dcaponeII Posted January 1, 2009 Report Posted January 1, 2009 Here's where I'm at on the NF-104 conversion I've been working on over the winter holiday. The Hasagawa cockpit is quite nice OOB. That's a decal on the panel with a bit of Future for bezels. I've done the upper surfaces of the wings with Insignia White (Model Master colors throughout) I then masked some of the panels and shot them with Clear Flat Gloss to set them apart from the rest of the aircraft which is wet sanded to 12000 grit with MicroMesh. Finally I got the first coat of NMF onto the underside. I use a mixture of thinned Clear Gloss Lacquer (70%) and Buffing Aluminum Metallizer (30%) as the base coat. I hope you enjoy these progress pics. There are some blemishes to fix in the finish but I'll do some wet sanding before the next coats and they will be gone in the next set of photos.
ghodges Posted January 1, 2009 Report Posted January 1, 2009 That's looking very sharp. I look forward to seeing how the Futured panels look compared to the other areas. GIL
mquan Posted January 1, 2009 Report Posted January 1, 2009 Dr. Capone, don't tell me that after that wonderful 700th scale waterline-divine cruiser, you have gone back to building that "evil" 48th stuff?!!! :) Your fellow NCT club member in arms, Mike Q
dcaponeII Posted January 1, 2009 Author Report Posted January 1, 2009 Sorry Mike but you can't teach an old dog new tricks (especially when divinity is involved!!). As for the effect of the clear flat (I use Testor's Clear Flat Lacquer) you can see the reflection difference on the panel towards the middle of the rear section of the fuselage. I'll post pics of the upper surface later and you can see the effect better on some of the access hatches.
dcaponeII Posted January 1, 2009 Author Report Posted January 1, 2009 I got a bit more depth into the finish this afternoon. After repairing a few flaws around some seams.
VonL Posted January 2, 2009 Report Posted January 2, 2009 Nice work on a very intriguing subject (even if it is in the 'wrong' scale). :)
dcaponeII Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Posted January 2, 2009 In the past three months I've built 1/72, 1/700 and 1/48. My preference has always been 1/48 and still is. I'll just can't imagine moving to the dark side as long as good kits remain affordable in the divine scale.
dcaponeII Posted January 2, 2009 Author Report Posted January 2, 2009 She's getting closer now. I had to break a wing off to fix a serious alignment problem once I got the main gear struts on but she's all better now.
ghodges Posted January 3, 2009 Report Posted January 3, 2009 The blending of the conversion parts to the kit looks perfect, and that's not easy on a NMF model! Looking good! GIL
dcaponeII Posted January 3, 2009 Author Report Posted January 3, 2009 Thanks Gil, This is my second conversion in the past six months. I converted an F-101B to an F-101C during the summer. That one came out fine but this one is coming out better I think. I guess practice does help. I've had to do some rescribing here and there to repair sanding defects but so far so good. I should get it ready to ship by the end of the weekend with any luck. Anyone got any good tricks for shipping finished aircraft to avoid damage??
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