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All bets are off ! It is rumoured to be a - money maker - unpreviously announced kit. Source: https://www.facebook.com/Kineticmodel/posts/1244366542397121 V.P.

Hi all. My latest aircraft build is Kinetic's 1/48 Starfighter, more specific: the F-104s ASA-M from the Italian airforce. A few aftermarket parts were used like an Eduard seat and instrument panel and a Reskit exhaust. The kit itself is excellent, the decals not so. The few general decals on the sheet are too small and no stencils are present. So, I ordered a declaset from Armycast and stencils from Tauro. I used several photos from the internet to determine the color and eventually decided on MrHobby 325 as the final colour over a black base and several darker colours underneath. Weathering was done with Abteilung 502 oilpaint. Thank you for watching. René

A while ago I started 4 F-104 kits at the same time, this sounded like a good idea back then. Unfortunately I couldn't keep the mojo for this foursome and they were destined for the shelf of doom. They are all Hasegawa F-104 kits with one being the Eduard boxing. They are all machines of the Royal Netherlands air force, in two different camouflage schemes and three different roles. Two will be grey, the early 60's scheme and two in the final camouflage scheme. Two trainers, one reconnaissance and one air defence QRA machine. They are all supplemented with a mix of Eduard and True Details C2 seats, Master pitot tubes, Eduard wheels and wing rocket pylons on the grey dual, and for the grey QRA machine also Eduard rocket launcher and sidewinders. Also, the reconnaissance RF-104 is upgraded with the DACO F-104 set with the smooth wings and Orpheus pod. Also on all there is canopy tubing from DACO and CMK as well a opened para brake housing on two of them. The decals are a mix of Dutch Decal sheets and stencils sheets of the Dutch Starfighter foundation(DSF decals). The latter becoming a mojo killer for me as they are printed on one big decal sheet you have to cut out yourself and there are a lot of them! Also, they are designed for the camouflaged fighter bomber version so when building one for another role, in grey or a dual its quite a puzzle to place them right. Also for the dual there a lot of differences in the forward fuselage part of course so they have to be sourced elsewhere. Luckily someone from the DSF printed some for me. So this is were it ended a year ago; Luckily the mojo came back and I finally finished the first of the foursome! It's the grey dual from 322/323 squadron in the early 60's. This machine was the QRA trainer for the pilots of 322 and 323 squadron based at Leeuwarden AB. Hope you like it! Full build off the foursome can be seen HERE Erik

Model Art : http://www.modelart-shop.jp/ & https://www.facebook.com/modelartjapan/ http://www.modelart-shop.jp/?mode=srh&sort=n&cid=&keyword=NF-104A&x=13&y=14 Source: https://www.facebook.com/modelartjapan/photos/a.278517849179941.1073741828.266008607097532/310769515954774/?type=3&theater V.P.

