in
20160428_203756 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Next step will be to finalise the IP and sidepanels in the cockpit.


Tommy

I got this kit in my stash, thanks for the tip about the navigation lights

rgds
John(shortCummins)

Cracks whip we want more

Hey Guys,

I've got some work done on the Starfighter; I tried a new way (for me that is) to make the glass for the analog meters on the PE instrument panel. On my other builds I have used Microscale Cristal Klear, but I think it's too messy to work with and I'm not totally happy with the result I get.

Instead I taped the PE panels on a piece of plastic bag (the one that the sprues came wrapped in) and placed drops of Tamiya X-22 Clear in the meter holes.
20160429_223253 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

After that I left it to dry overnight and in the morning I very carefully pryed the panel off the plastic bag.
20160430_095601 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I'm happy with the result. I think it looks very convincing.
20160430_105119 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I have also started to assemble the PE in the sidepanels.
20160430_203147 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

IP-cover and the compartment behind the ejection seat have been painted and weathered. The IP is completed now with some handles, levers and a painted CRT for the radar.
20160430_203313 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Engine parts have been primed with Ultimate Primer ( God, I love that stuff! ) and I will start playing around with metal paints tomorrow
20160430_203326 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I bought this magazine a while ago and it's full of drawings, photos and information about this awesome aircraft - do you recognise the object on the cover page ?
20160430_203245 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Sadly the publisher have stopped this series of magazines for some reason...


Tommy

Hey Guys,

I've done some work on the engine today. Decided to try out the new Vallejo Acrylic Metal paints, since I want to use them for this build, instead of that smelly Alclad II or ModelMaster Metallizer stuff that I normally use.

I'm very impressed with these paints, so easy to use and to get good result. I will probably use this metal tones and only use enamel or laquer based products when I have to.

These are the paints that I used, I don't have the full set yet (but I will get that soon):
20160501_125736 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

The grille is painted with Duraluminium mixed with Exhaust Manifold:
20160501_130301 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Other parts where painted with Exhaust Manifold followed by highlighted areas using Pale Burnt Metal mixed with Aluminium.
20160501_125505 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160501_130328 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160501_125946 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

...but in the end not much of this will actually be visible...
20160501_130927 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I see this more as a test-shot of these paints before I start to work on the outside.


Tommy

Looks great so far, great work!

Yeah it looks great ! Keep up the nice work !

Tommy,

Thanks to you I downloaded the film again from that infamous Swedish file sharing site and watched the film 3 times since. Almost forgot how good the film was. Your 104 build is starting to be quite the looker like how you did the instrument glass imitation as its a different way than I normally do it.

As always happy modeling and keep sticking styreen

Paul

Smashdown101 wrote:Looks great so far, great work!

Icemannique wrote:Yeah it looks great ! Keep up the nice work !

Thanks Smashdown101 and Icemannique !

Vleugelmoer wrote: Thanks to you I downloaded the film again from that infamous Swedish file sharing site and watched the film 3 times since. Almost forgot how good the film was. Your 104 build is starting to be quite the looker like how you did the instrument glass imitation as its a different way than I normally do it.

Thanks, I have seen similar methods where the panels are glued together first and the varnish applied afterwards - to be honest I'm not sure that it will differ from the method I use, but I like to do them as separated steps. It's cool to see the optic effect of the "glass"

As always happy modeling and keep sticking styreen
Paul

You too, Paul!


Tommy

Hey Guys!

Did some more work yesterday and today.
But, because of some sloppy reading of the instructions I placed the sidepanels in the wrong position, so I had to pry off the sidepanels and put them back on at the right position

20160501_143135 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

But after some work I got the cockpit put together and joined the fuselage halves

20160501_161242 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160504_201316 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

There's not much room in the pit - it will be a tight squeeze to get bang seat in position but lets deal with one problem at a time.

