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Italeri CF-104 Starfighter "Kicked up a Notch": KLP Publishing eBook now Available!


chuck540z3

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Oh my! Chuck, you continue to push the envelope with your pursuit of excellence. I’ve always avoided the use of Alclad metals, even though I know they produce amazing finishes. Fear of messing up the job has prevented me from doing so. Your experiments and knowledge passed on may just tempt me into a NMF bird in the future. 

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Thank you very much everyone!  I'm glad you like it- so far.  I forgot to mention a few advantages of using a clear coat like X-22, despite the disadvantages of it knocking down the metallic look and changing the color:

 

  • Changing the color isn't a bad thing if you start off too bright- hence the Chrome instead of Airframe Aluminum, etc.
  • Despite my many attempts to eliminate surface flaws and bits of crap on the paint, they are always there as you can see in some pics.  Removal of them by using abrasives of any kind leaves a dull mark that further Alclad won't cover.  With a clearcoat, they will vanish if I'm careful and if I get more crap on the model (and I will!), removal and recoating is easy
  • X-22 loves decals and decal solutions, sealing the Alclad below it that clearly doesn't
  • Subsequent coats of paint on detail parts can be removed if required on X-22.  On straight Alclad, you're screwed if you make a mistake
  • Same can be said of weathering washes and dry brushing "scratches"
  • I can spray the whole model with X-22 at the same time, including the wings that are white/grey to prep them for decals
  • X-22 will toughen the rivet decals and further coats will seal new decals
  • I can handle the model with my bare hands with a clear coat.  I will need rubber gloves without it right now
  • I have no choice!  :P

 

Cheers,

Chuck

 

Edited by chuck540z3
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33 minutes ago, Oldbaldguy said:

Anybody know why they painted the wings whiten NM Starfighters?  I think the USAF did the same thing before they camoed them.

 

I've read in a few places that they were painted so that the flash of a nuclear bomb, once dropped and detonated, wouldn't reflect off the wings and blind the pilot.  Sounds far fetched to me, but maybe true?  If true, it seems that if you were that close to a nuclear bomb going off that the flash that goes with it was a consideration, the flash off the wings would be the least of your worries as you shriveled like a marshmallow over a fire.  ^_^

 

Cheers,

Chuck

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Well, that makes no sense at all.  With the wings that small and that far back, you’d think the pilot would be hard pressed to see his wings at all and I’ve never seen ‘em with white tip tanks, so.....  But planners have been known to come up with some pretty weird sh - uh, stuff - sometimes so nothing would surprise me.  Looks cool, however, and that’s what matters.

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Although I love the nuclear flash theory's, I thing simple glare issue's must have been the deciding factor, think back to WWII the b-25 and B-17 had glare issue's from the wings.

Leaving the nmf on the fuselage = weight reduction, painting only the wings to prevent glare makes sense especially in the days where speed was the #1 goal

 

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