For the 1/72 scale Starfighters the Hasegawa is the best one - not by a huge margin but still best all around kit with best details. Now, Hasegawa only does CF-104, F-104G and F-104S - and not the early A or C models. But there are several early Starfighters I would like to do - so I wanted to try that how viable it is to backdate a Hasegawa F-104. This is my starting point, a Hasegawa CF-104. The F-104G and F-104S packings are very similar but with few notable differences. This kit has the correct wheel well covers for both A and C and if you want to do a F-104C in South East Asia configuration, this box has the RWR receivers as they were fitted on late CF-104's too. As normal with Hasegawa, they have a million reboxings, but I think all CF-104 boxings are the same apart from the decals. And they also have atleast one boxing with CF-104 and F-104G/S in the same package. Just something to take note, as Hasegawa has a bad habit of cutting away parts of a sprue that are not needed in the specific version that comes with the box. The sprues. Let's take little closer look on what we need to take into consideration when backdating this kit. Wheels and rims, the F-104A&C wheels are narrower than F-104G wheels with different rims. The real CF-104 most likely has the narrower wheels as it comes with the non-bulged wheel well cover, but that doesn't really matter as the kit only has one set of wheels for all the version. So they are the same for all Hasegawa F-104G and CF-104. Not that it matters hugely as the difference in width in this scale is most likely not a huge deal. But the rims are different, so that's something we need to take into consideration. In the picture, there's F-104C rims, and as compared to the kit part there is noticeable difference. Aftermarket parts are available so that is the most likely route I will take. Though I might try putty & hand drill first as the rims are quite simple. We will see. Wheel well covers. F-104G wheel covers have bulges, but as these are CF-104 covers they don't have them so they are correct for this build as is. But even with F-104G covers, they would be rather easy to sand the bulges away. Exhaust nozzle, the kit part is not hugely detailed but it resembles the one on the right more - which is incorrect for this build. We want the one on the left. Aftermarket parts are available, which is a good route to take especially if you want some extra details. I might have a go at trying to add some details for the existing kit part, though. Nothing to lose. Cockpit - now I'm not hugely well versed on the F-104 cockpit so I don't know the differences. There must be some but I'm trusting that Eduard has done the research for me and I am using a PE set to add (hopefully correct) details. But again, not that it will probably make a huge difference in this scale, atleast with a canopy closed build. Now the most noticeable difference is the tail - F-104A and C have smaller tail. But it doesn't look terribly hard to cut away part of the Hasegawa tail and rescribe. I mean - (with Jeremy Clarkson's voice) how hard can it be? Right, there should be the main differences (the ones that matter for this build atleast). While I have huge interest in the Starfighter I am by no means authority on all the differences on all the versions - so if you have something to share about this matter, please do so Now as with the specific version I will be doing, I am still undecided whether it will be a Pakistani F-104A or USAF F-104C in SEA camo. Differences are rather small with those two versions, but the SEA F-104C would require adding an refueling probe which I would probably need to scratch build. We can go into details once I'll decide what I will do, there probably will be some small things that I have forgotten here. Let's see how it goes

Hello all, first post so hope this works. Thought I'd share with you this recently completed build of a Tamiya 1/48 F14a Tomcat. Most of it is OOTB with only Eduard wheels & decals by FCM added. Painted by mostly Vallejo acrylics, with various enamel & oil washes/effects by AK & AMMO Mig. I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with this one, as it has turned out a but different to what I originally planned. I've made a lot of mistakes, some of which will be fairly easy to spot, such as the decals on the missiles. It has ended up a lot more weathered, due in part to covering up botched varnishing sessions mid-way through the painting stages, & frankly horrific decals that were just as likely to split as soon as you looked at them (for info, if you've seen these decals on ebay & thought about buying a set, be like Zammo and just say no). Most I've managed to patch together, a few like the names on the canopy, I've had to put down to heavy scratching. However, this is only the second aircraft I've painted in my adult life, my background being in Games Workshop miniatures, and despite all the various obstacles, I have loved putting this together, and eager to start on my next one (likely to be a 1/48 SU-35 by GWH). Be great to hear your thoughts & opinions, good or bad! Thanks for looking.

I've got a few kits in the nearly finished category and this one is the one I started most recently. Finished first probably because it was such an enjoyable build. Built out the box with Hataka Orange line paints.

Przedstawiam model Lockheed F-104G Starfightet ze starożytnego zestawu, który został ukończony dzisiaj Hasegawa (premiera rynkowa w 1963 roku) w edycji brytyjskiej firmy FROG. Prezentowany na zdjęciach model pochodzi z pierwszej edycji FROG, która odbyła się w 1969 roku. Różnił się od późniejszej edycji elementami podwozia głównego, które składało się z 6 elementów, aw nowszych edycjach - jednym z wyższym sztywność. Starałem się pokazać jak najbardziej pudełkowaty charakter modelu bez wyceny, która mi się podoba (tylko osłona kabiny jest dociskana ze względu na uszkodzenie oryginału i rurkę Pitota z igieł iniekcyjnych). Udało mi się użyć oryginalnych kalkomanii, które mimo 50 lat były bardzo dobre, co było dla mnie sporym zaskoczeniem. Zapraszamy do galerii gotowego modelu .

Hi guys, my last project is F-104G Starfighter from Eduard limited edition. A very enjoyable work with no problems. I painted with my own blends of green and brown, mostly Tamiya and Gunze. Small details in cockpit with Vallejo. Eduard included a resin ejection seat, masks, PE parts and very good Cartograf decals (stencils prinded by Eduard). I added a pitot tube from Master. I made wash and weathering with artist oil paints.

