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F-104 Wing Tip Tank Fin Quandary


Chris Baer

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I'm working on Kinetic's 1/48 F-104G, and the instructions for the wing tip tank fins are more along the lines of interpretive dance than technical manual. I've looked at photos of the real thing but keep second-guessing myself as to the orientation of the fins, particularly the short outer fin. I'd appreciate if the local brain trust could take a quick look and tell me whether my geometry is correct or if I have some recalibration in my future. This is a top down look at the port wing tip tank.

 

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Thanks for any assistance!

 

Chris Baer

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Brilliant, thank you, Lusitanian and Andy. One fewer self-inflicted error to correct!

 

And I appreciate the reminder about the wing tip tank fin/wing alignment. I'm keeping the tanks separate until after painting, since I want to do a luminous orange band on them -- going for a Norm 76 Marineflieger scheme. There seems to be enough wiggle room in the tank-to-wing fit to get the alignment correct without too much fuss.

 

Chris Baer

Edited by Fellstone
Added real name at end of message.
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That's very clear. Thanks, JayBee. That's one for the F-104 file! I was having trouble finding references that made clear the short fin's longer side was towards the back. It's amazing what you can convince yourself a photo shows . . .

 

Chris Baer

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IN general the F-104G's delivered to Germany had long fins as outlined earlier in line with wing anhedral.  Technically the G's were from USAF inventory [Luke AFB] at first since they received the upgrade version from the C versions/  via A versions.  There was a lot of teething problems with the Starfighter.  The wing tanks changed a bit for the S ' for Italy too...some were without and had underwing tanks some had both .  Best bet is a photo conform for the bird you want and time period.  Since the Starfighter served a long time in many NATO countries.

 

Here is a pic of an S underneath as you can see different  config. than the G's.

 

 

 

Another shot a USAF F-104C in Nam!!

 


Steve,  

 

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