Italeri Starfighter. Luftwaffe Norm 72 scheme.

[dmthamade]

 

 

 

Time to start building again. Haven't done much lately, though with winter here and lockdown in effect, now is the time to build. I've always liked the Norn 72 scheme, reminds me of the WWII Luftwaffe bomber scheme. Build will for the most part OOB with some aftermarket. Have seats from AMS, look really good, just have to figure out which one is right or close..exhaust can from Eduard for the late J79. Decals will come from the great Daco sheets, The Ultimate Starfighter Decal Set!! The two top colors are from AK Modern Colors, RC087 Gelboliv RAL 6014 and RC212 Basalt Grau Ral 7012.

References will be online and the excellent Daco book

 

I've built 3 of these kits so far, relatively straightforward builds. I will probably do a canopy closed build, i just think the Zip is such a sleek aircraft, want it be closed up as far as canopy goes. Still trying to decide on squadron and specific aircraft, either JG71 Richthofen or JG74 Molders. Loadout still up in the air, don't know if it will be a clean build, weathered or heavily weathered.... lots of decisions...

 

Don

[Dragon]

My favorite Zipper schemes are the Luftwaffe ones! Looking forward to your build.

 

Mike

[dmthamade]

Well, it's been a while since any update or activity. No excuse, been lazy. Did manage to get some work done, painted the engine parts i'll be using, total of three that will be seen. Everything else is to locate engine or will be spare binned. I've seen J79 engines in F-4s, F-104s and pictures to see how they tend to look green inside the tailpipe. Color and tone is varied, dark green/light green/yellow green....i usually paint these FS34092 Euro1 dark green. This time around i first applied Tamiya XF-55 Deck Tan, then light coat of XF-71 Cockpit Green. Applied gloss coat, then wash of XF-51 Khaki Green. Flat coat, then drybrush of XF-21 Sky, followed by Tamiya makeup soot and light green. Flameholder got XF-55 Deck Tan, glosscoat, washed with Flory Dark Dirt. Flat coat, then drybrushed with Tamiya makeup colors.

Edited January 20, 2021 by dmthamade

[dmthamade]

Managed to complete the pit, used the AMS seat, everything else is from the kit.

 

Now, pits have always been a battle for me, this will most likely be a canopy closed build because i think the Zip looks its best closed up.

Don

[dmthamade]

Some progress. Managed to assemble the fuselage. Straight forward, i first assembled the tail half parts to their respective front half parts. Airbrakes installed, they needed some work to fit. I drilled four holes into the wells so i could use a toothpick to push out on the airbrake while it set up, was able to have a flush fit. Did this with the gun doors as well. Fit of cockpit/wheelwells/intaketubes/engine was fine, fuselage assembly was straightforward. The nose gear is supposed to go in at fuselage assembly, i did install it but not the hydraulic cylinder or brace. I then simply retracted the strut. When the time comes, i will lower it, install the two parts.

 

BTW, i remember when this kit first was announced, there was a lot of angst about the strut being undersize, never did see a build where this was corrected...including mine....

The panel line detail on the fuselage parts is soft and deep, funny cause the rest of the kit is much better. Last Zip build i did, a JASDF bird, i sanded the fuselage down, this sharpened the panel lines to a point almost all were acceptable.

 

First Zip i did i didn't do this.

 

Have started in on present build doing this. Before.

After.

 

Will have to go over the rivets, but will help with the trenches. Did a sample spray with the AK Real Color paints. Just have the upper colors. The silver is a Tamiya Lacquer paint LP-11, little too bright. I have the correct Vallejo shade of RAL 9006 and have some Vallejo Metal colors i will try.

 

Don

Edited January 28, 2021 by dmthamade

[dmthamade]

Once again, been a while since last update. Really not much to add about assembling wings and stuff to fuselage, straightforward build. Fit not as good as Tamiya, but basic skills will get you there. Have managed over the last two days to get paint on everything, will hit with glosscoat today and let it sit for a couple. 

 

Had trouble with the upper radome behind the canopy. Masked/painted/corrected 3 times(!!!) before calling it quits, will modify kit decal to fix. I've always liked this scheme, reminds me of the WWII scheme RLM65/70/71. Straightforward to apply, all straight lines!! The separation line between the lower silver and two uppers was the difficult part, they need to be in a straight line from the tip of the nose to the exhaust opening. For the most part it's okay, the separation line position is most crucial on the forward fuselage. Decal placement for stencils aligns with this line, important to get this right. One thing i found on a previous build, but didn't correct(big dummy) is the canopy jettison door on the left front fuselage should be higher...might affect decal placement on this build. If i were to correct, i think i would simply fill it and let the decal sit where it should. This is the first time i've used the Lacquer paints from AK and Tamiya for the main colors, need to say, i really liked the way they applied!!! Great coverage, didn't clog the tip, colors looked accurate. Clean-up was more work, only because i'm not set up for lacquers. The smell didn't bother me, like how lacquers smell, but the affects of not having an adequate vent system for the toxic chemicals is a deal breaker. If i could set up a proper booth, i would use more lacquers. Had some concerns before i started, of the right colors. Have to say, the Norm 72 scheme, whether used on the Zip/F-4/Alpha jet etc all look different. I think the only time they look alike is when they come out of the paint booth, otherwise the enviroment and usage will alter them to a great degree. I'm doing a relatively fresh build, will restrained weathering. The lower Ral 2006 white aluminium has been controversial, it's silver/it's not/it's light grey/it's not ad nauseum...i made a color card with the three main colors, hit it with semi gloss and took it outside into sunlight. From memory, they look good for a fairly fresh scheme.