Modellers Data File #36 - The F-104 Starfighter (9781838045807) MA Publications The F-104 Starfighter (or missile with a man in it) was Lockheed's & Kelly Johnson's attempt to reverse the trend for large more complex fighters then being developed. It was basically an engine with very little airframe surrounding it. The aircraft had a short life in the US with them going towards heavier and more complex aircraft. The Starfighter did have much more success with NATO nations, though it would later transpire that this success was gained someway by Lockheed bribing officials in some of those countries. The G model was the most numerous model made with over 1100 being built, many under licence. This book is the 36th in the long line of books in the Modeller’s Datafile series, and arrives as a perfect-bound A4+ book in portrait format with 184 pages within the card cover. If you’re familiar with the series, you’ll know the content is split between the real aircraft and modelling them, but here’s a more thorough breakdown: Introduction Chapter I Seeing Starts - The Birth of the Starfighter Chapter II The F-104A to F-104D - Starfighters in US Service Chapter III The Canadair CF-104 Starfighter - Canadian Built F-104s Chapter IV Export Starfighters - The F/TF/RF-104F to F-104S Chapter V International Users - Starfighters worldwide Colour Side Views Eight pages of colour side profiles of various types and operators Modelling the Starfighter Vietnam Warrior - 1:48 Hasegawa F-104C (Andy Renshaw) Sleek Greek - 1:48 Hasegawa TF-104S (George Roidis) Supersonic Starfigher - 1:72 Revell F-104G (Jezz Coleman) Bunesfighter - 1:48 Eduard F-104G (Rene Van Der Hart) Marineflieger Startfighter - 1:48 Eduard F-104G (Oliver Soulley) Super Star - 1:48 Kinetic F-104G (James Ashton) Marineflieger Missile - 1:48 Kinetic F-104G (Jezz Coleman) Samurai Starfighter - 1:48 Kinetic F-104J (Dawid Branski) Dutch Master - 1:48 Kinetic F-104G (Barry Koerver) Tiny TF-104G - 1:144 Revell Tf-104G (Tomasz Lubczynski) Danish Star - 1:48 Kinetic F-104G (Marcin Torbinski) Appendix I - Technical Diagrams 10 pages with pictures Appendix II - Walkarounds Belgian F-104G (luc Colin) Japanese F-104J (Z Tanuki) (The text calls ts an F-105J !) Luftwaffe TF-104G Appendix III - Understanding the Subject 4 pages of Aircraft Profiles Appendix IV - Kitography Available accessories, kits & decals at time of writing Appendix V - Starfighter Variants 4 pages concerning the different variants of the Starfighter Startfighter Gallery 22 pages of colour photos of the Starfighter Plans 2 Pages of 1/72 plans. There is a lot of text on the type during the first half of the book that cover the airframe beginning through prototype, the initial in-service details, followed by the subsequent upgrades to capabilities. After the US Aircraft there is more consideration to the other nations which then went on to use the type The modelling side of the book begins now, and extends to 11 builds of mostly 1:48 Kinetic & Hasegawa kits, with a 1:72 Revell kit; and a 1:144 Revell Kit for a little variation, that are carried out by various modellers, the names of whom you can see in brackets in the list above. My only criticism of the book would be that it would be better to maybe have less more detailed builds of the main 1:48 kits as a couple are quite spares in modelling details. The next section consists of a number of walk around photos printed on a cream background that shows the airframes in close-up detail, all of which is grist for the mill for us modellers, and includes some nice photos of the landing gear, airframe and sensors all in suitable sizes. The final sections are the Kitography, which I’ve always felt is a tiny bit redundant as things change so quickly in our hobby, as we now have helpful sites like Scalemates that are updated constantly. It’s only three pages though, so nothing to fret about if that’s not your thing. lastly the Gallery section could be considered padding given the large number of photos available on-line now. Conclusion It’s a good reference for the Starfighter as a whole, and is a handy one-stop source of information for anyone wanting to improve their knowledge of the type. There is a lot of information within and a lot of excellent photos in full colour, which one of the bonuses of a book about a modern fast jet over a WWII type. Well worth a read, and it will be good source of reference down the line. As a modelling book I feel that more time devoted to modelling might help the perceived customer base more than the more numerous but less detailed builds included. Still overall recomended. Review sample courtesy of

