WIP : Tamiya 1/72 F-16CM Fighting Falcon Pt.2 – Construction
Work continues…
Disappointingly, Tamiya left some visible ejector pin marks on the gear doors which need to be addressed.
Tamiya calls for some blue and silver colored parts inside the gearbay. Not sure how accurate this is.
The main undercarriage is designed to be installed from the beginning. While troublesome, the upside is a stronger fit.
The wings fit without problems. Tamiya also added leading edge tabs so it’s easier to keep them straight.
The exhaust nozzle is connected to a housing where some prepainting was required. This was masked off then attached to the kit.
The stabilizers are interchangeable on the F-16 and are identical. Even though it s simple pin and hole connection, Tamiya somehow engineered the pin to ‘click’ in place. While still requiring cement, at least they don’t flop around like on the Hasegawa kit.
There are some panel lines and vents that need filling on the kit. I’m quite sure these are present for the older F-16 blocks.
There is a very fine mold line running down the center of the canopy. I couldn’t unsee it so I went ahead to remove it.
I carefully scraped it off and then used progressively finer sandpaper to get rid of the mold line.
Once cleaned up it was dipped into a vat of Future to shine everything back up.
The nose and tailfin were then cemented into place.
I attached the intake rail for the Sniper pod and the HTS pod at this point figuring that they will be much harder to attach once everything is painted. I also masked off the nose gear bay.
For the main gear bay, I first masked off the walls then backfilled with some wet tissue. These will expand and fit (somewhat) snugly into the spaces in the bay once they dry. The main landing gear were masked off with a ‘Washi tape’ that I bought to try out. These seem to be less tacky than Tamiya masking tape. But I’ll have to test them out more.
Gap fixing is next and then I can start painting.
Build Log
Part 1 – Construction | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Painting & Finishing
WIP : Tamiya 1/72 F-16CM Fighting Falcon Pt.1 – Construction
Next on the factory floor is this Tamiya kit which looks to be as shake and bake as it will ever get. This is the 2nd release where Tamiya added the pylons, underwing stores, armaments and targeting pods.
Checking the parts, I realized that by adding 1 component, I can model the F-16CM, an upgraded version of the venerable F-16CJ. Before that though, as usual, I have to assemble the cockpit first, which is quite nicely done. The kit comes with decals for the belts but I decided to make my own with 0.7mm masking tape.
Once painted, the seat doesn’t look bad at all.
But me being me, I decided to add some details using stretched sprue, plastic plates and rod. The green tank on the side of the seat is particularly prominent in pictures.
Looks better now IMO.
Then the seat was given a wash with Citadel Nuln Oil Gloss to give it some depth.
Once cured, I did some simple highlighting with a silver pencil. The cockpit looks sufficiently busy once painted, washed and weathered.
I’m not quite sure how visible it will be under the closed canopy though. Hah!
Like its 1/48 brother, Tamiya designed the intake trunking as 2 part top and bottom halves. The difference though is this one is not full length. The problem with designing it this way is of course the seamlines on the inside of both sides of the trunking.
I did the best I could to remove the seamlines till about 1/3 into the intake.
The whole intake is made up of 4 parts: the trunking, 2 side halves and a section up top.
These need to be prepainted but come together without much problems.
Again like its 1/48 brother, this kit also oddly leaves a small section on the back of the fuselage blank for an insert. I still can’t figure out why.
The fit is good but still, why have it an insert in the first place?
I’m modeling a CCIP (Common Configuration Implementation Program) upgraded Block 50 F-16CJ which the USAF would unofficially redesignate as the F-16CM. The most prominent part of this upgrade are the AIFF ‘bird slicers’ in front of the canopy and a 2nd mounting point for a targeting pod on the intake. These are all included in the kit.
The CCIP update also added the ability to carry the BRU-57 smart bomb rack. With this bomb rack, the F-16CM can consequently carry the CBU-105 WCMD (Wind Corrected Munitions Dispenser), the precision guided version of the CBU-97 cluster bomb and precision guided bombs like the GBU-38 JDAM (Joint Direct Attack Munition). However, the Tamiya kit doesn’t include these racks and munitions so I bought a resin aftermarket set of BRU-57s from Reskit.
Details are very nice and the casting is very sharp. It even includes very tiny parts made from photo-etch. Since these are so intricate and small I decided to keep my sanity and just go with installing the sway braces to the rack.
