Belgian F-104G Starfighter. Italeri with lot's of aftermarket WIP.

[Guest DannyVM]

Hi Guy's,

 

after my two previous W.W.1 projects, it's time to do something totally different.

In fact, my hands where itching to start this project, but i wanted to finish my ongoing Harry Tate project first, so for now, the road is clear to tackle this beast.  

 

From the harsh day's of 1917, i take a jump to the Cold War area, during the 70's. In these day's, the F-104G Starfighter ruled the Belgian sky's, for me still the ultimate fighter jet ever produced.

Ok ok, maybe it's a little bit over reacted as i say it's the ultimate fighter jet, but back in those day's it was a kick ""s fighter jet, that you guy's have to admitt hahaha.

 

After the beautiful Italeri kit came out, i was lost forever, so i bought it with lot's aftermarket goodies.

 

 

Ok, i start with the Eduard goodies. On of the short comings of this kit is the fact that the engine exhaust nozzle for the J79 is in a rather closed position, so if we want a parked "Zipper" we need a fully open nozzle, for this i bought the Eduard Exhaust nozzle set.

Also resin wheels are from the Eduard Brassin range.

I also got the Eduard interior PE and the exterior PE.

 

 

It's much discussed on LSP and other forums, the Aires cockpit set. Very nicely detailed, but it just won't fit into the fuselage nicely.Hmmmmm.......a real bummer so i chosed to go with the CMK cockpit. It's still a gamble because i don't know how it will fit into the fuselage, but there's not much to lose so, i will take my changes. The overall detail is quit good, but compared with the kit cockpit, the detail is rather the same, so therefore my decision to purchase the Eduard cockpit PE also.

I also chosed to buy the Aires seat, and the Aires wheel bay's. The Aires seat detail is very nice and crisp, still i have a problem with the back seat cushion for the C2 seat, which i can not seem to find in my reference book's, strange

 

 

Like always i want to put a pilot figure with my model, so a PJ productions pilot will company the manned Belgian rocket. Building a Belgian jet without DACO decals wouldn't be very properly, so the DACO decal sheet's are also in the game.

 

 

For the reference i have two very nice book's, which i bought a couple of years ago. 1). The long out of production Lock on Verlinden Starfighter reference, and 2). a Starfighter bible on it's own, the DACO Uncovering the F-104 Starfighter book.

 

 

I still don't know which color scheme i will chose, but it will be certain a "Slivers" or a "Tiger" machine.

 

 

 

 

Ok, time to make some room now on my workbench, stay tuned guy's

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[wackyracer]

Hi Danny. Be following this one for sure. I have the same kit and a ton of AM also, so be great to see how you get on with the build.

 

Aaron

[JeroenPeters]

Holy damn!

Impressive stuff!

[Wingco57]

Very interested in this one.

Cees

[Verbeek]

Hmmmmm, I did not know that WnW make this one.

But I know for sure, I going to enjoy this one too, just like your other models.

 

Also, this is one of my favourite jets!

Always like this Widow Maker.

Also a good Dutch book:

 

[Verbeek]

PS, for me, the silver machine is the best! Maybe using Alclad.

 

http://alclad2.com/

[Guest DannyVM]

Thank's guy's for hopping along with the build of this mean old Belgian machine.

 

 

 

Also a good Dutch book:

A couple of years ago i stumbled on this book in a library, indeed a very interesting book to read Cor.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

The wood-and-canvas machines are real jewels on their own once they are finished. The loud pointy thing look's mean and deadly, and, it won't fit in my display case, so i need to take care of that. Now i have an excuse to get myself a bigger display case, and h""ll, it don't even fit on my work bench  ..........ok ok ........and also, it's just to impress   my wife 

 

Today i made a start, and took a closer look at all part's and aftermarket set's. On of those much discussed aftermarket set's, the Aires cockpit set, which i didn't bought because of the fit issues, was one of my favorite, but sadly i din't had the courage to got into problem's from the first second of the WIP. Therefore i decided to chose the CMK cockpit set, also with nice detail, but still a mystery regarding the fit into the fuselage.

 

Here's a photo of the set.

 

 

Compared to the kit cockpit tub.

 

 

I let you guy's decide for you're self about the CMK detail.