Hi everyone, here is my recent completion for the Interceptors group build. It’s a Danish CF-104D made from kinetic’s 1/48 release and is OOB except for some (rubbish) decals that all silvered badly. Starboard side is going through a process of fixing that issue but Port side is shown here, with lesser but still present silvering and all. here’s the build thread: and it’s based on this airframe... And here with her older sister-

Seen in the Eduard Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/EduardCompany 1/48 Lockheed F-104G Starfighter???? - New kit (MiG-21 style!)? - Reboxing: Revellogram, ESCI or Hasegawa + improvement sets? - New PE or/& resin sets? IMHO the DACO set (http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234933435-148-lockheed-f-104-starfighter-updatedetailing-set-by-daco-released) and decals + the Hasegawa kit are good enough. V.P.

Hello friends Some of you may have been following my build report. Now it's time to hire it here at the RFI. It was different and was a lot of fun. So I am satisfied. I am open to constructive criticism.

F-104N Starfighter z zestawu Akademii ukończony. Ten model kosztował mnie dużo pracy, ale efekt końcowy wygląda moim zdaniem całkiem nieźle. Zapraszamy do galerii.

Hello Friends ! As a fan of Lockheed F-104 Starfighter and a fan of vintage models, I took the aircraft model from the Academy kit in 1/72 scale. It is a clone of the Hasegawa kit from 1963 and, like the original, has the same simplifications and errors such as the lack of undercarriage hatches, a primitive cockpit and a fatal cabin cover. I decided to slightly modify the model and supplement it with missing elements

F-104DJ Seat Belts & Masks(for Kinetic kit) 1:48 Eduard These sets are for the new Kinetic kit Seat belts (FE1148) This set comprises a small fret with the belts for the C-2 seats fitted to the Japanese aircraft. Masks (EX748A) These are the Tface masks for both sides of the canopy, and the wheels for the kit Review samples courtesy of

TF-104G Update Set, Seat Belts & Masks(for Kinetic kit) 1:48 Eduard These sets are for the new Kinetic kit Update Sets (491139) This set comprises two colour Nickel frets and a smaller brass one. The main parts are the new instrument panels and side consoles for both consoles. New rudder pedals for the cockpits are provided as well as many upgrade parts for the two ejection seats. There are new parts for the coaming, and the avionics bay behind the cockpits. There are new canopy sills and mirrors. For the main gear bay there are electronics boxes parts for the doors and gear legs. There is a new panel for the underside of the main exhaust. The last item is a new AOA sensor. Zoom Set (FE1139) This set comprises both Nickel frets from the main set. Seat belts (FE1140) This set comprises a small fret with the belts for the Martin Baker seats fitted to the these aircraft. Masks (EX739) These are the Tface masks for both sides of the canopy, and the wheels for the kit Review samples courtesy of

F-104C wheels 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby - For Kinetic kits These wheels are for the new Kinetic Kits, and are a drop in replacement for the kit parts. Review sample courtesy of

F-104 Early & Late type wheels 1:48 CMK by Special Hobby - For Kinetic kits These wheels are for the new Kinetic Kits, and are a drop in replacement for the kit parts. F-104G/S Wheels late type (Q48381) F-104G/J Wheels Early type (Q48380) Review sample courtesy of

I would like to take part in this GB with the 1/48th Monogram Lockheed F-104G Starfighter. This is the 1986 #5447 version of this venerable kit that was first released in 1978 and last in 2013. This version was released as the specially painted "Buschel Canary" operated by Jbg 33 and was retired in 1985. I paid £4.39 for the kit on eBay 11 years ago and I almost sent it back, the box smelled of mildew and sadly the decals are unusable. Not sure how I am going to paint her yet, maybe a 'Tiger' scheme but I have plenty of choices. Whilst looking around in the stash I found some Eduard photo etch detail sets which must have been in a sale so I might use some of them on this build. Michael

Here's my first offerings and my first Starfighter too! the box art shows the Richthofen Squadron logo on the intake but the decals do not. I have looked online and I cannot tell what it represents. Decals... Here's a closeup. Looks vaguely NATO-ish to me... --John

Avantgarde Model Kits (AMK) is reported by MMCT Facebook Group as working on a 1/48th Lockheed F-104G Starfighter kit - ref. Considering the MMCT support to the project I guess we can expect soon or later a RoCAF "long nose" F-104G with the HIAC-1 LOROP system - http://www.916-starfighter.de/F-104_ROCAF_LOROP_H.Prins.pdf To be followed Sources: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilitaryModelingSRG/permalink/2374473086101901/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilitaryModelingSRG/permalink/2374473086101901/ Original box art as anonymously published on January 4th, 2019. Note the two - wrong and now disappeared - characteristical F-104S additional ventral fins. Source: https://www.facebook.com/groups/MilitaryModelingSRG/permalink/2209396522609559/ V.P.