 

The colors all change depending on light, the silver reminds me of the finish on cars or trucks before they started clearcoating them. Grey or silver, depending on lighting and how the light hit it.. You can see this effect simply by going to a crowded parking lot and look for and finding a vehicle with this finish.

 

Don

[Rainer Hoffmann]

Good to see another Zipper build, and a GAF one at that!

 

Regarding weathering: At least in my days (1976 - 1978) the German Zippers were mostly in very good condition with only light weathering. The exeption beeing the Day Glo Orange on the tip tanks which often was quite faded on the top.

 

Edit: RAL 9006 White Aluminium is quite silvery, when freshly applied (but NOT like metal paints, like Alclad Aluminium). Over the years it became a bit duller, but it still had a silvery touch to it.

 

Cheers

Rainer

Edited February 16, 2021 by Rainer Hoffmann

[dmthamade]

That's something i did notice on the tanks, the orange looked the worse for wear, always. Almost all pics of the Zip show tip tanks with orange, i did find some where all 4  tanks had orange, some where the complete tip tanks were orange, some where there was no orange though i think those were from a Norm 83 scheme. This build i'm doing all 4 tanks with orange, going for a fairly clean build, so i don't know if i will fade the orange(really should, but i like the clean look on this bird). I'm marking this in a JG 71 Richthofen bird, I should do a WWII ME109 Richthofen to park beside it. I absolutely hear what your saying about the silver, pics definitely show a slight silver gloss/semigloss sheen, and remembering seeing Alpha jets with this scheme. In bright sunlight the bottom was silver, look again from a different location and overcast skies, grey. This was pretty fresh scheme, one parked beside it was older, looked much greyer, but you could still see the silver. This is a Air Superiority GB, so i'm hanging 2 x AIM-9B Sidewinders on the C/L. Italeri gives two choices for fuselage launchers, one choice seems to be for Italian builds, the other set included but not mentioned on the instructions look like the ones specifically for a JASDF bird.  Should have the NATO Catamaran, uses two Aero 3 rails on a rack set up. These i built using two rails from a Tamiya F-4C/D kit plus scratch built rack setup. I've seen the second rack setup included in the kit specified for the F-104A/C kit, don't know if these were a USAF thing, too.

 

Don

[dmthamade]

Forgot to add pic

 

Sink marks!!!

 

Don

[Rainer Hoffmann]

That RAL 9006 looks very good to me. It seems to match my RAL 9006 color chart quite closely.

 

Cheers

Rainer

[dmthamade]

1 hour ago, Rainer Hoffmann said:

That RAL 9006 looks very good to me. It seems to match my RAL 9006 color chart quite closely.

 

Cheers

Rainer

 

I used Tamiya Lacquer Paint LP-11 for the silver. I do have Vallejo Model Air RAL 9006 also, but doing color comparisons between the two, the Vallejo looked a bit brighter/whiter. Going by eyeball to pics and by memory, the Tamiya looked closest to what i needed. In the picture it has a coat of clear gloss on it, looks good for a fresh paint job. I'm thinking i would try to leave it in this sheen, but go semigloss(eggshell) on upper surfaces or semigloss lower flat on upper. Time to think...

 

Don

[dmthamade]

Started in on the decals. The canopy jettison door is definitely positioned wrong by Italeri. Too big/too low. I should have filled it before paint and let the decal be where it needed to be. Anyway, applied a few just to see how it looked, so far is OK. Applied the german flag on the tail, and i think the setting solution microsol reacted with the clear coat, Vallejo. Darn. Will let things dry, then respray with clear, see if the damage will go away.

Will clean off the lint, first. There are a LOT of decals, going to be here for a while...

 

Don

[dmthamade]

All major decals on the topsides done, will do lowers next.  Then stencils.

 

Don

 

Edited February 18, 2021 by dmthamade

[LSP_Kevin]

Looks great, Don!

 

Kev

[Rainer Hoffmann]

On 2/18/2021 at 11:27 PM, LSP_Kevin said:

Looks great, Don!

 

Kev

I 2nd that!

 

Rainer