Thanks Hugh and Glenn.
I'm not sure if it's the original, 'old' Monogram kit, or a later release. It had the usual 'MM Inc' moulding on the underside of one wing, which had to be shaved off, and on the inside of the fuselage it had the 'Copyright Revell' stamp, but no date, and a transparent label with just 'Poland' printed on it !
From what I've seen, there are some slight differences between the Revell and Monogram kits, depending on which issue, and I'm not quite sure which one came first, but this particular issue looks like it's possibly the original, old, old Revell kit, from the late 1960's or early 70's, with some up-dated parts.
For example, the moulding of the wheels and gear legs is far superior to the rest of the kit, and there are two ejection seats, the Lockheed C-2, and the later Martin Baker seat. Strangely, the instructions call for the MB seat - which wasn't fitted to RCAF Starfighters, or to USAF birds of the era!
A kit listing I have in a magazine from 1981, shows a different parts count between the Revell and Monogram kits of the period and, from memory, the Monogram kit scored higher. The kit I have appears to be identical (apart from decals) to other versions under the Revell label, such as the 'Tiger Meet' version.
Anyone wanting to build a F-104 in a bare metal finish would be far better off using a better kit - either the expensive Hasegawa, or Italeri, or even the old ESCI kits. If a camouflaged or 'solid' colour is to be the choice, then this kit isn't too bad, and the poor fit of parts, once filled and sanded, will not be anywhere near as noticeable under 'normal' paint, compared to the all-revealing silver finish.
Funnily enough, I've just 'won' an old ESCI kit, for a daft, low price, intending to build it (sometime!) as the same aircraft, when in Danish service. But, I hadn't really noticed that it's a F-104C !
If ESCI used the same basic kit for all their versions of the Starfighter, just changing decals, then I might be in luck - if not, then I'll have a kit with the smaller tail unit - but in overall green finish, and with the tail pointing away from the viewer, I might just get away with it !!
Anyway, I've now got the basic painting done and, given that everything is OK when the masks are removed, and after polishing, I can then move on to the detail painting, before continuing with construction, and the decals.
I'm afraid I forgot to take a pic of the various metal shades on the rear fuselage, before re-masking, ready for the main paint work, but I'll be removing the masks sometime later today anyway, after polishing the fuselage, so all will be revealed then - hopefully without any paint lifting !
Here's what was involved getting the various metal tones replicated on the rear fuselage and fin, and the process to try to obtain a smooth, shiny 'bare metal' fuselage, as seen on the RCAF Starfighters during this period.
PIC 1. After painting the basic metal shade on the rear fuselage and fin, which is a different tone compared to the main fuselage, the relevant areas of the fin and tail unit were masked, ready to spray the darker, 'greyish' metal tone. A mix of Xtracolor 'Oily Steel', and gloss black was used to create the right 'look'. The finer details will be done, with a brush, towards the end of the build.
PIC 2. Once that was done, and completely dry, the rear end was masked again, covering the various metal shades, ready for spraying the bright 'silver' after the fuselage was polished . Apologies for forgetting to take the photo before masking !
PIC 3. The model masked, ready for polishing.
PICS 4 and 5. With the model masked, and every opening sealed, the model was cleaned with a damp cloth, to remove grease from handling, and then the aluminium finger-print powder was applied, with a soft brush, spreading it evenly across the whole area, and then polished with a soft cloth, ensuring all the powder was polished off evenly, with any excess being blown off. This was followed by a gentle buffing, to create an ultra-smooth, shiny surface. A final check, using soft tissue, ensured that no powder was left in place, and that the surface was as smooth and shiny as it was possible to get it, without leaving any finger prints in the .. er ... finger print powder!
The polished powder immediately shows up any imperfections or blemishes on the surface, and fortunately these were few, and relatively minor, and should either disappear, or at least be hardly noticeable, once the model has been polished. On a more positive note, the powder also emphasises the very light re-engraving which was done on some missing or lost panel lines, individual panels, and the auxiliary intake doors.
PICS 6 to 8. The main colour was then sprayed on, applying a quick overall coat, with the paint being thinned at about a 50/50 ratio initially, and spraying at a relatively low pressure of around 12 to 15 p.s.i.
This was followed by two more coats, with the paint now thinned to around 60/40, thinners to paint, building-up 'depth' to the colour, and concentrating on covering the areas of joints and seams.
Spraying silver paint onto a shiny, silver surface is slightly tricky, as it's extremely difficult to see where the paint is going, and if it's covering as required, without risking possible 'pooling' or sags. However, once the second coat had gone on, things became easier, and I quickly learned to ignore what appeared to be 'bloom' forming, not having experience with this particular paint before, as the paint settled quickly, being almost touch-dry within a minute or so, and gave a smooth, even surface, making follow-up coats much easier to apply, and to see. The paint chosen following the previously mentioned trials, was Revell (enamel) No.90, 'Silver', which certainly gives a nice, deep metallic shine, something which my old favourite, Humbrol No.11 Silver no longer provides, as it is now a dirty, dull, metallic grey !
The first coats were left to settle for a few minutes - just enough time to make a mug of coffee - and then two further, thin coats were sprayed, without pause, again building-up the colour, and paint thickness, around the troublesome joints and seams. Some of the imperfections still show, particularly around parts of the horizontal fuselage joint on the starboard side, as there is a definite 'bow' here, due to the way the parts join, even though the joint itself was virtually eliminated. However, once the model has been polished, most of this will not be noticed, and the large 'RCAF' decals, and the roundels and serial number, cover most of this area anyway.
The model will now be left for at least 12 hours, to give the paint time to fully harden, before polishing the fuselage with the finger-print powder again, just enough to bring out a shine, without cutting through the paint. Once that's been done, and all excess powder removed, gentle buffing with a soft cloth should create a deep lustre which, hopefully, should look at least something like polished alloy, in relation to the other metal tones, and the white of the wings and tail plane. Incidentally, although it's difficult to see in the photos, the leading edges of the main wings and the tail planes, have also been sprayed in the bright silver, and I've tried to get as close as possible, in scale, to the one inch width of the real aircraft!
The multi-toned area of the rear fuselage and fin will be assessed once the masks have been removed, and, if required, at least parts of this area will also receive the powder polish treatment, although a coat or two of clear gloss, or satin acrylic varnish, may do the trick if a shine is needed.
Apart from the wings and tail planes, the remainder of the model will not be clear-coated, as this will affect the 'bare metal' finish, when the clear coat creates a diffusion effect, magnifying the 'grain' in the metallic paints. The decals will, however, receive a clear coat in order to seal them, and prevent, or at least minimise, yellowing with age, often a problem with clear carrier film over a metallic surface.
I'll try to post some more progress pics later today, if I have time, but as I'll be 'out and about' part of today, and I'm going to the 'Drink the pub dry before it closes' party tonight, to 'see off' the retiring Landlord, I may not get any more work done on the model. But, if that's the case, then I'll post some more pics on Sunday - given I can still see on Sunday!
Thanks again for your interest, encouragement and well wishes, and apologies for this somewhat lengthy post.