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Well, on to my second build.

It's the Hasegawa 1/48 TF-104G/F-104D kit. I'll be building it as the CF-104D from The Starfighters in Florida using TwoBobs decal sheet 48-004, FineMolds metal pitot probe, Hypersonic Models resin narrow tires, Aires exhaust, aftermarket ejection seats as well as some DACO update set parts.

I plan on using the kit cockpit as I'll probably build this one with a closed canopy.

hXng3n.jpg

Cheers,

John

Edited by CF104
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Just posting some inspiration for this build. These are photos of CF-104D, N104RB (104632) that I took at Titusville in March 2009.

Of note is the asymmetric placement of the STARFIGHTERS name on both sides of the fuselage. The TwoBobs sheet has this wrong. I have a set of the Hasegawa decals and they appear to have this correct. The size of the Starfighters name on the TwoBobs sheet looks a bit small as well. A little disappointing.

XeQciD.jpg

Vl8OcV.jpg

cLz78F.jpg

yeV1Ly.jpg

Cheers,

John

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Hey Dave,

Thanks for the inspiration!

Have the kit cockpit ready to paint. The real cockpit on N104RB is currently all black and always in a state of change so I'll be using Tamiya XF-85 Rubber Black and shade it with XF-24 Dark Grey. I'll also be using the kit decals for the panels since the canopies will be closed. One shortfall with the dual seater kit is the lack of a rear wall for the cockpit tub. I modified the single seat cockpit aft wall and canted it aft to close off the opening.

vUtPw2.jpg

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Mywkst.jpg

3OWvLf.jpg

:cheers:/>

John

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I'm certainly feeling inspired now!

John, I have a question about the fibreglass panels on CF-104s. The one on the singles on the top of the fuselage (not for the Team, the military in-service CF-104s) is always visible in its natural colour. Pictures often don't show if the lower panels (the one on the ventral fin, and the other one under the nose) are left in fibreglass, or if they are painted over. Natural metal schemes are easy for that; those panels are always the tan colour.

Were the lower panels (aft portion of the ventral fin, and under the nose) usually left bare, or were they painted over on the green and variegated schemes? Did it depend on the era and the paint scheme?

ALF

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I'm certainly feeling inspired now!

John, I have a question about the fibreglass panels on CF-104s regardless of the scheme. The one on the singles on the top of the fuselage (not for the Team, the military in-service CF-104s) is always visible in its natural colour. Pictures often don't show if the lower panels (the one on the ventral fin, and the other one under the nose) are left in fibreglass, or if they are painted over. Natural metal schemes are easy for that; those panels are always the tan colour.

Were the lower panels (aft portion of the ventral fin, and under the nose) usually left bare, or were they painted over on the green and variegated schemes? Did it depend on the era and the paint scheme?

ALF

Hi ALF,

As far as I know all of the fibreglass antennas were left in their natural colour on operational CF-104's regardless of the scheme. They can vary in color and new ones were very solid in colour. They started to get a mottled darker color as they aged and the IFF/TACAN antenna on the ventral fin tended to get the most worn due to it's location as it received a fair share of hydraulic fluid and engine oil contamination.

The Walkaround section here has some good photos of 104783 in the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum. The upper UHF antenna looks to be new while the IFF antenna ahead of it isn't.

Cf-104%20UHF%20aerial%20panel.jpg

The lower cockpit hatch UHF antenna shows usual wear and is darker than the new one.

Cf-104%20nose%20dielectric%20panel.jpg

The ventral IFF/TACAN antenna shows a bit of the wear and tear of it's location.

Cf-104%20airbrake&lights.jpg

I've always had a hard time replicating the colour of these antennas and have decided to make them a bit more subtle until I figure out a good technique.

Cheers,

John

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Looking forward to your results on this build as well John. Just to piggy back on ALF's question and your answer, looking at the photos you posted, I'm wondering if a 'sand' type colour or something along those lines might be appropriate? I've always use Model Master Radome Tan as if the panels were new but I never found it to be quite right. Your thoughts? And a follow up; are these aircraft surplus RCAF aircraft or are they from various sources, do you know?

Mike

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Looking forward to your results on this build as well John. Just to piggy back on ALF's question and your answer, looking at the photos you posted, I'm wondering if a 'sand' type colour or something along those lines might be appropriate? I've always use Model Master Radome Tan as if the panels were new but I never found it to be quite right. Your thoughts? And a follow up; are these aircraft surplus RCAF aircraft or are they from various sources, do you know?

Mike

Mike, I personally really liked the colour John used on his last 1/48 build in this GB. It was Tamiya XF-57 Buff. My last one, I used a darker colour, but I thought it was overdone. Back in their heyday, most 104s had fairly light-coloured panels. The museum jet that is in this thread was heavily weathered over the years, with the exception of the newer panel around the light on the spine.

