ERTL 1/72 F-104G

1
August 12, 2019
Picked this kit up at IPMS NATS for $8. Still in the cellophane. Research says it came out in 1981. Love how it came with 1/48 instructions. We will see if the 38 year old decals work. They look like they are in decent shape.
2
August 18, 2019
Getting the cockpit area ready for paint. Also filled a few sink marks.
3
August 18, 2019
So, I changed my mind when I found out the decals from the 38 year old kit were still good. The kit comes with a set of markings for a German Marine F-104G. So I am going to do this build in something like this picture.
4
August 24, 2019
Starting to look like a Starfighter. Rear fuselage join was not ideal. Took some grinding and sanding of the join to get it to fit well. Lots of sanding on the agenda for tomorrow.
5
August 24, 2019
Most of the sanding done. Intakes are on, took quite a bit of test fitting to get them to fit correctly. Still left with a little bit of Gap. Waiting for the paint to dry so I can finish the intakes and prepping the pieces for the cockpit.
6
August 25, 2019
All the various pieces and parts. Getting ready to paint the ejection seat. Canopy fits rather well after some test fitting.
7
August 28, 2019
This kit had some serious gaps on the underside of the wing joint. Some Mr Surfacer 500 filled that. Will remove the excess after it dries with a q-tip dipped in nail polish remover. Canopy installed and some Perfect Plastic Putty to fill any gaps. Excess
8
August 31, 2019
And.....primer was a failure. Luckily I only did the top. Will need to strip it eventually. Never trying Stynylrez again. Pooled up in places, did not adhere in others. At least the primer showed a few places that needed further filling and sanding.
9
September 2, 2019
A gallon Ziploc bag, some oven cleaner, rubber gloves, and some elbow grease. Primer is removed but now I have to go in and refill gaps that I used paint to close. Also redo the canopy and masking.
10
September 5, 2019
Here we go again! Failed Primer striped off. The stripping process also took off various materials that were used to fill gaps. Out came the Mr Dissolved Putty and the gaps will be refilled. More sanding and removal in my near future.
11
September 8, 2019
Gaps filled and sanded. Canopy affixed and masked with parafilm. Ready for second stab at primer. This time primer will be Mr Surfacer 1500 Black. After primer any flaws will be filled and sanded plus I will rescribe any panel lines that need it.
12
September 8, 2019
Back to the mainstays for primer. Mr Surfacer and Tamiya always work as expected. Overall application was with a rattle can. Then any areas not covered properly are covered with liquid primer thinned with Mr Color Leveling Thinner shot through my airbrush
13
September 8, 2019
Problem areas had some Tamiya white liquid primer brushed on.
14
September 10, 2019
Tonight she is all primed and rescribed. Going to wait a couple days for everything to completely cure before spraying the underside color.
15
September 14, 2019
Since I used black primer for this build I figured I would do some marbling before the main color. Paint used is Tamiya flat white thinned with Mr. Color leveling thinner.
16
September 14, 2019
I have added a new paint line to my "confidence" list. Purchased AK Interactive Real Color Silvergray for this build. Going to be used for the underside. Mixed the paint VERY well, thinned with Mr. Color Leveling Thinner, sprayed at 15 psi.
17
September 17, 2019
Slight detour. Decided I wanted to do the FS36495 light gray on the nose and pilot tube before the underside color. Filler and some VERY light and careful sanding. Then some spot primer. Looks good but have to wait a couple days before spraying the gray
18
September 19, 2019
Masked off the nose. Straw to protect the pilot tube. Then some more AK Interactive Real Color Silvergray. I think it is a good color and application with airbrush was a breeze. Next up is applying some orange to the wingtip tanks.
19
September 21, 2019
New paint experiment number two on the same build. Scale Colors USAAF Neutral Gray for the upper side. I recommend using a fine tip airbrush and slowly building up the color. That behaves much better than trying to put on a thicker overall coat.
20
September 28, 2019
The gray on the upper half of the aircraft did not fully cure in spots. Probably because I airbrushed it in a warm and humid environment. Today I figured, nothing to loose, and put on a coat of clear gloss. No problems so far.
21
September 30, 2019
Beginning the decal process. Decided to use the decals from a Hasegawa kit. They are better printing quality than the ESCI decals from almost 40 years ago. Unfortunately I snapped off the pilot tube in the process of positioning for decals and cannot find
22
October 4, 2019
All the decals done on this side.
23
October 7, 2019
All the decals are done and the model rinsed. Tomorrow after it dries I will put on another gloss coat to seal the decals for panel line washes and weathering.
24
October 13, 2019
Decals on, gloss clear coat to seal them. Decided it was time for the brass pilot tube to go on. Attached and sanded, ready for some primer.
25
October 13, 2019
Getting closer to finished. Might just have it done to enter in the Cincinnati model show next weekend.
26
October 16, 2019
She is up on her legs. Might just get the final flat clear on tomorrow night.
27
October 17, 2019
This one is done. A preview pic before I take some better ones. Quite an enjoyable build of an old $8 kit. Plastic by ESCI/ERTL and decals by Hasegawa.
28
January 1, 2020
Finally took the time to take some marginally better pics.
29
January 1, 2020
30
January 1, 2020
31
January 5, 2020

