1/72 Monogram F-104C Starfighter

by John McCormick

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I won this kit at a model show a few years back, and being primarily a 1/32 scale guy, I had no plans to build it.  However, I thought it might be a good subject to build in order to practice my bare metal finish technique, so I gave it a go.
 
I approached the project with a very casual attitude, and I built it on and off (mostly off) over a period of 6 months.  The kit is easy to assemble, and the fit of the parts is excellent.  After assembly was complete, the model was polished with plastic polish so that the surface was as smooth and shiny as possible.   The wings and nose were painted first then masked off.  Next, the natural metal finish was achieved using Model Master Buffing Metalizers.  I tried to make individual panels different shades of metal by masking them with wet coffee filters and painting different shades of metal.  However, the difference between the shades is too subtle to really see the difference. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

  

  

The kit was built completely out of box, and the casual approach was a nice change of pace for me.  Although the results aren't spectacular, I learned quite a bit, and it was a lot of fun.

John

Photos and text © by John McCormick