I decided to arm my CM with a pair of CBU-105 cluster bombs. The cluster bomb I have comes from a boxing of the Hasegawa F-15E Strike Eagle. These look to be CBU-100 Rockeyes and requires modifications to look like the CBU-105.
So I cut off the nose and sanded the remaining tip into a rounded bevel. I then added a small length of rounded rod on the tip. Based on the dimensions, my result is about 1mm shorter and 0.5mm narrower scale-wise than a true CBU-105. Close enough for me.
The resin BRU-57 rack is to be butt-jointed onto the kit pylon so I added a tab on the rack so it can slot into the hole inside the pylon. The fit will be more secure this way.
Not too shabby for an evening’s work. I’ll need to clean up the CBU-105s as pictures show that their bodies are quite smooth all round but I’m done tinkering with this.
Along with the AGM-88 HARM, the F-16 will have 2x AIM-120 AMRAAMs, 2x AIM-9X Sidewinders, 2x drop tanks, a centerline mounted ALQ-184 ECM pod, an AN/ASQ-21 HARM targeting system pod on the right intake mount and an AN/AAQ-33 Sniper targeting pod on the left intake mount. Definitely a heavily armed Viper.
Who knew a ‘shake and bake’ kit will require a multi-page build log? 😀
Build Log
Part 1 – Construction | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Painting & Finishing
Completed : Hasegawa 1/48 Lockheed/Mitsubishi F-104J Starfighter
A classic comparison
Kit Info
Brand: Hasegawa 09385
Scale: 1/48
Media: Injection
Markings: TwoBobs 48-051 ‘F-104J Komatsu Starfighters’
The Subject
The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a single-engine, supersonic interceptor aircraft developed for the USAF, but would serve the air forces of more than a dozen countries. It set many world speed records and a total of 2,578 Starfighters would be built. However, its reputation is somewhat marred by the Lockheed bribery scandals and a poor safety record.
Developed in the 1950s, the first YF-104A flew in February 1956 with the first production F-104A delivered to the USAF by January 1958. The F-104 was all-metal with a fuselage that was 2.5 times longer than its wingspan. It featured a radical wing design: small, straight, mid-mounted, trapezoidal in shape and was so thin that the leading edges were a cut hazard for ground crew. The Starfighter is an especially difficult plane to fly. For example, the newly reformed Luftwaffe (West German Air Force) would have 4 F-104 crashes in a single day in 1962. By the 1970s, the F-104’s international service began to wind down. The last operational F-104s served with the Italian Air Force, which retired them in October 2004.
The JASDF (Japan Air Self Defense Force) nicknamed their licence-built Starfighter the ‘Eiko’ (Glory). Mitsubishi would build 210 single-seated F-104Js and 20 twin-seated F-104DJ purchased wholesale from Lockheed.. The F-104J is a specialized interceptor version of the F-104G that was built for air superiority. Despite the bad reputation of the F-104, the JASDF did not have the same problems as the European Air Forces, mainly because it was used as an interceptor and not an attack aircraft. The JASDF would operate the F-104 from 1966 and retire its last F-104J in 1986.
The model depicted here is of 46-8621, an F-104J with special markings that flew in the 1979 Air Combat Meet at Komatsu Air Base. I don’t have anecdotal evidence of whether the F-104Js flew as ‘red air’ but they all sported unique bright colored schemes like typical aggressor aircraft.
The Kit
The boxing I have is a 2001 markings variant of the original F-104J released in 2000. The kit comprises 117 light gray styrene parts in 13 sprues along with a sprue of clear parts and 4 polycaps. Surface texture is nice with very crisp fine panel lines and a ton of recessed pin holes representing flush rivets. However, the flaps, ailerons and slats all suffer from ejector pin marks, with many of them nestled among the rivets.
Other details are great: cockpit, wheel well, speed brake bays are all nicely rendered. The canopy is 3-piece but is not able to be modeled open. A very nice touch is that the slats, flaps and speed brakes can all be positioned. The undercarriage is attached to the fuselage via polycaps and Hasegawa includes different style wheel hubs in the kit.
Some of the parts breakdown is complicated: the ejection seat is 14 parts, the fuel tank is 9 parts and each sidewinder rail is made up of 2 halves. I’m not sure why Hasegawa over-engineered these parts and yet leave so many ejector pin marks on other parts.
The kit comes with 3 marking options for 207th Squadron, 83rd Air Wing F-104Js that flew in custom schemes at the 1984 Air Combat Meet. I got my kit 2nd hand and the decal sheet has already dried and yellowed so I can’t talk about the quality.
