ghodges Posted June 19, 2016 Report Share Posted June 19, 2016 (edited) Doing a basic quick build of the old 1/48 Revell tooling of the F-104C (as an "A") from the late '70s. Lots of sanding required to blend in the separate gun bay door, blank off the gun trough, and blend in the intakes. Thought I'd post a pic of it in a coat of AK metallic aluminum, which I applied for primer. This will not only show me where I need to get all of the scratches out, but it will also serve to show how different I plan for the final finish to be from where it is here. This will actually be done as a US Navy F-104A Starfighter that was used for testing the "new" sidewinder missile using the Victory Productions F-104 decals. More pics when it's finally finished. In the meantime, questions and comments are more than welcome! GIL Edited July 5, 2016 by ghodges Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ClareWentzel Posted June 20, 2016 Report Share Posted June 20, 2016 Looking great so far. Good job on the fuselage seams. Waiting to see the Navy scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Bell Posted June 20, 2016 Report Share Posted June 20, 2016 Your primer looks better than my final finishes. Will look interesting in Navy markings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted June 21, 2016 Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 More stunning work from your bench! Man, I'd kill to be able to have a finish like your primer coat! Maybe someday! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aAzZ09 Posted June 21, 2016 Report Share Posted June 21, 2016 Way to go, Gil! Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted June 22, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2016 As I've said, the AK stuff is very forgiving..... GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roktman Posted June 23, 2016 Report Share Posted June 23, 2016 Looking great so far. I'll be watching this thread. I love this plane. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted June 26, 2016 Author Report Share Posted June 26, 2016 Got most of the painting done.... The white is simply Tamiya Fine white primer, which covered the whole model. It was polished with a 3600 grit sanding cloth and then Alclad Aluminum was used as the basic NMF. The tail section was done in combos of Dark Aluminum, Duraluminum, Tamiya Clear Blue, Tamiya Clear red, MM Burnt Iron, and a final mist coat of Alclad aluminum to tone the mixture down. The real shiny spots are the AK Aluminum, and I added a ghosting of panel lines with Duraluminum. The nose cone is ADC grey (the anti-glare panel still needs painting, as well as repainting the speed brake interiors. The red stripes are Testors gloss red with a few drops of Testors orange added to try to make it a bit brighter "Arctic" red.Hope to have the decals on this and have it done by next weekend! More pics then! GIL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghodges Posted July 5, 2016 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 (edited) Got this one done today! One note on "accuracy"...Most pics of this plane do NOT show the "China Lake" on the upper right wing. However, other Navy test 104s did have it, and it being the Navy, I figured it might have been added at a later time. Besides, it looks more balanced this way! Also, the decals are all Victory Productions (which performed perfectly), except for the wing lettering, which was added one rub-on letter at a time.Anyway, it makes for a Satrfighter of a different stripe, and I'm glad to have one back on my shelf again after many years! As always, questions, critiques, and comments are always welcome. Cheers! GIL Edited July 5, 2016 by ghodges 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ewahl Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Hi, Gil, Pat yourself on the back for this one! I love this airplane. I'd love to fit one of these into my build schedule. I have the kits, but it seems not enough time. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aAzZ09 Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 Kudos to you Gil! Great work! China Lake has had some interesting aircraft there over the years. Mark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roktman Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 VERY nice! Love the weather to the metallic colors. I like the way the heat discolorations were done by the exhaust. Bravo! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GregWise Posted July 5, 2016 Report Share Posted July 5, 2016 nice job on an oldie but goodie kit. you always seem to pull it off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Deliduka Posted July 6, 2016 Report Share Posted July 6, 2016 Brilliant work Gil! I have several Starfighters in my collection, but none in US Air Force markings yet. I'm still trying to master the bare metal finish enough to do a job that can remotely look as good as this one. Magnificent! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WildBill50 Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 You nailed it Gil. Great looking finish on that Zipper. One of my favorite aircraft. Cool scheme to boot. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pmhayward Posted July 8, 2016 Report Share Posted July 8, 2016 Super build and finish. Always a fan of the 104, so this motivates me to open a 104 box. I'll open it of course, building it... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang1989 Posted July 9, 2016 Report Share Posted July 9, 2016 Sorry for the late reply on this Gil. I really like that paint work on that build. Just the right amount of weathering too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VonL Posted July 25, 2016 Report Share Posted July 25, 2016 Love this. The more basic markings show the fine lines of this jet much better than would the gaudier stuff. Am inspired to do one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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