RCAF Starfighter, 1/48th scale - Part Two

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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).
 

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Thanks very much Wojtek and Geo. Not much more to show at the moment - just sorting the wing roots and tip tanks, ready for spraying the primer coat.
More pics soon.
 
Just a couple of pics to show what's required around the windscreen base, the canopy on the port side, and one wing root fillet.
PICS 1 and 2 show the base of the windscreen being sanded down to contour around the I.R. sight aperture, which is the small 'blister' in the center, and the ridge along the canopy sill. Once sanded, a fine bead of 'Milliput' will be applied and blended to the contours of the fuselage.
PIC 3. Sanding underway on the port wing root fillet at the flaps area. Again, 'Milliput' will be used as required. The grey-painted areas are thin coats of brush-applied primer, to help identify blemishes, and will be sanded off when the filled areas are sanded.
 

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Not much work really, considering it's a 40 year old kit, and a better overall fit than the Revell example used for the RCAF bird. But I'll admit, considering I was intending to do this more or less 'out of the (very battered) box', apart from converting the rear end, I seem to have got quite involved in changing or improving things !
 
Thanks very much Brian. I'm only doing the RCAF and Danish birds in 1/48th scale, and I have the old 1/32nd scale Hasegawa kit to do as a Dutch aircraft too.
 
Thanks Hugh.
The windscreen and port side of the canopy have now been blended-in to the fuselage, and the wing root fillet treated to Milliput and sanded, with all these areas given a quick primer coat to check for blemishes.
PICS 1 to 3 show the Milliput around the windscreen base, sanding to final shape, and the primer. When fully dry, this will be lightly wet sanded with fine wet 'n dry.
Just working on the wing tanks, and cobbling together a pair of ventral 'Sidewinder' pylons and rails, and almost ready for an overall coat of primer before spraying the first colour coat.
I might be able to get this done tomorrow and, if so, I'll post more pics then.
 

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Thanks awfully chaps - hic !
Got the wing tank seams shaved and sanded, and the tanks fitted to the wing tips, and half way through making some 'Sidewinder' pylons and rails, which will need to be fitted before painting the model. First though, I need to work out the best sequence in which to fit them, without the missiles in place, as these will be installed after painting and clear coating the model.
I hope to have some pics of something or other later today.
 

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