The Build
Hasegawa is known to put in a bit more effort designing kits of Japanese armed forces equipment: this one is no different. It’s lovely out of the box. Parts breakdown (except for the fuel tanks) are logical. Assembly of the main body was quick although hampered by the many ejector pin marks on the slats, flaps, ailerons and undercarriage. The most annoying part is fixing the pin marks without destroying the beautifully done rivet details.
A major hiccup for me were the wingtip fuel tanks. Each one was made up of 9 parts and they didn’t fit particularly well. Each tank has 4 circular disks that need to be clamped in between the 2 halves. These turn out to require specific orientations to fit flush. After messing up some of them I decided to simply sand them smooth and live without the fine details on them. As it turns out, there would be decals for most of these and would hide the details anyway.
I really like the idea of the undercarriage using polycaps to fit and have always wondered why this method isn’t standard on all kits. It makes for a stronger overall fit and is easier for final assembly.
I realized too late that the clear parts (formation lights?) are supposed to be attached from the INSIDE of the fuselage and fuel tanks and I have left all these off. It turns out though that they would all be covered by decals in the end. All in all, a straightforward build although as usual with Hasegawa, some finicky fit in minor areas. I also managed to drop the whole kit on its nose so I had to go back to fix the shape. There’s always 1 disaster with every build I do so the record is intact.
Colors & Markings
This F-104J will be part of my Aggressor-themed collection of kits: normally plain colored aircraft that are dressed up in special color schemes for adversary training purposes. I’m modeling the blue and white color schemed 46-8621 that flew in the 1979 Air Combat Meet. Decals will be from the TwoBobs 48-051 ‘F-104J Komatsu Starfighters’ sheet.
As this aircraft has a partial full metal finish, I only did the marble coating for the colored areas. These areas required some masking work but were straightforward. I added glaze medium to reduce their opacity so the marble coat still shows through.
The metal finish was simply done over a flat black surface. As usual with metal finishes, I made sure to give the paints a bit more time to cure between masking and painting the different shades. So far, I’ve had very good luck with Vallejo Metal Colors and this time was no different. The colors went on easily with slight thinning.
Once the main colors were done, it was time for decals. As usual, the TwoBobs decals performed very well: they were easy to handle, robust and reacted well to Mark Softer. I did mess up a few stencil markings but the sheet had enough markings for 2 complete F-104Js so I have spare stencils. I’m also glad that the carrier film almost disappeared once cured.
While doing the decals, I realized that I missed out on painting a section on the spine pale yellow so I went back in to mask the area with tape and paper. I used paper for the decals that were already on as masking tape will definitely lift them. This section was quickly painted up with not much problem. 10 minutes masking, 10 seconds of painting. As usual.
Finishing
I was initially a bit stuck on how I would weather this kit but looking at photos of JASDF F-104Js, they were all kept in very clean conditions so I decided to keep the weathering light. I decided to use Vallejo Model Wash again this time and I like the results. It’s subtler than the usual Raw Umber oil paint wash I use and I think it looks appropriate here with the cleaner look I’m going for. The exhaust was given the same wash and then highlighted with silver pencil. I went heavier with the wash on the metal areas near the exhaust to show some wear in the area.
Last minute repair required. Zzz…
Last on as usual were the pitot tube, various antenna and the AOA indicator (which I pinged 1 away and decided not to do the other one). And of course, just as everything was done, I dropped one of the wings and the tip of one of the winglets on the port fuel tank broke off. I used 0.25mm plastic card for the last minute repair. It looks OK so long as you don’t look closely.
To finish off the kit, the colored areas were given a spray of flat coat while I sprayed more gloss on the metal areas to seal everything in.
When I drew jet aircraft as a kid, the result always looked like an F-104 even though I didn’t know what an F-104 was then. I guess a rocket tube with wings will always imply a fast flying jet aircraft. And now I have the real thing in my collection!
This build has been relatively painless and the result is a very colorful and striking jet. It’s not without its problems (especially the wing tanks) but Hasegawa has a winner here. Details are great right out of the box and fit was generally good.
Build Log
> Part 1 : Construction
> Part 2 : Construction
> Part 3 : Painitng
> Part 4 : Painting
> Part 5 : Finishing
> Part 6 : Finishing
Number 6 of 2019
WIP : Hasegawa 1/48 F-104J Starfighter Pt. 6 – Finishing
Once fully cured and wiped down, I sprayed another layer of gloss to prep for a panel wash.
