Italeri F 104 1:72 Nose weight?

[Uncle Pete]

The eternal newbie needs advice again.  Anybody know if an F104 needs nose ballast?  The plans don't mention any and I'd sooner not put it in if it's not actually needed but I don't want to take any chances.

 

Thanks in advance.

Edited December 13, 2018 by Uncle Pete

[Jure Miljevic]

I would not think so. F-104 has a long nose and while on a real aircraft its weight is compensated by the weight of an engine, on a kit it is all plastic. Unless you are planing to install resin AM tail or exhaust, there is nothing to worry about. Cheers

Jure

[Uncle Pete]

46 minutes ago, Jure Miljevic said:

Unless you are planing to install resin AM tail or exhaust

Thanks for the help.  There will be no aftermarket additions, my build skills (or the lack thereof) don't warrant it...  You don't gold-plate a Timex!

[Jure Miljevic]

I built an old Revell 1/64 F-104 (AM accessories, if they would have existed, would be wasted on that one, too) decades ago and certainly needed no ballast. Cheers

Jure

[RJP]

A couple of suggestions - dry build the major pieces and set it on its wheels.  If it settles convincingly nose down you're good to go.

 

Even if you don't think you must weight the nose, what's to stop you stuffing the nose cap with a half ounce of steel nuts in a lump of clay? 

[ClaudioN]

Built a 72nd scale ESCI F-104S several years ago.

Definitely no weight is needed.

 

Claudio

 

[ivand]

F-104 models typically don't need nose weight, neither do F-4 Phantoms. The main gear is located pretty far back in both cases.

[e8n2]

4 hours ago, ivand said:

F-104 models typically don't need nose weight, neither do F-4 Phantoms. The main gear is located pretty far back in both cases.

Add F-18s to that list as well.  Even the E/F models are not tail sitters.

Later,

Dave