F104 bits and bobs

With the successful maiden of the F104 as a PSS machine, I decided those horrible decals and colour scheme had to go.  Lots of sanding later, and the paint is mostly gone on the fuselage, but I had a problem with the wings.

The guy who built it didn't actually put anything over the veneered panels, other than maybe some sanding sealer on the wood, then primed and painted it. Yuck.  The grain was evident when closely inspected, and that just won't do.  Time for my favourite filler!  3M red spot putty / glazing putty.

A good thin film is all that is needed - most of it will come off in sanding, so I used a plastic filler spatula to scrape it on.  Some sanding later...

There! It's mostly gone.  The surface now feels like a sheet of glass - very happy with that.  Yes I could have solarfilmed it, but that always leaves a finish that WILL peel, bubble, or lift at some point.  Horrible stuff.  Or, of course, I could have glassed it - but the hinge job on the surfaces are so good at the moment, I don't want to disturb them.

So, rolling the rocketship over sees the next job - the underside.  I've given her a good sanding, but I think I will do some more glaze puttying, and a bit of P38 on the centreline of the fuselage too.  I may also 3D print some sleek servo covers as I'm missing one and the others do even cover the servo horn.

She's pretty close to priming now - I think the this and the Flanker will be hitting the paint shop at the same time in the very near future.  At this rate, they will both be ready to fly at the end of February, and maybe a cheeky Orme visit will be lined up for that purpose!