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Good morning all! Its about time that I launched my next project on WIP. The poor old F-84F and Mig-23MF are still slowly edging their way to completion but in parallel I have been contemplating my next build(s). Having chewed over a number of other subjects, all of which I will get to at some point (Drakens, F-51D, Ouragan, F-84E, etc) I have settled on the machine that I hold dear in my aviation and modelling heart - Kelly Johnson's superb, elegant and fast F-104. Over time I have been building the store of these, of aftermarket and, more recently, I have been getting decals prepared. I am indebted, as always, to Giorgio @Giorgio N for his knowledge of the subject and drawing skills, while also to Mika at Arctic Decals for his faultless service and generosity. For these builds - a F-104G, a production F-104A and a YF-104A - I will use the Hasegawa 1/72 kit as a base and will add the appropriate parts from Esci/Italeri (Esci) F-104A/C kits. In addition I will use Master pitots and Aires seats. For the G-model I will pull the dart and winding gear from a Hasegawa weapons set (Weapons V number X72-4). Essentially the Esci/Italeri will provide the rear end, the door and the wings. Some may question the extra work in amalgamating the Hasegawa and Esci kits. The reason is that the Esci has an obviously overblown canopy. It does, though, have more detail on the wings. I guess it is swings and roundabouts and personal choice. To me the Esci doesn't look right. This will be a slow burn project, as are all of my builds, and will probably take me across the next 12 months given my normal speed! I hope you will all be interested enough to keep going and to follow me along the way. Anyway, I guess a few photos are in order? Well, here are the three subjects: Credit: Public Domain It will be "4241" Credit: Public Domain Credit: Public Domain For references I have a lot of Starfighter stuff. Here's a selection. Of course, the web helps a lot! For the decals I have already got the Taiwanese sorted by using the Best Fong (for 4241) and Frontpenny (for 4356) sets: and for 55-2963 (clearly not the FAU and F-84F stuff!) : The kits: Aftermarket: If it all goes okay I then have a TF-104G to build! Back soon!!! Martin

Hi all, I’m happy to report the roll out of my latest build, representing YF-104A Starfighter, 55-2969, depicted as she was when flown by the GE Engines test fleet in the late 1950s. The fleet operated a number of aircraft in very similar colour schemes, including a B-66, a T-38, an F-4A, an F-101A an F-102A. She eventually went to the QF-104 programme and was blown out of the sky in the late 1960s. This was a natural choice as my first Starfighter build since taking up the hobby again over the past few years. FYI (courtesy i-f-s): "This General Electric test aircraft had been returned to the USAF in August 1961 and directly transferred to Lockheed Palmdale in September. In February 1962 it was transported to Lockheed Burbank and in August 1962 it arrived at McClellen for IRAN overhaul but also QF-104A modifications and preparations. It was delivered to Eglin on June 11th, 1964. At Eglin it got nickname "Capt Sassey" due to the fact that it"s engine always made a "Sassling" sound. On July 1st, 8th and 14th, 1965, this QF-104A flew similar drone test missions at 35 MFT at a speed of MACH 1.8. All missions went as planned. On the 23rd that same month it repeated this tested mission followed by being a target for a missile shooting exercise. The missile pulled 25 G's while tracking the Starfighter. The Starfighter was avoided and the Starfighter could land again safely. 28 September 1968: QF-104A 55-2969 flew an unmanned mission. During the mission it was hit under its left wing by an AIM-9 missile fired by a USAF F-4. Gladly the aircraft could be brought/controlled back home and it landed ok. "Chuck", at the controls, encountered some trouble con-trolling the heading on landing. There was no other damage and could be repaired. 26 January 1971: A number of years passed without any loss but this day the QF-104A 55-2969 was killed during an unmanned mission by a AIM-4H missile by a USAF F-4E Phantom. It was said it had 24 missions logged." During her time as a GE test machine she flew in a number of variations of the basic scheme so I have taken the decision to build a compromise, including most of the earlier scheme features. She is depicted in some images with a test probe and in others without this. Early on the NMF and white surround to the star-and-bar and lettering was wider too. Later she had a little nose art as “Queenie”, but I chose not to include this. She is not shown anywhere with underwing tanks but to me she just had to have some. The base kit is the Hasegawa F-104G/S, and I used a spare Italeri as a donor kit for the wings (more detailed than the Hasegawa) and, importantly, the fin/rudder. Excellent advice from @Giorgio N. This meant keeping the better rear fuselage detail of the Hasegawa. Additionally, I used a little aftermarket (seat, probe, jet pipe, etc). I had to adapt the underwing pylons, canting them correctly and modifying the tanks accordingly. They’re not perfect but hey, ho! 😊. Fortunately, the Hasegawa kit includes J-model items so I used the non-bulge undercart doors, wheels, etc. What did I use, specifically? Well: 1. Kit – Hasegawa F-104G/S Starfighter 1/72 (kit no. D17) 2. Donor kit – Italeri F-104C Starfighter 1/72 (kit no. 1359) 3. Aftermarket – Aires C-2 Seat (7316), Master pitot (7202), Aires F-104A/C jet pipe (7114) 4. Decals – Xtradecal national insignia, home drawn and printed serials using internet auction paper and Papilio fixer ( @TheRealMrEd recommendation), lettering, GE logo, etc, Armycast stencils (ACD 72 013), Xtradecal red lining 5. Paints – enamels – Humbrol Metalcote Polished Aluminium (27002), Steel (27003), Olive drab (155), Matt white (33), Matt black (34), Model Master International Red, and other little bits here and there. 6. Masks – USAF lettering etc skillfully produced by @Giorgio N, Canopy mask by Eduard. 7. Washes and weathering – Flory dirt and Tamiya Weathering powders. I hope you like her. Martin