CF-104

[AX 365]

Thanks Holmes.

Some more progress but no photos. The landing gear has been glued into place as have the vertical stab, wings and tip tanks. No painting has been undertaken except for the cockpit area. The one piece canopy has been dipped in Future and curing under glass.

Some parts fit together well and others have some gaps that a bit of gap filling super glue or putty won't remedy.

As for the paint, I'm not an acrylic guy so I thank everyone for their suggestions, namely flyboy and phantom. I like Model Master Enamels and I found some green drab the other day at Hobby House. It's a bit lighter than olive drab but not as brown as the fifth swatch from the top in this link.

http://hedgehoghollow.com/buzz/Colour_Guid...rcraft_clr.html

From reading the In Canadian Service Starfighter CF-104 publication by Stachiw and Tattersall, it notes " The green camouflage finish scheme featured the complete aircraft in CGSB Green 503-322." I can't find that colour on the appended chart. So, MM Green Drab FS 34086 it's going to be. I can live with it.

More reports as progress is made.

Thanks for having a gander.

Mike

[AX 365]

More progress. Horizontal stab in place. Canopy has been masked and attached. A few more small items to attach and then it should be ready for paint Saturday or Sunday. Will post photos after some paint has been thrown on.

Thanks for checking in.

Mike

[AX 365]

**^#!!!!!! %)(&@^!!!!!! @$(*^!!!!!!

The expletives have subsided and my blood pressure has come down a point or two but man am I peeved at myself. While airbrushing the MM Green Drab moments ago, I managed to knock the model onto the floor and dislodge a number of pieces including one of the wing tanks, the canopy glass, the I/P coaming, the I/P and one of the fishing weights superglued into the nose. :P

Fortunately, the one piece canopy didn't shatter. The I/P and coaming can be glued back into place. The weight in the nose is now rolling around but will be hidden by the I/P when glued in place. The wing tank snapped off with the tabs from the wings still firmly glued into the slots in the tank. It's going to take some finesse to get the fit right.

Of course, the still damp paint picked up dog hair and flecks of dirt from the basement floor so there will be some sanding to do to get the imperfections out.

I have resolved that I'm not going to do anything with this build until we return, in mid September, from our vacation to Ireland.

On a positive note, the MM Green Drab looks very good and I think it will yield a very nice finished colour.

As they say in Ireland...FECK!

[Neo]

I know hot that feels like i dropped my Iron maiden 757(not you nation gb) after paint AND decals where on now i hve to touch up around them

Im sure you can fix this in no time

good luck

Neo

[ALF18]

I second Neo's comments. It's never as bad as it seems. And kudos to you for not just squashing the kit with your foot after dropping it! Hopefully a little relaxation on the Emerald Isle will see you back zen and ready to reattack. If you'd like, we have some volunteers here to go along to Ireland with you, and give you pep talks daily...

ALF

[AX 365]

I know hot that feels like i dropped my Iron maiden 757(not you nation gb) after paint AND decals where on now i hve to touch up around them

Im sure you can fix this in no time

good luck

Neo

I second Neo's comments. It's never as bad as it seems. And kudos to you for not just squashing the kit with your foot after dropping it! Hopefully a little relaxation on the Emerald Isle will see you back zen and ready to reattack. If you'd like, we have some volunteers here to go along to Ireland with you, and give you pep talks daily...

ALF

ALF / Neo,

Thanks guys. It's more frustration than anything else. I looked at my 'handiwork' not long ago and you're right. It's not as bad as it seems. I've managed to get the weights out of the nose without destroying anything, namely the control column. Much to my surprise, it won't be a tail dragger without the ballast. Close...but not quite. There's just enough weight in the nose to keep it on the ground, as was alluded to in your thread ALF. I've also noted that the joint along the spine has split but nothing that can't be fixed. The dirt and dog hair has been relatively easily removed but some sanding will be required in order to get the second coat of paint to go on smoothly. A minor set back, nothing else.

One thing I won't be doing is crying in my roofing tar...er, I mean Guinness. We plan to take a tour of the Guinness Brewery in Dublin and sample the wares. I'm not a really big fan of Guinness but you can't go to Ireland and not have a pint. Now a nice Harp lager on the other hand...

And the more the merrier my friend. The suitcases are large enough. You're always welcome to join us. I hate to drink alone. If you can't join us, I'll certainly hoist at least one in your honour.

[AX 365]

Will be shutting down the computer shortly before we leave. The Starfighter was sitting on the desk looking so sad that I couldn't leave it like it was until I got back. The sanding has been done and the dirt / dust / dog hair has been removed. I managed to get one weight back into the nose with some white glue as a little added protection against bum dragging. The wing tank was replaced a lot easier than I imagined it would go. The spine joint, I/P coaming and all other parts that split have been repaired. I'll resume painting when I get back in a couple of weeks.

See ya later.

Mike

[AX 365]

Well we've been back form Ireland for almost a week and the jet lag is starting to subside...as has my Guinness / Smithicks / Jameson induced blur. We had a great time. Stayed in Dublin for 3 days and then rented a cottage for a week about 45 minutes from my dad's hometown of Newcastle West. After that, we rented another cottage in Liscannor for a couple of nights. Did the touristy things, King John's Castle, Bunratty Castle medieval feast, kissed the Blarney Stone (again!), Waterford Crystal, Cork / Cobh / Queenstown, Cliffs of Moher, the Burren, visited distant relatives and dad's closest childhood friend. Never had a bad meal and the people are some of the nicest folks you'll ever meet.

