1/72 Italeri F-104C Starfighter, 435th TFS,1967

[Booty003]

1/72 Italeri F-104C Starfighter, 435th TFS, Udorn RTAFB Thailand, 1967.

A decent enough kit with some nice detail.  Speed brakes and separate tail are areas to keep an eye on.

I have done the underwing fuel tanks but I am unsure on the angle that they should be set at - I have seen some pylons at 90 degrees to the underwing and others vertical.  Any advice would be well received.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

I can never let an opportunity to praise a Starfighter build go by! :). Very nice.

 

Martin

[reini]

@Booty003 G-model has the wing pylons vertical, but if I'm not mistaken the C-model had them 90 degrees to the wing - can you verify @RidgeRunner ?

[RidgeRunner]

6 hours ago, reini said:

@Booty003 G-model has the wing pylons vertical, but if I'm not mistaken the C-model had them 90 degrees to the wing - can you verify @RidgeRunner ?

That is true, Reini. I would need to check block numbers and it might have just been the A-models. My old brain!  However, over time things changed and they are were upgraded to the vertical fitment. @Giorgio N can you confirm? 

 

Martin

Edited May 25, 2020 by RidgeRunner

[Giorgio N]

Nice model, well done !

 

Tanks were at 90° relative to the wing on the C. I'm not aware of any change in this feature over time, in any case during the deployment of these aircraft to Vietnam the pylons were the "original style", There are several pictures of aircraft from the era, showing this detail well, some of which from the same unit of this aircraft.

Can't remember what the Italeri parts are like, you may have to modify them somewhat to have them perpendicular to the wings

 

Edit: this link for example have a couple useful pictures, and also one of "Smoke II"

 

https://www.i-f-s.nl/udorn-aircraft-part-2/

Edited May 25, 2020 by Giorgio N

[binbrook87]

Very nice. Great looking hooter 👍

[72modeler]

Didn't we have a good discussion with photos on the underwing tanks and pylons a while back? I seem to recall it might have been part of the discussion on one of @RidgeRunner's Zipper builds. ('Way too much modeling trivia for these old Mk 1a memory banks to recall and retrieve!) I have seen photos that show the tip tanks mounted with their fins following the same anhedral as the wings as well as vertical, and I think the underwing pylons were 90 degrees to the wing on the C's, with the tank fins being vertical, but both the pylons and tank fins on the G's were vertical. (Is that what you recall, @Giorgio N?)  See the link to an excellent review of the Italeri 1/32 F-104G/S that has some great detail photos of the real airplane compared to the kit parts. Second link is to an F-104 website that has an incredible photo collection, mainly for German a/c but also all other users. If you need details specific to the F-104C, let me know, and I'll see what I can dig up.

 

https://www.themodellingnews.com/2018/10/in-boxed-italeris-f-104gs-starfighter.html

 

http://www.916-starfighter.de/Large/Album/a2185.htm

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by 72modeler
added link, added text

[Booty003]

Cheers guys and many thanks for all the input and links for the references, much appreciated.

 

Phil

[SAT69]

Beautiful F-104; nice clean build. Thanks for the information regarding what to look for during construction. Very useful!