Hasegawa 1/48 F-104G Starfighter
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KIT # |
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PRICE: |
¥2200 |
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DECALS: |
See review |
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REVIEWER: |
A.Cagri Acikgoz |
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NOTES: |
Kedi Decals used - Photos by Turhan Gungör |
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HISTORY |
F-104 is one of the main A/C of Turkish Air Force between 1963-1994. A total of 443 F-104 G, TF-104 G, F-104 S,CF-104 and CF-104 D were received by TuAF . Many of them came to Turkey from GAF (German Air Force) and WGN (West German Navy). A total of 287 F-104 Gs were received and here is a list of suppliers:
| Supplier | Quantity |
| MAP | 38 |
| USAF | 3 |
| SpAF | 9 |
| RNAF | 43 |
| RNoAF | 12 |
| BAF | 17 |
| GAF/WGN | 165 |
The subject of our kit is ex-GAF 24+00 , serial number is 63-8130. TuAF call number is 6-130 and it means A/C belongs to 6th Main Jet Base, Bandirma.
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THE KIT |
No need to tell much about the kit, because it has been reviewed many times before. Generally, it has no major fit problems. But ejection pin marks on the bottom of the control surfaces are difficult to fill. Surface details are a little bit overdone, in my opinion.
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CONSTRUCTION |
Construction began with the cockpit.
Kit cockpit is well done and I added little bits of plastic and thin wire here
and there to make it busy. I used MB seat because of A/Cs origin and only added
straps cut from masking tape and buckles made from thin wire. After painting the
cockpit light grey, I applied isopropyl alcohol and Tamiya flat black mix wash to
instr. Panel and side consoles, then dry-brushed with light grey and white.
Ejection seat painted black and cushions dark green. After cockpit pieces added
to left fuselage side , construction went on quickly. Undercarriage and tip-tanks
left till painting.
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PAINTING & MARKINGS |
Kit is painted to original GAF colors. RAL 7012+Ral 6014 over Ral 9006. All colors are hand-mixed. Ral 9006 (white aluminium) is not a true mettalic aluminium color and not looks like Light Ghost grey as Hasegawa ins. Sheet referred. It is a kind of metallic grey, so I mixed Tamiya aluminium and white with a little black to achieve right tone according to my RAL color samples. Various Model Master enamels mixed for RAL 7012 grey and RAL 6014 green.
First,
I attached all
the
gear
doors to the
model with UHU yellow tac then I painted
all underside of the fuselage and wings with RAL 9006. Then I masked fuselage
sides with Tamiya masking tape and bottom surfaces
and tail with Parafilm-M. RAL 7012
was
applied to all upper surface of the
fuselage
and wings.
After 3 hours, grey areas
were
masked with Tamiya
Tape and frisket paper,
green areas applied to model.
Then all maskings removed. After
another 3 hours, front fuselage
masked with parafilm and radome colors applied. At the same time, I painted all
under carriage with tamiya Aluminium, and tip tanks with camo colors. Also, tip
tanks masked with parafilm and Tamiya matt White applied to mid section as a
base coat for RAL 2004 Dyglo Orange, then Revell RAL 2004 applied over white.
After all painting process finished and all paints dried, tip tanks added to wings and all model received a gloss coat of Dupli-Color spray can and waited overnight. Turkish national insignias, flags, serial and fuselage numbers came from Kedi Decals sheets. All stencilling is in German language in actual A/C so I used kit decals for rest of the kit. All decals went on well but kit decals are a little thick when compared to Kedi Decals. After a light coat of Dupli-Color matt cote, it is time for weathering.
All panel lines received a
water-color wash of Winsor colors. Excess wash
was
cleaned with a damp lint free cloth according to wind direction. Then various
shades of black and brown pastels applied to panel lines. When satisfied,
a
final
dull cote fixed everything.
Under carriage, exhaust and pitot added to model at last step. It was 03,30 AM at local time and I have to bring up to model to our club contest to Istanbul, 480 km away from my city, and deadline was 10,00 AM. After a speedy trip at high-way , I could enter the contest before 20 minutes to deadline.
And, the model win the second place at Section 1, Turkish Air Force A/C category.
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CONCLUSIONS |
As I say, it is unnecessary to say manything about the kit. Buy it, build it, paint it and enjoy it .
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REFERENCES |
It is possible to find many detailed photos and drawings at Unofficial TuAF web site, http://turkhavakuvvetleri.tripod.com
If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.