Kinetic Gold F-104(C) 1/48 Scale
OK, little bit of venting with this one. This is my first Kinetic build and I wanted to try a free-hand camouflage paint pattern; so I scored this from my local hobby shop. It took waaay longer than expected, mostly due to fitting issues that resulted in putty, sanding, and re-painting. This happened despite dry-fitting twice, so I'm not sure how/where I went wrong; chalk it up to user error I guess. I will definitely not build another Kinetic as I expect major parts to fit, period; welcome to plastic modeling, right? When you get to the end with canopies, landing gear and doors that are painted & weathered, I find it difficult (and frustrating) to go back and re-do work. I got to the point where I just started super gluing parts on regardless of the fit.
I was very pleased with the cockpit and ejection seat and I think I'll use the molded putty approach on the next camouflage paint schema, which will be a F-4 Phantom waiting in queue. Looking at it now, I wish I had put the drop tanks on the ends of the wings to make it look more like the F-104. But it's on the collection shelf, more lessons learned to apply to future builds.
Thanks for looking and happy modeling!
Awesome job, Joe! True, Kinetic kits (at least a number of them) pose some challenges in building, easilly overcome by your excellent skills.
Well done, this is a fantastic Starfighter!
Very nice Joe. I need to add a U.S. -104 to my three Canadians
Despite the setbacks you still did a great job...well done!
Joe, despite any difficulties you may have encountered, this is a fine example of an F-104.
Very cool, I love a nice camo pattern on a star fighter, there two thing that don't seam like they should go together but they look great painted that way. Nice work.
Nice result, Joe. Very well finished cockpit.
Really cool, Joe (@jroamer). I have several Kinetic kits, but have not build them yet. I have heard they have some fit issues, although you have made yours look perfect. When I was a young 2LT in the Air Force, my first base was Luke AFB in Arizona, which was the F-104 training base for foreign pilots. I used to see camo and natural metal 104s every day. Always cool to see models of this jet. Well done.
Nicely done!, Speaking of Starfighters, I happened upon a movie on YouTube, I think Mystery Science Theater ran it to. It's called The Starfighters; it looks like it was done in the early sixties. It supposed to be at George AFB the quality of the video was poor.
A truly beautiful Starfighter, Joe @jroamer
No signs of all the challenges you faced. All is looking perfect.
It looks good from where I’m sitting, Joe.
Came out looking great! Nice work on the SEA scheme.
Nice work on this Starfighter, Joe.
I built one myself in RNLAF livery not so long ago, but cannot recall any specific fitting issues.
What problems did you encounter?
3 attached images. Click to enlarge.
Nice 104, Alfred; your weathering is top-notch!
The issues I encountered were main landing gear struts, doors, and canopies. They all looked good during the dry fitting, but once I painted, weathered & re-assembled, things went sideways.
Thanks Joe!
Despite the setback you described I still think your Starfighter looks fabulous. Most important is to have fun with what you are building. After all we're all in a continuous learning process.