1/72 Italeri F-104G

Gallery Article by Alex Cimenti on Oct 3 2011

 

F-104G Hellenic Air Force (Polemiki Aeroporia)

Happy modelling to everyone, just a few weeks ago I finished this nice Italeri F104G in Hellenic Air Force markings, for the occasion I bought an Italeri F104G kit (formerly an old ESCI kit of the 80's) but some pieces come from Hasegawa (Tip tanks and AIM9J+Launchers), or scratchbuilt, I painted this Zipper in the last camo pattern applied to HAF starfighters, the "Vietnam camo scheme".

 

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The assembly of this model is easy and does not require much extra work, obviously the Hasegawa kit has a superior quality compared to the old ESCI one, to fill the gap I add some extra details using some scratchbuilt parts and Hasegawa spares, like wingtip tanks, ejection seat, the two AIM9J AAMs with their AERO launchers ect.

As many modellers know, one of the main wrong issues in the Italian kit are the wing tip tanks of wrong format (underscaled diameter as I described in a former review) as well as the main gear, canopy size and air intakes, that had to be modified and detailed thanks to my spare parts store, and the aftermarket.

The final result is pretty good anyway, and reduces the gap between Italeri and Hasegawa kits.

The camo pattern is typical three tone Vietnam style scheme, I finished the kit using Icarus decals, Fabien Antonietti FanaKit site, and the Hellenic Air Force historical portal as reference; the external store comprises a pair of tip tanks and two underbelly AIM9J with their AERO 3BL launchers, typical of the HAF interceptors ready for QRA guarding Aegean skies.

In the pictures you can see some detail work and weathering on wings and tanks.
Icarus Decals from Greece are usually top quality, the enclosed instructions are in full colors with 3 view drawings, and there's plenty of codes, stenciling roundels for F104G, RF104G, F4E, RF4E etc...

Happy modelling to everyone and see you next time for another Starfigher kit...

Alex Cimenti

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Photos and text © by Alex Cimenti