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

[williamj]

Now this is a thing of beauty Chuck....the fine rivets and and even finer painting skills sets this bird apart.

  One lovely and V E R Y unique RCAF Starfighter. 

    

Edited March 17, 2021 by williamj

[chuck540z3]

March 16/21

 

Thank you Gents, very much!  This journey is getting near to the end as you will see below.

 

With the decals on and sealed with clear X-22, it was time to “weather” this bird, but I use the term loosely, because most of the pics I can find of CF-104’s in the mid-60’s are very clean.  Checking these references, I did the following to try and make this model look a little more realistic:

 

• Applied Tamiya Dull Coat lacquer to the black on the nose cone, front windscreen and the front of the intakes.  While restored CF-104’s may be shiny, these areas look flat to me.

• Applied Tamiya Semi-Gloss lacquer to the wings.  While the wings are supposed to be gloss white, the large roundels are way too glossy, so they needed to be toned down a notch, blended in with the wings.

• Applied Semi Gloss to most of the decals.  See above.  Very tricky to do and avoid significant over-spray on adjacent metallic areas.

• Applied Dull Coat to specific panels at the rear, especially the titanium panels.  This is not only more realistic looking, but it makes the areas that should remain shiny “pop” a little more.

• Applied Semi Gloss to most of the decals.  See above.

• Dirtied up the antenna panel behind the avionics bay.  These things are usually quite dirty.

• With the spraying of any paints finally over with, I removed all masks.  This late step is always scary, especially in the cockpit area where overspray may have leaked inside the windscreen or other parts of the cockpit and avionics bay.  Other than the usual small touch ups required, everything came out looking great.  Whew!  It is also cool to see all the work I had done in these areas earlier.

 

So, I was on a roll until I tried to add scratches to the polished aluminum finish.  My plan was to dry brush some water based metallic washes I have, but all they did was dull the paint.  What they are really meant for, is to fill panel lines and recessed fastener detail with metallic colors, but with everything already filled with Alclad, I didn’t need that.  Thankfully they wiped off easily with water.  Now what?

 

Earlier in this thread, a few of you suggested adding scratches by dry brushing metallic paint, so I gave that a whirl, using Testors Silver/Chrome/Steel Enamel (they all look the same to me).  This is fairly safe if it doesn’t work out, because with the acrylic X-22 sealing the paint, I can easily wipe it off with ordinary paint solvent.  It worked alright, but it looked too contrived to me and like the washes, dulled the paint quite a bit, so I wiped it off too and was at a cross roads of what to do next?  While I really like the Chrome finish I applied, it doesn’t look natural to me, because it’s so monochromatic and toy like.

 

So I decided to just add random dry brushing with silver all over the top and sides in more of a mottled than scratched look, but still one that broke up the monotony of the Chrome.  This is where I’m torn and would like your feedback.  Does this help the model or hurt it?  I can always remove it all with some solvent.  Or, I can add even more!

 

So here’s a quick walkaround, to help explain what I’ve done above, which is very hard to photograph due to lighting and the metallic surface.

 

I pretty happy with this angle, which shows the results of the rivet work I applied to the sides of the windscreen after sanding it narrower, and the addition of that little L-shaped curve at the rear.  You can see the start of the dry brushing of silver on the left above the decals.

 

 

 

 

Pretty clear windscreen

 

 

 

 

Flat Black intakes.

 

 

 

 

This is one of the best shots of what the mottled paint now looks like.  Does it add or subtract from the finish?  Reminds me a bit of salt weathering.

 

 

 

 

 

This look is very light dependent.  Now you see the mottled look.

 

 

 

 

Now you don’t…

 

 

 

 

A few more angles

 

 

 

 

 

The rear I like, because a lot of these panels are supposed to be dull.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So what do you guys think?  Leave it, add more dry brushing, or wipe it all off!?

 

 

Thanks,

Chuck

[Paul in Napier]

Leave it.....looks perfect!

 

Paul NZ

[scvrobeson]

I think it definitely looks right.  The shiny metal surfaces definitely had an almost mottled look to them with some dull patches, and I think you've captured that.  I'll have to store that in my brain for future use.

 

 

 

Matt 

[Landrotten Highlander]

Does the mottled look help the model?  I say yes, as it removes the toy-like appearance of an even coat over a relatively large surface.

And since it is light-dependent it does not detract in any way. Being subtle with anything usually goes a long way in my book.

[themongoose]

That’s really a tough question Chuck. Going back through the photos you’ve added. I feel the mottling is there in the form of darker shadowed areas across the top spine of the AC. Then I think about the angles and how everything changes, are the shadows just across the top. Not sure. In all those shots it seems like the scratches are separate from the shadowed/mottled looking aircraft skin. They’re really prevalent in those 1st photos you posted where the sun is glinting off the metal. Scratches really show up in those shots even from a distance. Maybe keep looking for a way to replicate the scratches would be my thought  it’s elusive.

[chuck540z3]

Thanks Guys and Bring It!  You can't hurt my feelings on this subject, because I can wipe it all off in less than 5 minutes.  Having said that, it's clear I'm not really happy with it, or I wouldn't ask the question.  Maybe a darker shade?