F-104J/F-104DJ [2in1] Starfighter JASDF (K48092) 1:48 Kinetic Model via Lucky Model The Starfighter was another of Kelly Johnson’s advanced designs, although some might argue that at least initially it wasn’t one of his best. The initial design had problems with the ejection seat, which fired downward in early models, but its original remit was a high-altitude interceptor so that wouldn’t really have been an issue in all but the most extreme situations. When its role was widened this became a greater problem, as did its relatively high landing speed and comparative lack of manoeuvrability in a dogfight, amongst other things. It served in Vietnam, but was withdrawn pretty quickly from US service due to its general unsuitability, and while looking for suitable victims/buyers, Lockheed were embarrassed by and found guilty of passing huge bribes and “incentives” to companies and politicians to sell their “man in a missile” design to other counties. Those politicians suffered embarrassment and resignations, as did the head of Lockheed at the time who resigned, although no-one went to jail IIRC. The F-104G was a serious redesign of the aircraft, incorporating the larger tail of the two-seater, a new more powerful version of the GE J79 jet engine, new avionics and stronger landing gear, coupled with a larger drag chute helped reduce landing problems. The F-104J was a version of the F-104G for the Japanese. A handful were built by Mitsubishi from parts kits while they geared up for licensed production. The J was for the air superiority role and had no strike capability unlike the G The Kit This is a reboxing of the newly tooled F-104 Starfighter from Kinetic to include an additional new fuselage, cockpit etc. so that a single- or two-seat airframe can be made from the same box. The kit arrives in the standard top-opening box, with the Kinetic Gold badge over a painting of a two-seat Starfighter, and inside are five sprues in grey styrene, one in clear, a small sheet of Photo-Etch (PE), decals and instruction booklet in black and white, which could do with being a little better printed in truth. Happily, the parts on the sprues aren’t at all vague, and it is a well-tooled, nicely detailed kit of this type, with a good choice of decal options and the possibility of more on the sheet thanks to a large block of generic numbers. It should be note that while this is a two in one kit, both can not be built from the box. Construction begins with deciding whether you want to build a single seat or two seat aircraft, with the TF built on pages 4-13 and the F on 14-23 of the booklet. This is a nice easy way for the modeller to build the aircraft, as it takes all of the either/or decisions out of the mix apart from that first one. The sprues contain two complete fuselages, and around the rest of the sprues you will find the two cockpits, a new insert for under the nose and a slightly revised gear bay for the TF. The TF-104 wasn’t fitted with the Vulcan cannon, and a little less internal tankage, no centreline pylon, and of course had a redesigned forward fuselage to accommodate the additional crew member, although with no increase in overall length. The seats for the single and dual seater are identical C-2 ones (though the Mk.Q7(A) units are there as well), and are each built up from six styrene parts and a set of PE belts for each one, plus two more plastic parts that forms the launch rail. The cockpit tubs are prepped with instrument panels, throttle controls and sticks, with the single seat ‘pit being… well, shorter. Shocking, I know. A scrap diagram gives you painting call-outs for the panel, but there are no instrument decals so you might want to pick up some of Airscale’s excellent Early Jet dials if you’re interested in raising the level of detail. With the cockpit out of the way, the common radar and exhaust assemblies are made up, the former having 7 parts, while the latter has a rear engine face, afterburner ring and a two-part exhaust tube. The tube has a couple of ejector pin marks on the inside, which will require some clean up if you think they’ll be seen, which will be complicated by the ribbing that is moulded into these parts. It is best done before joining the halves, so break out the putty now, rather than later. There are two exhaust nozzles on the sprues (four if you count both sprues), and only one is appropriate for this variant, although both have very nice detail moulded-in and a thin lip that will look good under paint. The nose gear bays are subtly different, both with good detail after which (painting too) they’re inserted into the lower fuselage insert appropriate to their number of seats. A common main gear bay straddles the narrow fuselage, again with good detail within and a scrap diagram showing which way round it should be inserted into the fuselage, then the nose cone is assembled from two conical halves split top and bottom plus pitot probe and is then set aside for a while. The fuselages both require a little preparation, drilling holes for later use and detail painting the cockpit sidewalls that are moulded into the insides. With these completed, the internal subassemblies are installed into their positions, taking care to align the exhaust by using the scrap diagram provided. The