 

But now, how about the fit into the two fuselage half's. I made it simple, i took the two fuselage half's and cleaned them, then i took the CMK cockpit tub and roughly dry-fitted the tub into the fuselage without any sanding or cutting.

Also, i did not removed any detail from the inner side walls of the two fuselage half's.

 

This is the result : 

 

 

 

 

 

Short said, the CMK tub fit's very correctly into the fuselage, without sanding, cutting or removal of the kit sidewall detail, that's look's very promising  .

It's a very nice surprise after the whole Aires debacle, but still i have to admit that the Aires cockpit rocks it all the way iff you compare it to the CMK set regarding detail.

 

At one point i'm still not convinced about the right size of the CMK C2 seat. His overall appearance is quit realistic, but the size is rather small, compared to the Aires seat and the kit's seat. Also the headrest isn't quit the same iff i compare it with my photo reference. Now i did compare the kit's cockpit tub and the CMK tub, and i noticed that the CMK cockpit floor is much higher then the kit cockpit floor, about 4 m/m, that sould explain the smaller dimension of the CMK seat, but still, i'm not convinced.

 

 

 

At this point i'm looking to use the Aires seat, but would give problems iff i use this with the CMK tub. I'm glad i bought the Eduard PE cockpit set, because i am now thinking serious about to use the kit cockpit with the Aires seat and the duard PE.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Hi Guy's ,

 

i'm still in research mode regarding both the CMK and Aires ejection seat's. 

 

I took a photo of the 3 seat's from above.

 

Left the kit seat, middle the CMK one and right the Aires one.

 

 

There's obvious a difference between them in wide, with the smallest (CMK).

 

Also, i'm still not convinced about the overall appearance of the CMk seat, it lacks in detail. The headrest is in my opinion not high enough and the side framing at the headrest lacks detail and the perforation holes.

 

Compared with the Aires seat, it's a world of difference, but at the other hand, the back seat cushion of the Aires seat is reduntant.

 

 

I'm not a rivet counter, but the ejection seat gives a high appearance to the model, so i want to do it right.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[wackyracer]

What about the eduard seat Danny?

 

http://www.eduard.com/store/Aircraft-and-helicopters/1-32/F-104-C2-ejection-seat-1-32.html?cur=1

[Guest DannyVM]

 

 

What about the eduard seat Danny?

I ordered it today at Hannants. Look's like this seat has all the stuff and details that i need, so i'm very curious.

 

Still, thank's for the link Aaron, much appreciated my friend.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Indeed Matt, that's a real nice looking MB.7 seat, that's also the reason from the moment i saw yesterday you're photo appear to look out for the Eduard C2 seat.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Hi Gent's,

 

i made a change of plans regarding the cockpit.

 

Today i started on the kit's cockpit tub, together with the help of some Eduard PE and colored PE i will try to make a kick ""s cockpit

 

First thing to do, was remove the detail on the side panels.

 

Italeri detail, which is rather nice

 

 

And after the remove of the detail, the cockpit is now ESCI detail standard

 

 

One of the most common shortcomings of both the kit cockpit and the CMK cockpit tubs is the lack of the downwards hatch to remove the ejecton seat.

Eduard has made this little detail in the form of PE and i must say, it look's very convincing.

 

I prepared the PE part's with the help of my new excellent Ushi Van Der Rosten helping tool.

 

 

 

First i had to make a square hole into the tub's floor.

 

 

After that, i glued the hatch PE part's into the cockpit tub.

 

I must say, the appearance look's much better now.

 

 

 

That's all for now folk's.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Today, the Eduard Brassin C2 ejection seat was delivered to my doorstep

 

You guy's can guess, i was very curious

 

 

Ok, that's for later, now, let me show you guy's how the Eduard wheels turned out.

 

Yesterday evening i tackled the Eduard Brassin wheel set, and i must say, things went very smooth.

Removal of the casting blocks was a piece of cake, and within 30 minutes all was cleaned and glued.

 

After cleaning

 

 

And after all was put together

 

 

Ok, now the C2 ejection seat.

 

Overall quality of the Eduard Brassin C2 ejection seat is very excellent. Very sharp details, and in my opinion the best of the four i looked at. The package contains even the seat belt's in colored PE ( ok, some like it, some will not) and even a decal sheet with the ejection seat placards, and that's a nice surprise.