 

BTW, I tried to actually scratch the paint with a fine sanding cloth on a test part.  All it did was dull the paint and look like crap, so that's not going to work.

 

Thanks,

Chuck

 

 

[J.C.]

Hi Chuck; For what it is worth, here is my opinion. I think you have reached that stage in a truly excellent build process, where now all you can really do is fine-tune it to personal taste. It has to be what looks right to your eye. I think at this point we have left behind the science and have leap-frogged into art. Personally, I think it looks outstandingly realistic judging from the pictures of those CF-104s I have seen. But you are the one who has to look at it, so again, if you are not entirely happy, play around with it. As you said, it is only a matter of wiping off the wash and starting again, so have at it!!  On another note, I have learned much from this thread (I know I am repeating myself) and it will make a fabulous reference for us, so thanks again for sharing your build process!

Cheers,

J.C.

[F`s are my favs]

+1. It looks amazing! Just needs a little bit more weathering, at least to my taste. Some more scratches (silver and black/grey), some vertical streaks, a more contrasting panel wash, the decals also look very pristine..., especially on the portside near the cockpit. Hope you will do it justice with any further weathering, but it is a matter of personal preferences after all. It looks superb already! 

[Jaro]

Thinking about matt/gloss ratio the model looks absolutely perfect to me. Maybe I would play a little with the panel lines, but that is another story. The model must fit YOUR taste!

 

However, if you are not 100% sure I would recommend to leave it for a week or so. Than take a breath, come back and have a second look. It usually helps (at least to me).

Edited March 17, 2021 by Jaro

[Squizzy 78]

I think the makers of a real aircraft would try to match it to your model Chuck, looks amazing!!!

[Alex]

Chuck - I think the model as a whole looks fantastic at this point.  The dry-brushed mottling near the spine helps break up the "painted plastic airplane" look that an overly-perfect finish can have.  I agree that the contrast of dull and shiny panels at the aft end also looks very nice.  I would be tempted to leave it as is - I'm always paranoid about over-working something and detracting rather than adding in the end.  IMO the only way that those scratches were going to happen, if at all, was via physically scratching the plastic before painting.  I don't think that their absence in any way detracts from a great-looking result overall.

[Oldbaldguy]

These airplanes are not heavily weathered nor do they have trench-like black gaps between panels, so I’d hope you would eschew those two possibilities/recommendations.  Well maintained natural metal surfaces that are kept clean and polished are smooth and very reflective.  You are trying to reproduce the grain of the metal panels which shows up in reflected light and not scratches per se.  A coat of sprayed on lacquer has no grain - it’s just one big amorphous blob that conforms to the shape of your model.  I think your light dry brushing emulates the grain of the panels pretty well as long as you remember that sometimes you’ll see it and sometimes you won’t and you don’t over do it.  Your biggest challenge will come in trying to determine which way the grain runs in each panel.  Because of the shape of the airplane, it looks like most is vertical but panels with compound curves may have grain that runs in a direction different from those around it.  You’ve done wonderous work with this model; don’t try to gild the lily to fix something that ain’t broke.

 

[chuck540z3]

Thanks again everyone for your kind words and tips!  This topic is one we modelers always struggle with, when art collides with the practicalities of what we can and can't do with weathering.  Sometimes weathering is underdone, sometimes just right and too often it is overdone in my eyes, so "less is more" applies.  I know for certain that I could have easily created the scratched look if I had just sanded the black undercoat a bit before the application of Alclad, but would that have looked natural, or a bad paint job?  I think the latter.

 

One piece of advice I am going to take is to just let it sit for a day or two while I think of an alternative- or not- while I play around with other parts of this build that I haven't even started, like the canopy.  The idea of a wash in the panel lines doesn't appeal to me, because the panel lines are too wide already, so why draw attention to them?  A wash in the recessed fastener detail, however, could look the part and that's exactly what my metallic washes were made for.  Those panels on the spine are often removed and the fasteners appear to be quite dark.  This could be the "closer", so that I can call the finish done.

 

One good thing as I look at the model this morning, is that I generally like the addition of something and it does break up the artificial look of the plain Chrome.  Also like all models, my paint finish has a few areas that are not perfect by any means and with this mottled look, I can't find them anymore! 

 

Cheers and again thanks,

Chuck

[adameliclem]

Hi Chuck,

 

You’ve done brilliant work on your Starfighter. Walking away for a spell is always a good idea if you have competing impulses, especially near the end of a project. 
 

To my eye, it’s hard to assess the subtleties of your metallic finishes with all the wide panel joints getting in the way. That’s a limitation of the kit, and I’m not sure that countershading recessed areas with brighter metallic washes would be much of an improvement. Still, it might be worth a test on a mule. Areas that aren’t broken up by gaps look terrific.
 

One suggestion: look at the model in natural light, preferably outside. I do that to check my finishes against reference photos taken in natural light. For me, the proof of some finishes, particularly bare metal treatments, is how they look outside. Sunlight can be forgiving or unforgiving but it’s changed my mind a few times.

 

Your work is always top-notch, and you’ve opened my eyes to the possibilities of rivet decals. Thanks for your work.

 

Adam