Comments

1 12 August 2019, 03:40

Maciej Bellos
Whoa an old one. Following!

12 August 2019, 13:51

Patrick Hagelstein
I wonder if that's the same as the later Italeri reboxing. If so, the kit should be quite nice.

12 August 2019, 13:58

Ken Judt
Patrick, It is the same. Italeri did add a recon pod and an ejection seat to the newest boxing.

13 August 2019, 01:32

Patrick Hagelstein
Check! In that case it is actually still a very nice kit. 🙂

13 August 2019, 03:53

Łukasz Gliński
Always wanted to have this one, will follow 🙂

18 August 2019, 19:15

Gordon Sørensen
Good start. I have one in my stash, watching!

25 August 2019, 03:20

Sergej I
Watching 🙂

25 August 2019, 08:03

Ken Judt
Thank you for the compliments. Now to my quandary.... I was originally going to do this one Out Of Box, so I could enter it in that contest category if I so desire. But, these German Navy Starfighters would normally have an armament of two AS34 Kormoran anti-ship missiles. Eduard Brassin makes the missiles in 1/72 and I could get a set very easily for this build. But, if I do that this build will no longer be eligible for OOB category and I might as well put in an aftermarket ejection seat I already have. Any thoughts?

25 August 2019, 15:05

Sergej I
Build OoB and make the missile detachable...

25 August 2019, 15:38

Gordon Sørensen
Build it OOB and add the Brassin after the contest...

25 August 2019, 16:11

Ken Judt
Thanks for the suggestions, magnets will be a part of this build.

26 August 2019, 04:13

Gordon Sørensen
Shame about the primer, Ken. I thought the Badger primers were suppose to be really good...

31 August 2019, 22:06

Patrick Hagelstein
I stick to my Mr. Surfacers. Although a bit nasty smelling but they do a hell of a job getting my surfaces prepped.

31 August 2019, 23:45

Herbert Tyszak
By the way, the Ejection seat must be a Martin Baker Q7, Germany had no Starfighter with the Original Lockheed seat. 🙂

1 September 2019, 11:02

Ken Judt
I normally use the Mr Surfacer or Tamiya primer products. I bought the Badger primer from Amazon and I guess it froze during some air mail. Supposedly the Badger primers suffer if they get frozen. Anyhow, into the bin they go and after it is stripped I will probably use Tamiya white primer.

1 September 2019, 22:40

Ken Judt
Herbert, I am doing this build OOB so whichever seat the kit comes with is the one that is used.

1 September 2019, 22:40

Dave Flitton
Watching!!!

2 September 2019, 12:12

Holger Kranich
I pull out a chair, too!

2 September 2019, 12:26

Sergej I
Nice story,thanks for sharing! I was also so overwhelmed by the AK-RC quality that I replaced the whole batch within two Months. Just left Tamiya and MrColor which mix perfectly with the RC thinner aswel. All other acryllics including Vallejo, AK, Hataka - are waiting the inevitable - Marie Kondo 😄 does not spark joy 😄

18 September 2019, 09:37

Oleg Smilyk
Watching

21 September 2019, 17:58

Oleg Smilyk
Very nice! Good painting job

1 December 2019, 12:14

Łukasz Gliński
Very neat finish 👍

1 December 2019, 14:42

Ken Judt
Thank you very much for the compliments!

1 December 2019, 17:57

Project info

ERTL 1/72 F-104G

31 images

1:72

Completed

1:72 F-104 G/S Starfighter (ESCI/ERTL 9007)

All albums

View all albums »