This time I decided to do it with Vallejo Dark Grey Model Wash instead of the usual Mig AMMO panel wash. I figured this one will give a subtler effect.
I haven’t used it in a while so I thought to try on it on the wing first.
I first used the wash straight from the bottle but ran into a problem.
Once dried it was really hard to remove. I had to use a combination of Windex, Vallejo thinner and even an eraser before the excess Wash was removed. I was sweating bullets since there was a very good chance the Windex or thinner would strip the gloss and paint underneath.
The results however, look good. Model Wash definitely gives a less contrasty finish than Mig AMMO’s enamel washes.
So lesson learned, I went ahead with panel washing the rest of the kit. The Model Wash was thinned about 1:2 with water.
Given about 20 seconds to dry, I then wiped with a damp tissue in the direction of the wind so front to back.
Subtle but still makes a difference.
I like the overall effect. The panel lines are not too contrasty.
I’ve been wondering how much I should weather the kit but from photos I’ve seen, it looks like the JADSF keeps their aircraft clean so I went with just some griming of the area near the exhaust.
To seal everything in, I misted light coats of thinned flat coat over the colored areas and the exhaust area. The rest of the metal finish was left alone although I misted flat coat over the markings to knock their glossiness down. Final assembly is next. First, the landing gear. These fit using polycaps and every aircraft kit should really do it this way. It’s so much easier and strong.
The main strut is big and solid and the whole undercarriage assembly is simple enough.
Unfortunately, the way the small bay door fits onto the strut is not good. The instruction is not entirely clear how a small strut fits connects the door to the big strut and there’s no solid connecting point for it. I wouldn’t have minded some sacrifice in accuracy for an easier connection. So while faffing with it, I naturally fouled up and dropped a glob of cement on the small door which I have to repaint.
So after faffing with it a bit more, I got all the struts on, handpainted them and gave them a bit of wash. I also attached the MLG doors.
A light made of clear sprue is attached onto the nose gear, which looks sufficiently detailed.
Then I remove the masking tape to check the canopy. Could be better, but I’ll take it. I like how the aurora sticker on the HUD projector stands out.
Antennas and pitot tube is last on. I only managed to install the Temperature Probe (part R3) though. I pinged one of the really small AOA indicators (part U3) into the wild blue yonder so I cut my losses and left the other off. They are butt-jointed anyway so they wouldn’t attach that strongly in the first place.
The pitot tube needed some careful sanding and adjusting due to the nose being slightly damaged in the fall but still fit quite well.
The wings go on last and I’m done!
Build Log
Part 1 – Construction | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Painting
Part 4 – Painting | Part 5 – Finishing | Part 6 – Finishing
WIP : Hasegawa 1/48 F-104J Starfighter Pt. 5 – Finishing
I begin with a gloss coat. I use AK Interactive’s Intermediate Gauzy, thinned 1:1 with water. There’s a tendency for gloss or flat coats to change the tone of metal paints but I’m glad to say that it works well with metal paints.
Markings will be from the TwoBobs ‘F-104J Komatsu Starfighters’ sheet. As usual with Twobobs, the quality is very good and the decals are thin yet strong. They reacted well with Mark Softer and the carrier film is so thin you can’t really see it unless you really look closely and only at some angles.
At this point, I realized I missed out on painting a part on the spine. The instructions call for a yellowish shade.
I carefully masked off the area and made sure no masking tape touched any of the surrounding decals.
The yellow is a mix of yellow and a brownish white color. I ended up having to remove the red decal closest to the yellow area. Luckily the TwoBobs sheet comes with enough stencils for 2 F-104Js so I have a replacement.
Unfortunately, the instructions weren’t too clear about the exact placement of the wing Hinomaru and the stencils around it. This is purely guesstimate on my part.
The intructions also didn’t indicate which Hinomaru to place on each side of the fuselage: they have different white stencil markings in them.
There were a few ports that needed to be drilled out with clear parts inserted. Turns out I had to drill them from the inside during construction so it was something I needed to address during finishing. Turns out though, all these spots were covered by decals so all the nice clear ports would have been covered up.
The F-104J is thankfully not stencil-heavy like the JASDF’s F-4 Phantom. What markings there are definitely showcases how striking they are though.
Weathering and finishing is next.
Build Log
Part 1 – Construction | Part 2 – Construction | Part 3 – Painting
Part 4 – Painting | Part 5 – Finishing | Part 6 – Finishing