Kartonowa Kolekcja 1:33 Lockheed F-104G Starfighter

[Isaac]

Erik


The good news is that you will survive this blister crisis and you will have another story to tell


I am at a point of my life that if I can get the laser cut frames, vacuformed canopy, preformed wheels, then I will. Especially the complicated models that have intricate shapes. When I purchased this kit as well as the GPM version ( I have both now ) last year, I also got the entire set of accessories.

I have a system to prioritize which kits require least amount of energy for the most amount of enjoyment However, that does not work for me all the time.



Enjoying your work.


Isaac

[maxe]

Man Erik, was habe ich gelacht. Das Modell ist eine Blase wert.
Gruß Maxe

[milenio3]

Very clean building of this Starfighter. It looks that the model is very high quality, and the design is sharp.

I hope your finger is getting better, But remember that those little adventures make our modeling experience more delightful.

[Erik Zwaan]

Thank you guys for your reactions.... It's been a while since I posted any update - life has been quite busy and hardly time for paper work lately. And of course it took a while for the blister to heal.

@Yoav: Good point that you mention but I'm rather hesitant to use super glue to be honest. Main reason is that there's very little time to correct and I do not have good experience. Clear glue like velpon, UHU or Bison dries relatively fast (the clamps were there for a few minutes only), doesn't leave stains and allows you sufficient time to correct the position of a part. I always have a small hair drier at hand to aid in the drying process if needed, and this small appliance has been my companion for years already. Especially handy when using white glue, which we all know isn't white anymore after drying...

@Ostoja: It really was a friction blister!

@Isaac and Gerardo: Definitely the "charming" hazard of our trade. Regarding laser cuts and ready to use canopies - you're absolutely right. Certainly something to consider for a next model.

I'll be posting an update later today.

Cheers,
Erik

[Erik Zwaan]

Continued with the central fuselage section by adding the skin around the internal frame work. Main problem, unfortunately: The skin didn’t fit well, especially around front former part 50. This lobe shaped part appeared too big for the skin to be wrapped around it and needed a lot of sanding and even cutting away rims around the lobes. Eventually it fitted and the skin even stayed free from the outline of the former, allowing small corrections to its roundness once the air intakes are installed on the lobes later on in the game.
The best way to start attaching the skin to this section is to start from the longitudinal stiffener, which is former 49.

Also aft former 51 (with the wing roots) was slightly too big, but easier to handle. For anyone building this model I strongly advise to first glue the next fuselage section already before gluing any part of the inside skin to former 51. This will allow you to perfectly fit the sections to each other. I discovered this somewhat too late, resulting in a bit of a strange dimple on either side of the fuselage at the wing root and a slight gap in between the skins. Although paint touch-ups can do wonders the slight gaps are a pity. Let’s hope this will not become a fitting issue with the wings later on.

Lastly, properly joining the forward sections with the central part was not without problems and required considerable trimming of the former involved (part 60). As you can see on the front face picture of formers 50/60, things look a bit messy and luckily it will not be visible anymore in the end.

Preparing and installing the air intakes are still work in progress, only the left one has been installed at this moment. Due to the design of the model it's difficult to ensure the mating curves of intake and fuselage exactly fit, despite the slight room for correction I left between former and skin.

Thanks to this struggle and the heat of the past few days (temperatures way above 30°C in The Netherlands earlier this week, and with new peak records set) it’s time for a big sigh. Let’s say, I hope this has been the glitch moment of this project!!

Cheers,
Erik

[Isaac]

Erik

It is amazing that for simple looking design there are so many fit challenges. Many aircraft models of that era with side engine intakes pose the same issues and we have seen them on this forum.


I got to the point that I will join sections first before I insert a former in between. This way the fit is better or I can push the parts together to tighten the joints. There is always the last part and that is a challenge. However, it does not always work.

When it is time for me to build this kit, I will compare it to the GPM version. Maybe I will build both simultaneously.


You are doing a great job. That is why this is art and not a science.


Cheers


Isaac

[Don Boose]

This is a most interesting thread, with much useful information. I am enjoying the build and the well-informed discourse -- and, of course, the model is beautiful!

Don

[YOAVHOZMI]

very good work on the intakes...well done

YOAV

[dje]

That a really nice build, I'm not surprised this model is a challenge, anyway you get it well.
Question about the intake, did you glue the inner part before or after gluing the outer on the frame ?, looking at picture it fit perfectly.

It's amazing the number of kit with frame/skin size issue. When the skin is bigger at least it can be fixed with some 'wedge' - had this with the gpm bf-109 - but unfortunately it's likely the skin too tight...

[Erik Zwaan]

Hello, back again. Thank you Don, Yoav, Isaac and dje for your comment. I completed the air intakes and luckily no further fitting issues. In fact, the air intakes came along very nicely. I used every trick I could think of to match the intakes with the fuselage, gave it a spray of varnish to dampen the color off-set between touch-ups and model print and think the result looks acceptable. At least, it's the best I could achieve and all in all I'm quite pleased with it.

@ Isaac: That's a very good point you have here. For as far it's possible I also attach skin sections to each other before placing the former at the joint. Like you say: It gives the best fitting result. If it's not possible then I put the former right at the location where the joint has to be made, so there's at least some area where you can push when placing the new section, to get a smooth joint.
It would be very interesting to follow along if you build both models simultaneously!

@dje: Each air intake contains three (!) moon-shaped formers. The last one is flush with the "bottom" of the intake. To be able to correct for small misfits, I placed this former just about 0.5mm inside the air intake. I cut away the edges of the lobed fuselage former in order to correct the shape of the matching skin with the air intakes. It may not be perfect but with these "degrees of freedom" I could make the best fit. Rubbed in white glue in the joint, pushed gently with my fingers to maintain the right shape fit and used a small hair drier to speed up drying.

Well, this was last weekend's work. Time for holidays so no progress for the weeks to come. I intend to add more details in the engine exhaust so my vacation will be a good moment to think of how to get this done .

Erik