The fit have been very good sofar. I got every gap to disappear just using Tamiya Extra Thin and pressing parts together with my fingers only. No clamps or filler needed. The fuselage is quite tight around the waist though. The is one tiny gap just aft of the wheelbays, but I will deal with that using CA-glue that is left to cure overnight and then sand and buff the area until it disappears.

I have not done anything to the rest of the seams yet, I will wait a couple of days to let the styrene harden completely before I start to work on them.

20160501_161057 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

That's all for tonight!

Tommy

Hey Guys!

I have done some more work with the fuselage adding the front wheelbay and compartment behind the pilot. The fit was really good, no drama really.

20160504_201354 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160504_201316 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I have also bought a figure - I will do a simple baseplate with this shiny dude on

20160504_201124 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

X-15 !?? What's up with that? Shouldn't you build a german-built F-104G ?

Yeah, but the Starfighter was used to train Astronauts

Thanks to its performance, the Starfighter was chosen to train test pilots destined to fly the X-15, a winged spacecraft that was air-launched by a B-52 Stratofortress, flew into space and then landed conventionally.

The idea to modify several F-104As to serve as “manned spacecraft transition trainers” is credited to astronaut Frank Borman who was both student and instructor at Edwards Air Force Base, California, home of the Air Force’s Aerospace Research Pilot School, later renamed U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School.

The major modifications to the Starfighters consisted in the addition of a 6,000 pound thrust rocket engine at the base of the vertical tail, reaction control thrusters in the nose and in each wing tip, a larger vertical tail, increased wing span, tanks to store the rocket propellants, provision for a full pressure suit, a cockpit hand controller to operate the reaction control thrusters, and modified cockpit instrumentation.

Moreover, the unnecessary equipment, like the gun, fire control system, tactical electronics, and auxiliary fuel tanks, was removed.



The Starfighters with these modifications were renamed NF-104s. They entered in service in 1963 and their pilots could zoom to more than 100,000 feet in a full pressure suit, experience zero “g”, and use reaction control to handle the aircraft.

A typical flight started with taking off on jet power, climb to 30-40,000 feet, and accelerate to Mach 1.7-1.9. Then the pilot ignited the rocket engine and pitched the nose up to start the steep climb.

After two minutes the Starfighter passed through 80,000 feet, the jet engine flamed out, the rocket engine ran out of fuel and the pilot began a parabolic arc to the peak altitude.

It was during the parabolic arc that the pilot experienced “weightlessness” for about one minute and used the side stick to fire the reaction control rockets to control the aircraft’s pitch, roll and yaw motions.

Once at a lower altitude, the pilot restarted the jet engine and made a conventional landing: the whole mission lasted about 35 minutes from taxi to landing and was performed in a full pressure suit.


Tommy

It would have looked cool to see a F-104 with a right-handed opening canopy for a change though Tommy. Being NASA anything is possible .

I do want to share a photo with you I found on the internet, because the closing hooks on your model looked a bit vague to me. Having worked on F-104 both at college and at the Dutch Airforce Museum where I have volunteered they looked a bit OFF. I hope you dont mind me being a bit of a rivet counter here..?? Sorry

Vleugelmoer wrote:It would have looked cool to see a F-104 with a right-handed opening canopy for a change though Tommy. Being NASA anything is possible .

I do want to share a photo with you I found on the internet, because the closing hooks on your model looked a bit vague to me. Having worked on F-104 both at college and at the Dutch Airforce Museum where I have volunteered they looked a bit OFF. I hope you dont mind me being a bit of a rivet counter here..?? Sorry

No problems, that's not rivet-counting - it's helping

Thanks for sharing the picture, it's highly appreciated!

Cheers

Tommy

TommyKillander wrote:No problems, that's not rivet-counting - it's helping

Thanks for sharing the picture, it's highly appreciated!

I find its always a thin line when commenting on other peoples work, and pointing out minor discrepancies in their build. Than I'll gladly call myself a rivet counter when trying to help others out .

Glad you took it the way it was intended.

or SKöLL as they say in your neck of the woods.

Paul

Hey Guys!

