![[IMAGE]](b5boxart.jpg)
Revell/Monogram's kit of the Starfury as far as science fiction kits go is a sound model. However, there are some problem areas that require additional attention to make this model really stand out. The purpose of this article is to point out the problem areas and provide easy solutions. Given that this model is intended to be an out of the box project, I made no attempt to accurize certain areas, like the guns. I will do those modifications while building my second Starfury.
Construction
Basic work started with the center section. The assembly was a little tricky to figure out, but it assembled easily. All assembly was done with Ambroid Proweld, a liquid solvent glue. Equivalent glues include Tenax 7R, Weld On 3 and Testors Liquid Cement. After the center section was assembled, I moved on to the most time consuming part of the model, the wings.
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The Starfury wings are made up of three major sub-sections, the outer wing panels, the middle wing panels and the inner wings which also make up the inner half of the engines. The area that requires the most clean up are the seams where the outer and middle wings join. Part number 8, the lower, middle right wing had the worst fit of the four middle panels on my example. I highly recommend test fitting all the panels before glueing. In this case, after finding the problem area, I trimmed excess plastic with an X-acto knife and did additional sanding with a block sander. The result was an improved fit. Part #8 had a better fit on my second Starfury, nevertheless, I cleaned it up the same way.
I filled the wing seams with gap filling CA (super glue) shot with accelerator. To clean up the seams on the wings, I used 150 grit wet/dry sandpaper. Granted that sounds a little coarse, but 150 grit is stiff and doesn't bend when wet like finer grits can. Once I was done with the major cleanup, the scratches from the 150 grit were smoothed with progressively finer grits.
Now it was time to attach the cockpit to the wings. On the first model, I attached the sub-assemblies as the instructions suggested, but I did something a little different on the second model. In the instructions, it is suggested that the lower wing be attached first, then the inner wing panels, then finally the upper wing. However, after doing this, I noticed it was very difficult to clean up the seam where the upper wing joins the center section, even with needle files. The lower wing to center section seams are more exposed even with the upper wing attached, so I attached the upper wing to the center section on my second Starfury first.
![[IMAGE]](stfryc_1.jpg)
The instructions also indicate that the part number 5, the cockpit bucket, should also be glued in at this point. However, I felt that painting the model would be easier without having to mask the painted cockpit all the time and worry about overspray getting in there, so instead I filed the top alignment nub off the part. It won't be seen when the painted canopy is added anyway and this allowed me the luxury of not having to add the cockpit until after the rest of the model had been painted. It is also a good idea to add the upper guns at this point. They can be added later, but the work will be easier if they are added now. Check out Starship Modeler Resource for hints on how to make the barrels more accurate. Also, one easy way to fill those big square depressions in the back of the guns is to glue two small circles of sheet styrene to the gun backs and file them to the proper shape. This gives a much improved appearance to the model when viewed from the rear.
![[IMAGE]](stfryb_1.jpg)
The inner wing panels were added next, but there was a small problem, the lower inner wing panels didn't quite extend all the way to the center section. To correct this on my first model, I tried two methods to fill in the gaps. On the right lower inner wing, which had the smallest gap of the two, I glued it to the center section first, then stretched the wing (something that can only be done with solvent glues) until the engine pod halves were aligned. On the left side, I added a small strip of 1/16" thick styrene to act as a shim and filed it down until the fit was just right. The shim method produced better results then the stretch method, so I will use only the shim method on my second model.
The upper wing panel didn't have the gap problems found on the lower ones, but there was something else. Part 12, the left wing panel sits about 1/16" further back on the engine pad then part 11, the right one. This may not seem like much, but it is very noticeable when the upper guns are attached. The left gun appears to stick out farther, even though both guns are parallel. I didn't notice this on my first model until it was too late to fix, but for my second model, I used the back edge of an X-acto blade to carefully remove the wing panel from the engine pod. Then the inner wing can be repositioned as needed.
The rest of the model had its usual share of seams to fill. The remaining tough areas involved the seams where the inner engine pod halves joined the wing. Two of the pods had very bad gaps. To fix this, I added gap filling CA to fill the worst of the gap, then filed it down with a square needle file. Then, a bead of thin CA was added to level any imperfections left by the file. Once the thin CA had dried, the results were better then I had hoped. The last bit of cleanup involved the guns. All four guns have rather noticeable gaps on the inner panels. This isn't visable on the upper guns once they are attached, but the lower ones look really bad. To fix this, cut some sheet styrene plates (1/16" in my case) to shape and glue it to the exposed areas. Use thin CA to fill any imperfections and sand to shape with a needle file.
NEW!! (03/23/98) Painting the Starfury
NEW!! (03/23/98) Detailing the Starfury
NEW!! (03/29/98) Doing Custom Wingart
Also, on the event horizon:
Thunderbolt!
Stay Tuned
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