cockpit is completed with one or two coamings with HUD on the front/only cockpit, then fitting the radar and radome in place, hiding that nicely detailed little assembly forever, which always saddens and confuses me a little bit. The appropriate underside insert is fitted in place, with two parts for the single-seater, and just one for the two-seater, both now wearing the correct gear bay on the interior, and the same air-brake a little further aft. The instructions have you putting the elevator on top of the enlarged fin, which is the same type with the G, then you make up the intakes on either side of the fuselage, which are again common and each made up from three parts each – shock-cone, internal trunk, and external fairings that blend with the fuselage. The nose cone is also common, but the gun trough is only fitted to the single-seater, with a choice of two styles of muzzle. The two-seater has an additional trailing jack on the oleo, but uses one of the two wheel options you have for the single seat option, with different bay doors for each option due to the change in fuselage shape. The main gear legs are identical between variants, using five parts each and with a choice of two-part wheels for both fuselage types, and identical bay doors with clear landing lights within, and closed front main bay doors that have a bulged profile. A scrap diagram shows the two positions that the open gear bay doors can be set to, with the forward bay doors drooping down slightly, presumably after loss of hydraulic pressure following shutdown. To the rear are fitted a strake, clear light and the arrestor hook for emergency landings, not for carrier work! The airbrakes and clear lights on the top/aft are able to be fitted open with the use of a retraction jack, or closed by cutting off the hinge-points from the door, with a little paint needed for the former, and careful fitting for the latter. The little stubby wings are common too, with two parts for the main wings with separate leading-edge slats, flaps and ailerons at the rear, using one of the two sets of tabs and cutting off the others to fit the flaps retracted or deployed. A few holes need opening up in the underside for weapons and tankage if you are using them, then they can be fitted into the slots in the fuselage, with PE insert for an airframe without wingtip missile rails or tip-tanks. Unsurprisingly, the canopy installation is different between the two options, even down to the windscreen parts. The twin seater has a small area behind the canopies that can be opened or closed to show off the electronics inside, with a combination fairing and glazed area fitted. A fixed hoop goes between the seats, and a couple of pieces of PE are used to decorate the sills if you’re leaving the canopies open. The movable canopy parts are prepared by adding demisting and other parts within the frames, some of which hook into the cockpit, so some careful masking will be needed, so you might want to get some of Eduard’s Tface masks if you airbrush or don’t have the steadiest of hands. An overhead scrap diagram shows the correct placement of the sill parts, which is useful. The single-seat cockpit has a large equipment bay at the rear of the cockpit that can also be shown closed or opened, again with a piece of glazing fitted to the top, and some detail painting needed if you are posing it open. There are similar tubing and parts fitted to the single canopy, then PE to the sills, with another scrap diagram showing the correct location from overhead. Angle-of-Attack (AoA) probes are attached to the sides of the fuselage, plus another group of sensors and lights beneath the nose, with a few additional parts added to the single-seater, checking out the scrap diagrams for correct orientation of the extra PE part behind the nose gear bay. The Starfighter was a thirsty bird in either seating configuration, so two tip-tanks with separate fins and filler caps are made up, and two more pylon mounted tanks are built for use on the wing pylons if you wish. If you don’t plan on using the wing tanks, there are alternative strakes provided, and under the centreline of the single-seater you can put a twin pylon arrangement that is made from a pair of curved parts and two pylon parts. What you fit to those is up to you. Markings This is a JASDF boxing, which includes one options each for the one- and two-seaters (a bit miserly given the 4 options in the Luftwaffe boxing), and those are shown in the back of the instructions in grey-scale, which is a bit poor given the printing is not great either. This could easily be fixed by including a colour sheet. You can also find the full 4-view profiles on Lucky Model’s website. F-104J 204th Tactical Fighter Sqn, Nyutabaru Air Base, 1982 Experimental Grey Camo. TH-104J 204th Tactical Fighter Sqn at Combat Competition 1983 with experimental 3 tone camp Decals are designed by Crossdelta and printed by by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas. Conclusion We’ve not had a modern tooling of the Starfighter for a while, and this is a very nicely detail range of kits from Kinetic with lots of modelling fun to be had. The poor quality profiles can be fixed by visiting Lucky Model. Very highly recommended. Review sample courtesy of