The build of the "Zipper" progresses quite good; I'm very pleased with the kit.

20160505_153744 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

A have added the control-planes and painted the air intakes with XF-69 Nato Black.
20160506_162954 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Just a tiny gap left....
20160506_170601 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

The fit is very good on this kit. This is actually the first 1/48 kit I build, so I don't have much to compare with, but I guess that pending more than 15€ on a kit pays off (the Bundesfighter cost much more than that, but it's loaded with aftermarket stuff).

The only thing I'm missing is the pitot tube, but I have ordered a brass tube from Master.

This bird does not seem to be a tailsitter, but I'm not taking any chances.
20160506_185347 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr


Tommy

TommyKillander wrote: This bird does not seem to be a tailsitter, but I'm not taking any chances.

A real F-104G with J-79 engine fitted only has a nose wheel load of around the 175KG . What that means in real life is; that standing up in the nose wheel bay fast could actually tip one on its tail and this happened a lot during its operational career with the various airforces around the world.

So good choice to stick some extra lead fishing-line sinkers in the nose especially when you are going to put in a resin engine tailpipe and nozzle.

As always happy modeling.

Sköll Paul

Vleugelmoer wrote:
A real F-104G with J-79 engine fitted only has a nose wheel load of around the 175KG . What that means in real life is; that standing up in the nose wheel bay fast could actually tip one on its tail and this happened a lot during its operational career with the various airforces around the world.

Awesome, that's some cool facts about this aircraft. I thought that "tailsitting" only happened to scalemodels

Cheers!

Tommy

Hello!

I have been doing some cleaning-work on all the hatches, undercarriage and wheels and preparing the subassemblies for painting.

20160507_172402 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

The headlights have been masked and will be painted in metal-finish before I put on the primer
20160507_172126 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160507_172201 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr


Tommy

That's some diligent seam and assembly work. I cannot wait to see this in shiny paint.

Lysus wrote:That's some diligent seam and assembly work. I cannot wait to see this in shiny paint.

Thanks Lysus !

Yeah, I have ordered a couple of more different Vallejo Metal tones, so I can make some variation of the different surfaces... There are a couple of areas that are not bare metal, but most of the aircraft will be shiny. I hope I can make something interesting out of it

Ok, I have started to prepare the aircraft for primer, so first of all I need to finish the cockpit.

The canopy, windscreen and rear window have been cleaned and put on sprue-pins ready for a bath in Johnson Klear.
20160508_121339 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

HUD projector lens have been coloured with X-26 Clear Orange
20160508_105252 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

And I have masked the navigation light-ports, with a homemade kabuki-mask
20160508_115853 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

20160508_120821 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr


Tommy

Lovely work so far Tommy!

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Vallejo metal paints as I'm considering to purchase some of those as well.

demarcation wrote:Lovely work so far Tommy!

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Vallejo metal paints as I'm considering to purchase some of those as well.

Thank you, demarcation !

I will share my thought about it. Sofar I think it's been very good, but the real test will be to spray thin layers on larger areas, of course.




Ok, I had a little bit of setback today - that's another word for screwing up...

I glued in the HUD-glass using CA-glue and I probably collected too much glue in one place and vapours misted the part. At first I didn't think it was that obvious so I ignored it and drybrushed on some X-25 Clear Green on the sides

But after testfitting the canopy I realised that it looked like crap...
20160508_162744 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Thankfully Eduard provides outlines for two pieces in the kit, so scrubs like me get a second chance in getting it right.
Oh, I didn't do the drybrushing thing the second HUD-glass, it looks better without it I think.

20160508_172507 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr


Tommy

TommyKillander wrote:

demarcation wrote:Lovely work so far Tommy!

Looking forward to your thoughts on the Vallejo metal paints as I'm considering to purchase some of those as well.

I glued in the HUD-glass using CA-glue and I probably collected too much glue in one place and vapours misted the part. At first I didn't think it was that obvious so I ignored it and drybrushed on some X-25 Clear Green on the sides

Tommy

Are you sure you aren't reading the Lysus Modelling Technique Manual? 'Cuz that's totally something I'd do...

