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Another part of my project will be 1/72 scale Italeri F-104C, and I'll be using kit decals.

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I've never built any F-104's, and that SEA scheme looks really appealing to me :) Most of my NMF's don't look too good.

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Those new Italeri decals look super awesome, I'm looking forward to this build. Just have to figure out if I'm going to use any aftermarket seat, Italeri pit doesn't look too good.

Thanks for stopping by! :)

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I didn't do much research on this one tbh. I've seen some pics of SEA camouflaged, mk117 armed F-104's and wanted mine to look the same. I found out I have to shorten the inner fins of the tip tanks, as apparently they were symmetrical. It's clearly seen on this picture My link

Here's some additional info on the F-104's in Vietnam My link

Next thing I found out, that the jet I want to build, 57-0925 'Smoke II' was lost to SA2 in 1966 while escorting a pair of F-105's.

Here's a link to an interesting story on other forum My link

Now I absolutely HAVE to build it with some A/A ordnance.

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Closing the fuselage was pretty easy. Firstly, I've fitted aft fuselage parts to front fuselage, and then I've closed two full halves.

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I've repositioned flaps on the wings, as this is how most (but not all) F-104C's I've seen looked like when parked.

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Wingtip tanks are prepared. These will be the only stores that will be fitted. Apparently, during the second SEA tour, F-104's flew escort missions with just the gun. That's interesting.

Untill next time folks ;)

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  • 3 weeks later...

I've had to wait for the replacement ejection seat, as the one in the kit is pretty basic. This stopped me from painting. In the end I decided to make the canopy open by cutting it into 3 parts.

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I've glued front and aft part permanently, and the middle one temporarily with liquid mask.

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This enabled me to do this :)

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I hope to have this decaled by the end of the week :) Thanks for stopping by!

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Thanks falcon20driver. Yes, it was mostly freehand. I really hate masking. The only thing I did mask was the gray underside, as I'm having some problems with overspray working with mm acryl 36622. No idea why though.

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  • 2 months later...

It took me a while to get back to this build. The only thing I've added were the rwr bumps in the aft and the one under the nose. Had to check their shape and size, and whether my jet had those installed. And then I took some time to forget all that info and research it again :doh:

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Still, I'm going to put some decals one real soon :) hopefully :)

Thanks for stopping by :)

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Great, I actually managed to decal my F-104, along with my F-100F. Probably the fewest decals I've ever applied to a single model :D

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Now gloss coat, weathering, matt finish and all the bits... I might actually finish this one in 2015 :D

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  • 1 month later...

Nice model!

But i think,the ECM pods under the nose and at the aft are not on the real aircraft.

They were present - see here:

http://www.i-f-s.nl/udorn-aircraft-part-1/

Nice work, Thadeus! One thing you may consider, if I may, is swapping the tanks for either RoG or Hasegawa ones - the Esci / Italeri are noticably too skinny.

Cheers,

Andre

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Thanks a lot guys. Not only the tanks are too skinny, but also are in a slightly different position. They should be attached slightly forward of where the cutout is. I'd correct this, but I've thought it wouldn't be that obvious. I'm also a little suspicious about the canopy shape, but when opened, it doesn't show. I'll have to get myself that Italeri F-104G with italian decals.

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