Aires

1/32 F-104G Starfighter Exhaust Nozzle Set For the Hasagawa F-104

Stock Number: 2077

Reviewed By  Rick Bellanger, IPMS# 35220

MSRP: $23.95 www.aires.cz The new Aires F-104G Exhaust Nozzle Set is a welcomed addition to the few after market detail sets available for the Hasagawa F-104. It consists of 4 parts, 3 of these are highly detailed resin parts and the fourth is a photo etch piece. The resin parts consist of a nozzle, a tube and an engine section. All are highly detailed and well cast with no imperfections that I could find. There is a little cleanup involved which is simply to remove the casting blocks from the resin items. A little wet sanding with some 320 wet and dry paper glued to a sheet of glass and you're done. The parts were washed with warm soapy water to remove any residual chemicals and dust left behind. I primed them with my favorite primer (a $1.00 rattle can of grey primer from our favorite store, where America Buys, begins with a W and ends with Mart). I then painted them using several different shades of Alclad II paints. I installed the photo etch piece and left it unpainted. Assembly was pretty straight forward, just four pieces and the guide/ directions provided, were very easy to follow. Installing it into the F-104 was a little challenging. There are no direct attachment points for the exhaust nozzle to attach to the fuselage. I ended up using a piece of ¼" x ¼" bass wood about an ½" long ACC'ed to the bottom of the nozzle tube to give the assembly something to sit on (wish I took a photo to show you but I forgot, sorry). I used thick gap filling ACC to glue it in place, which gave me a couple of seconds for proper alignment, and left the model alone for a couple of hours. It all worked out beautifully. Now I have an F-104 that looks even better. A couple of the guys from the local club were impressed and said they would have to get one. My thanks go out to Aires for providing us at IPMS USA with an excellent sample for our review corps to share with others. It is a welcomed addition and an OUTSTANDING product. I highly recommend it.

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