SPA Modeler

When I was still halfway working on the F-16, I started to open a new big scale project: The Hasegawa F-104G/S Starfighter in 1/32 scale. I happened because the local hobby club wanted some lesson on scratch-building cockpits so I thought the kit would be a perfect platform for everyone to learn.



As you know, this is an old kit, with fine raised panel lines and rivets. the surface detail is good (albeit raised) but nothing beyond that: interior parts such as the main wheel bay is sparse and so is the cockpit.



I gives the impression of a box full of plastic big pieces, but the box only contains few parts. Reviews shows that this is an early G version, with Lockheed's own seats (not the later models with the Martin-Baker seats).



Decals are great with three selection of air forces... Italian, Spanish, and Taiwan. with my decision not wanting to do a NMF Starfighter, my option dwindled. ... unless I am willing to spend for aftermarket decals and a resin seat.

Here the main pieces. I took only a few minutes to put these pieces together. I want to show sleek body of the Starfighter as a whole so I will not show the engine exposed (this saves construction time too)



This is how I showed my friends at the hobby club on the cockpit. I started working on the cockpit by adding stuff to the ejection seat. The back cushion is made of Tamiya Epoxy Putty, while the straps are from masking tape. Hooks are from copper wire.



I think the most difficult part for club members is about the mind set of being analytical on their approach, answering the question: "what building materials would work best to represent the real artifact as close as possible."



It wasn't much to show when the cockpit had all the different materials seen in their original colors. Primer is also a new thing too for some club members. After I sprayed Mr Surafacer 1000 primer, they began get more sense of some of the useful use of primers.



It became more apparent from club members when I showed them the final results by extensively using brushes for detail painting and dry brushing: the importance of owning high-quality brushes vs cheap ones; acrylic versus enamel paints; the type of brushes for dry brushing and how little paint is need on the sable.

wow, thats a fantastic "how-to". In the bigger scales, you can really go all out on detail!

How did you loop the seatbelts through the metal rings\?

CallSignOWL wrote:wow, thats a fantastic "how-to". In the bigger scales, you can really go all out on detail!

How did you loop the seatbelts through the metal rings\?

Hi OWL - actually the weren't looped. The metal rings were cut short of the seat belts and they were positioned so it gave a 'false' impression that they are actually looped. cutting corners....playing with optical illusion.

dmminiatures wrote:

CallSignOWL wrote:wow, thats a fantastic "how-to". In the bigger scales, you can really go all out on detail!

How did you loop the seatbelts through the metal rings\?

Hi OWL - actually the weren't looped. The metal rings were cut short of the seat belts and they were positioned so it gave a 'false' impression that they are actually looped. cutting corners....playing with optical illusion.

well it worked!! Sure fooled me!

Thats a nice trick, I'm gonna have to use that on some of my larger builds

JimD wrote:Silly me. I've seen some of your updates on FB and I just thought this was the 1/48 kit. Lol. As usual your work in the cockpit looks great. I know this kit is rather bare on the detail. I look forward to seeing how you handle it!

Agree, everything about this kit is 'bare'. Its a great teaching platform for scratch-building though.

Awesome stuff Monty. As always your skill astounds me.

The next step for the Hatpin is to put the fuselage together. not much can be seen of the cockpit's interior by then. putting the two halves together was easy breezy.





The unique shape of the Starfighter (like a rocket ship) as I observed compared to the Sufa that i was also building.

Looking real good there Monty! Ya gotta love the F-104. Such a sleek beautiful bird.