Aires

Aires 4341 1/48th TF-104 Cockpit Set Aires 4344 1/48th F-104D Cockpit set For the Hasegawa 1/48 F-104s

Stock Number: 4341 / 4344

Reviewed By  Chad Richmond, IPMS# 10346

MSRP: $38.95 each Thanks to Aires for providing the review samples (www.aires.cz) With the exception of six parts on the photo etch fret, these kits are identical. Both are cast in Aires' trademark dark gray resin, and are very crisp. The fret that contains the control sticks and the ejection system bolts is very fragile, and between the two kits, I could not find two of the ejection system bolts. This is kinda unusual, due to the way the kits are packed. They are encased in a plastic container with the instruction sheet and a cardboard backing. All of the resin parts have a foam rubber backing that keeps everything from rattling around too much. All together there are eight resin frets that contain fifteen parts, a clear acetate sheet with the two main instrument panel layouts, the four sub panels and the gun sight. The photo etch fret contains 42 soft metal parts. I like these much better that the typical brass photo etch, because these parts are easily bent and shaped. This is especially helpful when it comes to the many straps that are involved in the pilot restraint system. An 8 ½ X 11 instruction sheet accompanies the set. Since both sets are essentially the same, I opted to do the TF-104 cockpit. Both sets give you the C2 type ejection seats, so you need to check the particular aircraft you are modeling to see if these are the correct seats. As I was searching through my reference materials, I found just about any combination of seats that you could imagine, as well as colors. The instruction sheet kinda gets you in the ball park on placement, but you need your reference material handy to be sure. There is no color reference or guide anywhere, so references are a must. The casting of all of the resin parts is very crisp, and there is very little, if any clean up required, except for the pour blocks on the bottom of the seats, the two instrument combing and the tub. The pour blocks on the side panels come off very easily. The clear instrument films were painted white on the backside and attached to the resin panel using a thin film of epoxy. Once set, the photo etch panels were secured with epoxy, also. The web site http://www.ejectionsite.com/ was very helpful when it came to the assembly and painting of the two ejection seats. All of the parts come together well as a completed tub, but the fit is another subject all together. I did some dry fitting with some Hasegawa TF-104G fuselage halves, and it was evident there was going to have to be a lot of trimming and thinning done before it would fit effortlessly. As most of us know, very seldom are two aircraft cockpits the same, but these two sets agree with most of the reference photos I had. A little bit of wash and a little bit of dry brushing, and you're done. I was very pleased at how everything fit, up to a point, and the seats are really nice. I would have preferred the seat belts be cast with the seats, but in the case of the C2's, this might very well be a nightmare to reproduce. The rudder pedals cannot be installed as shown on the instruction sheet, because they make the instrument panel assembly too wide to fit in the slot. I tried several different ways of putting them in, and finally left them out all together. Both the front and rear instrument panels will not sit properly unless the control sticks are trimmed on the front. And, alas, when the whole cockpit tub was assembled, it was too wide to fit between the fuselage halves. I did not go through the process of thinning the assembly down to fit, but it's apparent it will take some trimming. My thanks to John Noack and Aires for the opportunity to review these two sets.

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