It is February 1971 and after the close shave of the Apollo 13 mission the previous April, security around the Apollo 14 mission is fierce. The problems encountered by the previous mission had been put to the public as a failure of an oxygen tank on the Apollo 13 Command Module. However, the real story was kept secret from the public for fear of the panic it might cause. Pictures of the Alien space ship that attacked Apollo 13 were captured on the TV camera James A Lovell had been preparing to stow away after that day's scheduled telecast was finished. This footage and the damage caused by the laser blast fired by the Alien UFO were considered conclusive proof that we were not alone in the Universe and that our 'nearest' neighbours were potentially unfriendly. In the intervening 9 months between the two missions, the US military and the United Nations initiated two new military and scientific programmes. One was tasked with secretly preparing for Alien attack. This was called SHADO and was charged with developing advanced technologies that would enable UFO tracking and space-based defensive systems. As a cover for the vast expenditure this would require, a more modest but public programme was initiated called Spectrum that would adapt existing vehicles and equipment for a 'Peace Keeping' role. Both of these programmes were run separately from the existing UN funded United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, a predominantly British and European operation that had been responsible for dealing with a series of peculiar events in Great Britain in the previous few years. Spectrum was as much a PR exercise as an effective military organisation. It was quickly decided that it needed to have its own air force for reconnaissance, logistics and power projection. It was decided to take the innovative step of recruiting the best female pilots of the time and creating a special squadron of 'Angels'. These Angels were given code names taken from popular culture of the time, so the first four pilots were code named Galadriel, Eowyn, Arwen and Luthien. The aircraft they were trained to fly was a specially adapted Lockheed F-104Q Starfighter, and so the Spectrum Angels Starfighter squadron was born. Here we see Galadrial Angel with her Angel Starfighter getting ready to mount air combat patrol around the perimeter of the controlled airspace for the Apollo 14 launch. So this flight of fancy came about because I picked up the recent Kinetic F-104G kit: and when it arrived, I opened the box up sitting on the couch with the 1:24 scale Angel Interceptor on the coffee table directly in front of me and my mind started to wonder what the Starfighter would look like in white with Spectrum roundels... I managed to get a set of 1:48 scale Angel Interceptor decals from JBOT decals and used these along with some of the stencil decals from the kit to built it. I did originally intent to pose the cockpit canopy open but I ran out of time to get this ready for the March club meeting of IPMS Farnborough so left it closed. The cockpit looked like this before the canopy was shut: "Galadriel" Angel is a resin figure form this set As you can see I removed the beret and added more hair using milliput - non military haircut but it is a PR exercise after all. They get upgraded to white flight suits sometime in the future! I came up with the backstory while driving home from work this evening and mention of UNIT got me thinking about my NEXT build

Hi all, Here's my just finished Kinetic 1/48 Starfighter, which I have done as a Dutch RF-104G, using the boxing released for the Dutch market, and a Daco Orpheus pod. The markings come from a Dutch Decal sheet, and some from the kit. It's a very nice kit, and I thoroughly enjoyed building it. One small thing that needs to be fixed in the kit, is the missing centreline pylon, though. The kit comes only with the twin AIM-9 launchers for the belly, but all the options in the first release, and this boxing are for strike squadrons, which do need the centreline pylon for weapons. I got mine from a Hasegawa TF-104 kit, which doesn't need it anyway. The real D-8143 was built by Fokker, and served with 306 Squadron at Volkel, until it was sold to Turkey in the early 1980's, where it was eventually scrapped. Painted with MRP on top, and Humbrol on the underside. I may need to fix that pitot tube. I don't like the way it looks now. Thanks for looking, I hope you like it.