Excellent recovery, though. Looks great!

Lysus wrote:


Are you sure you aren't reading the Lysus Modelling Technique Manual? 'Cuz that's totally something I'd do...

No, I have my own manual "How to cope with Bad Decisions and semi-disasters in Scalemodelling"... It's getting thicker and thicker all the time...

Excellent recovery, though. Looks great!

Thanks, mate!


Tommy

TommyKillander wrote:

Lysus wrote:


Are you sure you aren't reading the Lysus Modelling Technique Manual? 'Cuz that's totally something I'd do...

No, I have my own manual "How to cope with Bad Decisions and semi-disasters in Scalemodelling"... It's getting thicker and thicker all the time...




Tommy

Hey guys,

It's been a busy week sofar, so I have only done small bits and bobs (here and there):

The canopy have been dipped in Johnson Future (or Pledge as it's called here). I will leave it for 48 hours to dry and cure before I put the masks on.
20160509_180252 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Some small parts have been primed and preshaded
20160510_195747 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Various Vallejo Metal Colors on (Duraluminium, Aluminium and highlights in White Aluminium)
20160511_210537 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

The pitot tube arrived today, so I can proceed with the build of the fuselage
20160511_210325 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr


Tommy

Just read the entire thread and im hooked, loving the work being put into this build and quality is second to none. Yourve somehow rel lighted the fire for my starfighter that i started just after Christmas and ended up putting it back in thd box. Thank you. I must keep the focus on the GB planes, i really must.. oh the temptation

Always48 wrote:Just read the entire thread and im hooked, loving the work being put into this build and quality is second to none. Yourve somehow rel lighted the fire for my starfighter that i started just after Christmas and ended up putting it back in thd box. Thank you. I must keep the focus on the GB planes, i really must.. oh the temptation

Thank you, Alan!

If I can bring some mojo back for your Starfighter build that is awesome.

This aircraft is all about passion - Kelly Johnson had passion and so did his assistant Chief Engineer Hall Hibbard. The aircraft is stunningly beautiful and super-hot at the same time and it looks like it could do Mach 2 on the tarmac.

Unfortunately the requirements changed during the process and the things that the Starfighter did so well - fly fast and high, where not key priorities for the USAF anymore. They wanted a multirole all-weather fighter.

Best of luck with your build when you decide to proceed with it. I'm sure it will be a stunning model


Tommy

The build of the fuselage is completed (minus the ejection seat of course):

Glued the pitot-tube in place. I had to drill out the hole a little bit to make it fit, though.
20160515_122450 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

Primer On!
20160515_193306 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I also plainted the inside of the hatches with Vallejo Metal Color Aluminium.
20160515_211350 by Tommy Killander, on Flickr

I will leave the primer to cure overnight and start masking and applying panel preshade tomorrow... there's a lot of work to be done before I can spray on the NMF coat on the aircraft...

Cheers

Tommy

That is some nice work so far Tommy
I like it but i didn't see the amount of surface detail on my kit
That looks pretty nice ,i guess my inspection was a bit sub standard when i checked the kit
Keep up the good work

MarkVerploeg wrote:That is some nice work so far Tommy
I like it but i didn't see the amount of surface detail on my kit
That looks pretty nice ,i guess my inspection was a bit sub standard when i checked the kit
Keep up the good work

Thanks, Mark!

Yeah, the details are there - atleast in the form of rivets. I haven't counted them though

I'm very pleased with the kit sofar, the sprues are from Hasegawa I think.

Cheers!

You know Tommy, I just figured it out - when it comes to building models, the difference between you and me is you make them look good.

TheTroyster wrote:You know Tommy, I just figured it out - when it comes to building models, the difference between you and me is you make them look good.

Thanks Troy, it's very kind of you to say that, but your models looks absolutely stunning and you build fantastic dioramas on top of that.


Tommy