 

 

Ok now compensation of the four seat's, i let you guy's decide witch you like the most, but for me it's the Eduard seat for sure.

 

 

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

Today, i did some detail work regarding the cockpit area behind the ejection seat.

 

First a dry-fit of the Eduard ejection seat.

 

 

 

The fit is perfect, so i could go on with the work. 

 

The kit's rudder pedals where removed, and replaced by Eduard PE examples.

 

 

Now the aft bulkhead. I will use the kit part, which is ok, but it lacks a little bit of detail, so i decided to add some scratch items.

 

First the bulkhead with the ejection seat guide rail.

 

 

Italeri forget to mold one of the heating diffusers on the left side of the ejection seat so i needed to make a new one.

 

 

For these heating diffusers i used some PE grating, to give them a more or less realistic appearance. The second heating diffuser was made from the one molded on the bulkhead of the CMK set.

I added some plumbing and wiring, all made from sprue and copper wire.

The two white evergreen strip that are glued on the ejection seat rails, hide some damage done by me when i removed the rails from the casting blocks.

 

 

 

 

After the installment of the ejection seat not much will be seen anymore.

 

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[towerpower]

Danny, impressive work on the cockpit tub and details, have the kit as well, but i think i wouldn't go through all the changes, though seeing your effort makes me wonder why not??....

 

greetz

 

Jack

[James H]

These seats would have given me a headache. I'll follow your lead here

 

Lovely work so far. Can't wait to start mine.

[Guest DannyVM]

 

 

but i think i wouldn't go through all the changes, though seeing your effort makes me wonder why not??.... 

Thank's Jack for you're nice comment.

 

Iff you chose to build this beast OOB, it would be a good choice, because the details are fairly good. Using some aftermarket items will give you more work, but the end result would be much better.

 

 

 

These seats would have given me a headache. I'll follow your lead here 

Believe me James, it gave me at some point also headache

 

Thank's for the nice comment

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

 

I guess the world is telling me I need new kits.

Jim....it's a great kit, overal quality OOB is nice, fit is quit good, and with some aftermarket you can add some extra detail.

 

So what keep's you from staying away

 

Greetz mate and thank you for the nice comment

[Guest DannyVM]

Again, a small update regarding my 104 bird, still busy with the cockpit, this time the two side walls of the cockpit.

I used some goodies from the CMK cockpit and added some scratch stuff.

 

First the kit's detail, which are rather very sparse, and very visible a huge sink mark .....on both sides.

 

Right side

 

 

Left side

 

 

The recessed detail was cut away and the sink mark was filled with some Evergreen disc's and some thinned Tamiya putty.

 

 

 

And finally sanded with different grids to get a smooth surface

 

 

Like i said before, i used some stuff of the CMK cockpit, and added some scratch stuff.

 

Right side

 

 

Now i see that the air scoop handle isn't quit aligned when i glued it onto it's place, i need to redo that.

 

 

Left side

 

 

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[JeroenPeters]

Great start Danny!!  Nice wiring.

I'm sure you'll take your time and turn out another show stopper.

[Guest DannyVM]

 

Great start Danny!!  Nice wiring.

I'm sure you'll take your time and turn out another show stopper.

Thank's Jeroen for the nice comment.

 

The time i have is rather sparse at the moment, due to work and familial affairs (my fathers illness), so i hope that i can start soon with full force on this lovely project.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

 

Impressed by your work, here. Going to be a great build, no doubt.

Best wishes for your dad, Danny - keep the faith.

Thank's allot for the nice comment, G. it's much appreciated  .

 

I sure will do, thank's G. for the encouraging word's

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

I found some time to paint a little on the C2 ejection seat.

 

There's lot that need to been done yet, but for now this is how it look's.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next step are the seat belts and a wash.

 

Greetz

 

Danny

[Guest DannyVM]

I started to add some Eduard colored PE seat belt's onto the ejection seat................to be honest i don't like them at all regarding the color that is used and the grainy appearance. Instead i re-painted them in a more appropriate color.

 

First two pic's with the colored PE added to the seat (not painted yet)

 

 

 

Second two pic's, PE seat belt's re-painted.

 

 

 

In my opinion, it look's much better now.

 

Greetz

 

Danny