Pics I took back in the 70s showed quite light panels; at first I even used a light grey because I hadn't looked that closely at the pics to notice the slight tan or flesh-coloured hue.

I believe that the Starfighters Team aircraft are former CF-104s, but of course our expert will know that.

ALF

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Looking forward to your results on this build as well John. Just to piggy back on ALF's question and your answer, looking at the photos you posted, I'm wondering if a 'sand' type colour or something along those lines might be appropriate? I've always use Model Master Radome Tan as if the panels were new but I never found it to be quite right. Your thoughts? And a follow up; are these aircraft surplus RCAF aircraft or are they from various sources, do you know?

Mike

Hey Mike,

As ALF just posted, I used Tamiya XF-57 Buff for my fibreglass antennas on my last build. Next time I'll start with XF-57 and darken it up until I'm happy with the effect. There are a lot of colour textures going on as the panels age and weather.

As for 104783 in Halifax, it's pretty accurate as to the colour of the antenna panels. 783 was retired in 1984 and was under cover in CFB Mountainview before being acquired by the Atlantic Canada Aviation Museum. It's pretty well been inside ever since it was retired and is probably THE best CF-104 out there. The weathering on the antenna panels is accurate for an in-service bird.

The Starfighters had a core fleet of 3 ex-RCAF/CAF Starfighters until recently. Their CF-104D is 104632 which served at CFB Cold Lake until sold to the Norwegians. The two single seat CF-104's are ex CAF 104759 (N104RN) and 104850 (N104RD) and both served with the Royal Norwegian Air Force as well. The Starfighters have recently acquired some ex-Italian Air Force hardware. They now have 3 F-104S-ASAM and 1 TF-104G along with the 3 ex-RCAF examples. They'll be up to squadron strength in no time.

Cheers,

John

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ALF / John,

Thanks gentlemens! Being an enamel guy, I can simply darken the MM Radome Tan a bit and go from there. I think the only 'buff' colour Model Master has is Panzer Interior Buff. I have a jar of that from an old Mark 1 Tiger build and it seems way too light. Judging from photos and first hand accounts, there seem to be a number of acceptable shades and tone variations. I guess I'll be left to my own devices. In model building, that's ok. Mrs. AX 365 doesn't like it when I'm left to my own devices around the home or the bank accounts. That's probably a good thing.

Thanks again guys.

Mike

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Fuselage is together. Just need some seam cleanup and painting should start on Monday. The all black cockpit looks odd on a Starfighter but it does simplify the build a bit.

STUUYn.jpg

cQ9mUn.jpg

:cheers:/>

John

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  • 2 weeks later...

Wow, Almost 2 weeks since an update. That time of year when time gets tight to work on the kits.

Here's a small update. I'm in the process of painting the ejection seats and doing some seam touch-ups. Also polishing the aft fuselage in preparation for the NMF. Tomorrow I should have the seats installed along with the canopy so I can start work on the painting.

ySU18g.jpg

HOggfD.jpg

:cheers:/>

John

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  • 4 weeks later...

Today is the first time since just before Christmas that I'm able to get to the work bench. No photo update but the plan for today is to have the canopies masked and everything primed and ready for paint which will hopefully start tomorrow.

Cheers,

John

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  • 1 month later...

Update on the slow progress. Guess that's what a vacation will do to your building mojo.

Got the kit all ready to paint. Just sprayed the black for the canopy framing and am about to start spraying the white. Should have it ready for the blue paint by my next days off which start on Monday. It'll be a mad rush to complete the kit by the March 1st deadline but that's my plan.

vxxkM4.jpg

oc45wg.jpg

Cheers,

John

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Looking forward to your results John. It's been a long time since I've seen a Starfighter in anything other than overall green, NMF, RCAF colour birds or camo schemes from various air forces. Good luck with the painting.

Mike

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Good progress. I never managed to fit my front canopy in the closed position on mine.

Like Phantom said, it takes a bit of sanding to get them to fit properly. It's much easier to display this kit with the canopies open but I like the lines of the Family Starfighter with them closed.

Cheers,

John

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Things are looking a little blue. Once the blue has dried I'll get to the NMF on the tail and the black anti-glare paint on the nose.

I broke the nose gear off while masking for the blue but that's a quick fix.

WECw9H.jpg

noQ9PD.jpg

0BP4I6.jpg

Cheers,

John

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Got the anti-glare panel and NMF painted this afternoon. Just about to fix the nose gear and then finish with a couple clear coats tonight. Then on to decals tomorrow.

Ug9qff.jpg

HR5d2M.jpg

zUikYK.jpg

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:cheers:/>

John

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Decal time!

Hope to have everything complete tonight or at the latest tomorrow night.

The blue is a bit lighter on the decals than the paint I used but it's almost impossible to get a perfect match.

21RjV1.jpg

ee5zEN.jpg

Cheers,

John

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