Detailing The Wings

The wings are getting closer to completion with the roundels now painted. Next is the lettering and a little subtle weathering.

I will start painting the markings on the fuse this weekend if the weather permits. Once that is done I will finish the lettering ( nomenclature) and then put it away for the flying season. It will be used for a couple of displays this summer and next fall I will start the rigging of the plane. 

Cockpit and Little External Details

I must admit I am not very fond of doing the cockpits and find them to be a tedious task at best but important in the overall result. I am not finished the cockpit yet but you can get the idea from these two photos.  

You can also see that I have some of the rub on decals on the fuse. These are from Tailormade decals in Germany and are very nice but do require time and patience as they are very fragile until they are on and clear coated.

On the F104 the canopy extends back behind the pilots seat and therefore I need to have something under the canopy to simulate the real aircraft's structure.

You can see that I have built a curved cover with the same look as the full size but needed to simulate the raised battleship type rivets. To do this I take a syringe and some thixotropic epoxy glue and placed a small dot of it in the pre-marked positions and then painted it flat black.

These two pictures show the external temperature probe that sits on the lower starboard side of the forward fuselage. I take no credit for the finished part that you see as a friend of mine Jon Harwood used his $400,000 CNC router and some very expensive software to create this little part that would rest on the end of your finger. We will use the same method for the two transducers for the AOA and the stick shaker.

Before I put any more of the decals on the model and then find out that the paint mask covers them ( the problem is when you remove the mask it tends to remove the decal as well) so I will forge ahead with the painting of the RCAF 703 as these are the largest of the painted decals on the fuse.

The roundels that go on the wing are large but there is very little decals on the wings to interfere with. Now I need to wait for a warmer day to roll the plane outside and start the 4 colour paint process.

F-104 Details .... All 16 Pages Worth

Detailing the Zipper with rub on nomenclature that has been sent for the F-104 ..... All 16 pages! I will be at it for a long time.

Dustin Buescher's Skymster F 104

Here's a great preview of the "Zipper" in action.

Zipper Wings

It is now time to paint the huge wings. J. The RCAF Zippers of this era had white top surfaces and a grey/green colour bottom surface. It is the same colour used on the nose cone and a couple of other places on the plane.

I put a little piece of Flight Metal on the inner part of the leading and training edge flap to make it a bit more realistic looking. The same is done on the aileron.

Canopy Access

Since the canopy on the full size aircraft was not hydraulically operated I have decided to use a simple piano wire to hold it down for flight. For static and to gain access to the electronics bay the nose cone slides off and then the wire is pulled back releasing the canopy.

Once the canopy is released it can be rotated to the side but some resistance is needed to hold it up and to give it the proper feel when rotating so I have just used a spare air cylinder to add resistance. It is not connected to any air supply just friction holds the canopy in place.

Canopy Installation

While I am waiting for the nomenclature to arrive I have decided to start on the modifications to the canopy to make it functional and scale as well. First I needed to cut the forward part off the aft part. A fine Zona saw does this nicely if you take your time. I have masked the Plexiglas to protect it from me! LOL

The real canopy used a type of, for lack of better word, piano hinge. This is easy as far as  hinging goes and I happen to have a nice little piano hinge to do this.

I have decided to use a simple piano wire (in keeping with the piano theme) to lock the canopy in place. Instead of being pneumatically operated it will just be manual like the real F-104.

Since the full scale canopy was not hydraulically operated but operated by a strong arm, I will do likewise. OK, maybe not a strong arm in my case but strong fingers. :-)

Satisfied with the operation of the hinge I needed to cut off the extra material on the flange or return lip that is on the canopy and frame from ½ “ inch to about ¼ “and the same around the forward wind screen lip. To support the canopy I needed to make a canopy frame that is the same as the full size one used.

I will try to copy it as close as possible by using brass tubes soldiered together and bonded to the canopy. Once I have installed this I will mask the Plexiglas and paint the whole thing flat black.

Here's a picture of the instrument panel that I am going to install. More details added to this F-104 but it will be worth it in the long run. Check out the video below too!