Grunticus

I am slowly getting on with the bay. This is something I have not done before, and it's fun. It feel really rewarding to see it grow step by step. The Evergreen stuff is really soft and you can see I screwed up trying to rivet the inspection hatches. They will have to come off and I will try that again, riveting them before gluing them on.

Never mind Max, I found them. What a great tip! I have these in all colors but never thought of this! I find them difficult to work with as is, but inserting a wire will make them great! Thank you Hubert 👊!

Very nice work Max, as always. I was surprised by the cable you use. I was not aware Tamiya have this in their range. The metal core will tremendously help accurately shaping a line. I Googled the product number and found the product, but it states 0,8mm which is a bit thick. I see "0,5" written on the packet. Is it really 0,5mm and not 0,8mm?

Going great! It really seems like a very nice kit, especially given it's age. Youŕe doing a great job on it 👍

Yes but where's proof of that one B-58 that flew in SEA colors? 😁

A while ago I abandoned my idea of making a whole new gear bay roof and just followed Sean's approach. All detail was removed from the kit-part and that presented a blank canvas to work on. I doubt strongly I can accomplish what Sean did in his F-104G build, but I will do my best. I will leave the main gear out to avoid damage during the rest of the build as he did, and to make that possible I will cut off one of the tabs of the cross-beam that holds the main gear in place (on the gear side) and then I can scissor it in later. This MLG bay is the last internal part I must finish before I can close the fuselage, a major step in the build. From leftover PE and hypodermic needle I made the two hydraulics manifolds. Making the solenoid was both fun and intense. I still need to drill holes in that to attach the hydraulics to. One solenoid done, one to go. This is the progress on the well so far. I first added new rivets with a riveting tool, and cut some plate material for the two inspection hatches and for underneath the solenoids. The solenoid looks so dirty because I used black superglue to fix the parts firmly together (still loose on the plate in the photo). Using black gives me a better visual of there's glue and where not. I also opened up the holes in the bulkhead, and thinned their outside edges considerably to show a bit more scale-thickness.I will paint the outside area black. Cheers, Leon

Fantastic job you're doing John! What a nice little kit this is.

The cockpit parts are all finished now and I am content with the result. I have added three T-handles to the IP that operate the emergency nozzle closure, RAM air turbine, emergency landing gear, and added a yellow and black pull ring that jettisons the canopy in an emergency. The side wall still need a bit of detail and weathering. The webbing I made from the alu lid of a plastic pudding pot turned out okay and was much much easier to handle that the PE part. And even when bent the paint would not flake off like it does on PE. I am now going to detail the electronics bay. Lots can be done here. The box-locking handles are molded on which is a shame because it will make painting more difficult. I'm going for zinc-chromate for the structural parts. To get a feel for improving and detailing I started with the electronics bay cover hatch. I scraped off the molded-on wiring, and detailed the PE part on the inside to add some interest. Some ejector pin markings are found but can easily be filled and sanded. I also drilled out the hole at the top to make the paneling thickness more to scale as this will be visible with the hatch open. I will paint the inside area black, I don´t dare to open it up any deeper. I am looking into that elusive Belgian medium bright green. MRP does not have a match in their line. I love the look of this scheme. I this green mixed this myself using RLM82 as a starting point, brightened it up by adding Russian wheel-hub green. The image below seems spot on for the Belgian green, but in reality it is way too bright. The lower green area was splattered with white spirit a bit by accident. Still looking for a better match though. Maybe this one.. Cheers, Leon

For my Belgian F-104G I am trying to find a good match for that elusive bright Belgian medium green. It is similar to RAAF Foliage Green, but brighter / greener. I found an online image of Humbrol 76 which looks spot-on to me, but when I search online I find various iterations of that number, showing different shades, some completely off. Do any of you have this tin and could tell / show me how it looks applied and dried up?

And you were not kidding John. What a joyful brush for fine work, and the paint is exactly what I was looking for as well. Thanks again!

There is a lot going on but there is no progress 😁 I am preparing all kinds of parts and taking my time. The cockpit has been painted and now it needs detailing. Unfortunately the IP will not fit with the control stick in place, so I broke it off and will place it back last. I have also been making lenses from colored acetate sheet for the various green and red lights all over the F-104G. The PE webbing that came with the Aires cockpit is very nice, but I can´t work with that. It is nearly impossible (for me) to get it in the right shape and not be in the way when inserting the seal into it's rails. I scanned one in and re-created it in paper using the Silhouette. I will see if I can work with that. They need tidying-up. Perhaps I will test some other material like a butter wrapper, maybe even strip by strip (I just had that idea while typing). Some of the lights, more to come in the tail section. That mess in front of the seat is the webbing piece I tried to bend in the right shape... Cheers, Leon

Greta progress on this seldom built kit. Good of you to give this oldie a chance and improve it along the way. It surely is an interesting subject!

Thank you John, I will order a bottle, and that brush. Thank you for suggesting it, appreciate it much.

Wow Mike, I bookmarked that for my T-28 later and I'm sure John1 can appreciate it too!

Great choice! Will be following this one.

I use MRP paints almost exclusively, but they can't be brush painted. I am looking for a good covering silver paint to hand paint buckles and other tiny parts. Which do you guys use and what could you recommend? Properties I am looking for is good adhesion to metal and good coverage and the least possible amount of grain, and slow-ish drying time. Fine brush recommendations are also welcome. Thanks for any input! Cheers, Leon

After a few days of tweaking the cockpit now fits and the fuselage closes without resistance. I took my time (unusual for me alas) and that paid of (loosely held in the in fuselage with tape in the photo). Quite a relief. I might get away with assembling the complete cockpit before insertion, but we will see when the time comes. I can start adding the small details and then priming the parts. Why Italeri? Why?? It still needs more cleanup. As an experiment, I attempted to sand away so much material from the back of the Aires IP so that the instruments would become open. Alas I was not able to apply the pressure evenly enough and I destroyed the part. Luckily I have two spare IP's which also look just fine. I now just can't use the provided acetate instruments sheet. I will use Italeri's decals and / or Airscale ones. I drilled open the openings in the ejection seat frame for added realism. It was an easy job, and while care has to be taken it didn´t take long. Lastly I started assembling the Aires PE seat belts. As evident it's a very tedious job so I am spreading it out over time. This one consists of six parts. Those buckles must have been the smallest I ever worked with. I tried finding easier solutions online but the ones I found did not look at all nice to me except for these that are out of stock at the Aviation Megastore and apparently are not available anywhere else? I will see how far I get. I can always reconsider. I have opened up the retaining slot in the headrest for easier assembly later on, after paining. Cheers, Leon

Fantastic work Sean! This is the first time I see a build thread of this kit, very nice. Great to see what a skilled modeller can do with such ancient base material.

Stellar builds Romain! The two-seater looks so aesthetically pleasing...

They are all stunning, but that patterned one takes the cake. I never saw that before. Very well done!

Or: Please ICM, venture into the jet age...

This would be a nice shelf-companion to my EF-126. I am not into luft-46, but this thing existed.

What a nifty and ingenious way to tackle the issues with the intakes! If you were a pilot your helmet would read "Brute Force Mconnelley" 😀 JK of course, I really admire how you improved it so dramatically in this clever way! And, it's a Tomcat. No-brainer me likes.

You're doing a great job on this old kit! Very nice paint work.

Sasha, that's very impressive pre-shading and the end result looks very realistic. Well done! And that Reskit stuff...awesome.