1/48 Hasegawa F-104C Starfighter (Part 1)

Gallery Article by Uncle Rick Chin

 

I started this kit about three weeks ago and have been building it off and on since then.  First there is the cockpit, which is good, except that the left side of the dash is a little  'light' on the detail.  It might be a bad mold. I found out that other people aren't having this problem, so perhaps it is my bad luck to get one that is slightly inferior - no big deal. There is room for aftermarket cockpit bits for sure with this kit, unlike the Rev/Mon F-15E.

 

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Currently I am working on adding detail to the canopy, all scratch built, but that is another story.  If and when you build this kit, make sure that you install the cockpit first before closing the 2 halves of the fuselage, or you will be sorry.  Drill out the  4 holes for the position lights around the afterburner and the 2 for the nav. lights behind the intake cooler ramps, as they forget to mention this in the instructions.   I am building the kit pretty much as is, so I am not going to rave for sure; nor moan about the ejection pin marks, the overdone panels and rivets, fit and the shortcomings. It seems that every one says this is a great kit.  I will have to disagree, but it is one of my dream planes, so I decided to go ahead and just build it.

Stay tuned for the next part of this buildup, coming soon to ARC!

Uncle Rick Chin

      

Photos and text © by Uncle Rick Chin