Thanks very much Gerry, just had to do the F-104 in Danish service, to accompany the model of the same aircraft in RCAF service I saw back in 1964. As for the scratch-building skills, these days they're not so much a sparkle as maybe, just, a dull gleam !
Anyway, it's now progressing towards the primer stage, when all joints, seams and sink marks etc can be checked after spraying a light coat of mid grey, and corrected as needed. The state of play so far is as follows :-
PICS 1 and 2. The seat has now been painted, and I resisted the temptation to add more detail, given the canopy will be closed.
PIC 3. The gun sight has had the lens fitted, made from another punched-out dome of clear sheet, and the combining glass has also been fitted, again from clear sheet, with the seat now installed.
PIC 4. The canopy was masked and the frames painted in the interior colour on both sides, before cementing in place and sealing with PVA. This was also built-up around the base of the windscreen, on either side of the I.R. sight aperture. It's very likely that some filler may be needed here, and in a couple of spots around the 'fixed' areas of the glazing, which should show up after spraying the primer.
PIC 5. The wings and 'stabilator' have been fitted, just avoiding injury from th very sharp leading edges, just like the real thing !
Once fully set, the wing roots will need a little attention here and there, before assembling and fitting the wing-tip tanks.Not seen here, the ventral fin has also been fitted.
Next step, after fitting the tanks, is to prime the model, check for defects, then get ready for initial painting.
Thanks once again for the kind words, and I'll be back soon(ish).