The reason for the post is to advise that the couple of layers of Model Master Green Drab have been applied and they look very good. I think it's a very convincing colour match to the real thing. But that's just me. I've also sprayed the intakes, intake lips and radome flat black. The exhaust opening has been painted Model Master Metalizer Buffing Titanium. It looks pretty good too. The next things to be painted are the fibreglass bits. I'm thinking of mixing up some Model Master Radome Tan / Insignia Yellow / Dark Tan to paint the appropriate panels. Will see how that works out. I also will use Alclad II Aluminum on the landing gear. Hopefylly the painting will be done by the end of the weekend. We'll see. Once the colours are laid down, I'll apply a coat or two of Model Master Glosscote for proper decal adhesion.

Thanks for checking in folks. I'll post a photo or two once I get the painting completed.

Take care.

Mike

[AX 365]

Well...I'm glad I checked the timelines for this GB. It ends on 01 Oct. Hmmmmmm...I guess I better get my keester in motion. Sorry for any visuals that creates.

The colours have been sprayed. I went with plain MM Radome Tan for the fibreglass bits. Surprisingly, it turned out quite well. The next step is the gloss coat for the decals. I'll do that tomorrow. It's going to be a tight squeeze to get this done by the deadline. Two gloss coats tomorrow. Sunday morning and afternoon is a write off with the annual ceremony on Parliament Hill to honour Canada's police and peace officer killed in the line of duty. I'm then working afternoons (1100 hrs - 2130 hrs) on Monday and Tuesday. Decaling will happen on Wednesday - hopefully - and then a flat coat Wednesday evening. Thursday, I'll be attending a lecture presented by Lt. Col. Dave Grossman and then it's back to work on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If I get it done in time, great. If not, no biggie.

Thanks for looking.

Mike

[AX 365]

A few photos of the paint job as promised. I applied one layer of gloss coat last night instead of waiting until today. I may get away with only having to put down one coat. We'll see. Anyway...

Thanks for looking. Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome.

Mike

[CF104]

Hey Mike,

Looking good!

As for your gloss coat I would definitely put more than one coat on. This will help avoid silvering of the decals which can be really noticeable on a dark surface.

Cheers,

John

[ALF18]

Really nice Mike. The overall green colour looks good, and the radome tan is a great match for a typical fibreglass panel colour as well. Clean and neat paint job. This should turn out nicely.

ALF

[AX 365]

Thanks for the kind words guys. The finish was quite smooth but I opted to heed your suggestion John and I applied a second gloss coat. It has dried for a couple of days and I just finished applying the decals. I'll let them sit for a bit and then spray a dull coat or two to deaden the finish, hopefully tomorrow afternoon. Then I just have to put the wheels on, attach the pitot tube and landing light and we're good to go. As usual, I send the first photos to Bill at CanMilAir for his perusal and then I post them here.

Thanks for looking in.

Mike

[AX 365]

Almost done. Wheels and landing lights attached. I kind of like the gloss finish so I'm going to leave it like that. The decals went down really well with a minimal spot of silvering; it just depends on how the light hits it. One last thing to do before photos and that is to do the red stripe around the pitot tube. The kit supplied tube has broken off a couple of times so instead of fiddling with it, I've made a new one out of two pieces of brass rod. The new tube has been super glued in place and painted. I'm going to the LHS tonight to get some thin red vinyl to make said stripe. Photos in the next day or two.

Thanks for looking.

Mike

[AX 365]

Here are some photos of the completed build. I finished it Friday night and took the photos on my back patio yesterday morning before going to work. I sent the photos to Bill at CanMilAir yesterday for his first perusal. I now present the completed build Thank you all for looking in and providing pointers and constructive criticism. I appreciate the feedback.

And I solved the pitot tube barber pole by colouring clear scotch tape with red magic marker. Voila!

Mike

[Charlie Cheetah]

Beauty eh! Nice build Mike. Glad you persevered to finish this one. If that had happened to my build, it would have gotten shelved for a while.

[HOLMES]

....... :lol: :wub:

Mike

I am pleased that you did not give in.

The finish is absolutely AWESOME and the colors are purely BRILLIANT.

GORGEOUS...SUPER build....FLAWLESS in every aspect

and KUDOS to you for LOVELY build...

:) :blink:

HOLMESY

[Fanakit]

Good job Mike ! very nice Starfighter :)

Ivan

[faab104]

Big Starf but beautiful !!

That's a very clean work.

Bravo !

[ALF18]

Well done, Mike!

It looks like it's about to taxi out to fly on a foggy autumn day in Baden. I like your innovation for the pitot boom stripe - makes for a clean line. I've always had a heck of a time with those decals that are supposed to wrap around - I can never get the spacing even. By using tape like that, you can control it more easily.

Good work.

ALF

[AX 365]

Thanks for the kind words everyone. It looks good but she's a real space hog on the shelf.

I told Teri that if she can have a curio cabinet full of Snowbabies and Boyd's Bears in the living room, I can have a curio cabinet full of Sabres!

After I emerge from the basement and sleeping in the hide-a-bed for a while, I'll let you know how that discussion went.