1/48 Hasegawa F-104C

from “The Right Stuff”

by Dean Large

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Me again. Strange really, that after all these years, I’ve never made a model of one of the most aircraft-like aircraft in the world, namely the F-104 Starfighter. I thought it was time to rectify that, and with my new found enthusiasm as a website contributor I decided to try out the Hasegawa F-104C to compare the Hasegawa brand with the Airfix and Tamiya models I’ve been making recently. I wanted to try a natural metal finish that was even shinier than the Mustang I did recently, and settled on Alclad II Polished Aluminium as an overall finish.

As I started the model, I wasn’t too keen on the gaudy squadron markings supplied with the kit, so I decided to finish it as a reasonable likeness of the plane used in the film “The Right Stuff”, one of my all time favourite films. You know the one – the plane that Chuck Yeager takes up to 104,000ft apparently on a whim, and then promptly spins. As I’d already installed the cockpit, I didn’t fancy changing the ejection seat for the type seen in the film, and it was only after careful studying of the video freeze frame that I came to the conclusion that the film didn’t use an F-104C at all, but from the looks of the broader tail fin, spine anti collision light and ejection seat, it was probably a G or a S with a new suit. Anybody out there who knows, feel free to get in touch.

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I used the Eduard PE set to liven up the cockpit, and must say that the instrument panel really does look the part, and the seat harnesses look suitably chaotic. I took some pictures of the cockpit before I installed it, but my computer crashed and I lost them when it was too late to take any others. I installed brake lines on the main undercarriage legs as per my references, and made a new HUD but that was the extent of the extra detailing on this kit. I left off the wingtip tanks as per the film, and tried making my own decals for the first time. I did this by scanning in the buzz codes from the decal sheet to get the numeral style, altering them to give the fictitious ‘132’ tail code used in the film, printing them on decal film in my inkjet printer, and coating them with Microscale liquid decal film as per the instructions. I used the kit stencils, and I think it all worked out reasonably well.  

One thing that I did find awkward was the Alclad. When I made my Mustang, I commented on how easy to use and hardwearing the Natural Aluminium finish was – if only the same were true of the Polished Aluminium! I did all the right things – I primed the surface, and rubbed it all over with a paper towel to get it glass smooth before applying the Alclad. Being a VERY shiny finish, the Alclad acted like gloss paint and had to be sprayed at exactly the right pressure. (The ordinary Natural Aluminium was more like a matt paint in use, and was very forgiving.) Once the paint was on, it couldn’t be coated with Johnson’s to seal it, as I’d already tried that in the wheel bays and it made the finish go grey and dull. In its naked state, it wasn’t half as hardwearing as the Natural Aluminium, rubbing off easily during the normal handling necessary to complete the model. The spine of this 104 has been resprayed several times. (I think I’ll need a pretty good excuse before I use Polished Aluminium again.) I also used Alclad Magnesium on the engine panels and the tail, Pale Burnt Metal on the inside of the tailpipe, and Alclad Jet Exhaust on the afterburner ring. These were just as hardwearing as I’d come to expect.

As a kit, I’d have to say I was pleased with my first Hasegawa, despite the warped horizontal stabiliser. The only notably bad fit on the whole thing was the intakes where they blend in with the rest of the fuselage, but it wasn’t difficult to sort out. (The underside rear fuselage seam was a nightmare, though – I had to sand it down to get it flush as the Polished Aluminium shows off every flaw. In doing so, I removed most of the rivet detail, and spent a long time with a micro drill putting them all back on again. Then I sprayed the Aluminium, masked off, and sprayed the Magnesium. Then when I pushed the afterburner ring into position, the damn seam cracked open again! Many expletives, much filling, sanding, rescribing, masking and repainting.) The undercarriage was beautifully detailed though, the cockpit wouldn’t have been that bad without the PE set, and the overall stance of the model looks right. I’d recommend it to anyone.

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Just to call your attention to the glaring errors against the plane in the film, to save e-mails – the ejection seat is the wrong type, some of the stenciling on the nose is different, and the wings are the wrong colour. I was working from the video to begin with, and had sprayed the wings aluminium and decaled them before I studied the DVD (much clearer) and found that they should have been gloss white as per the Hasegawa painting chart. D’Oh! Also, the eagle eyed will have spotted a strange black triangle on the cockpit canopy. I’ve got to be honest, I cracked it a bit while masking it and I had to use something to cover it up! Only the true cogniscenti will know.  

Just for fun, I also played about with the picture publishing programme on my computer, and put my Starfighter onto a background shot of RAF Fairford on an untypically sunny day. Convinced?

Dean 

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Photos and text © by Dean Large