Starfighterfest! YF-104A '55-2963' - 20jan23 a couple of images of the donor parts from the Esci kit

[RidgeRunner]

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

 

 

[RidgeRunner]

I forgot to mention - Gentlemen's scale all the way!

[billn53]

Excellent choice of subject!  Having recently built the Hasegawa kit as the Red Baron Starfighter, I’m itching to build a few more 104s. It’ll be great to follow along!

[franky boy]

A Starfighter fest. What could he better? Answer, nothing!

 

Ill be following along. 

 

James

[Robertone139]

Following this with great anticipation, I have 22 to build......

[Tiger331]

Nice one, Martin.

 

Not my scale any longer but I do have fond memories of building one or two of those lovely '2nd Generation' Hasegawa F-104 kits. I really like the photo of the ROCAF F-104G (FG-794). Never seen that particular image before.

 

Good Luck !

 

Mark 

[Hook]

Ooooh! Consider my chair pulled up and my beverage drafted, sir. 

[RidgeRunner]

10 hours ago, billn53 said:

Excellent choice of subject!  Having recently built the Hasegawa kit as the Red Baron Starfighter, I’m itching to build a few more 104s. It’ll be great to follow along!

And you’d be very welcome, Bill.

 

10 hours ago, franky boy said:

A Starfighter fest. What could he better? Answer, nothing!

 

Ill be following along. 

 

James

Keep close, James. I hope you and the others stay the course

 

9 hours ago, Robertone139 said:

Following this with great anticipation, I have 22 to build......

I hope you find something of interest along the way, Robert

 

6 hours ago, Tiger331 said:

I really like the photo of the ROCAF F-104G (FG-794). Never seen that particular image before.

I’ve had it a while - straight off the net  It caught my eye immediately!

 

6 hours ago, Hook said:

Ooooh! Consider my chair pulled up and my beverage drafted, sir. 

Well, make yourself comfortable because it’ll be a cruise and not a race

 

I will look forward to the company,

 

Martin

[cpoud117]

Great project!

SEA F-104A's sure do look smart. I have a soft spot for the Puerto Rico ANG starfighters in SEA myself.

[RidgeRunner]

1 hour ago, cpoud117 said:

I have a soft spot for the Puerto Rico ANG starfighters in SEA myself

I agree, and maybe I will build one at some point. Generallyy I like variety and with this project I have included a pretty US machine ;). A friend of mine actually got a flight in a PR ANG '104!

 

Martin

[Lord Riot]

Will be very interesting seeing the Taiwanese one particularly.

[RidgeRunner]

5 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

Will be very interesting seeing the Taiwanese one particularly.

Yes, it really caught my eye, assuming you mean "4356". I am trying to work out if both tanks (on the outer faces) are adorned with dayglo or just the port one. Also, the interesting black markings on the fin are noteworthy. Fortunately I have the dart and winding gear and so it should work . The Frontpenny decals will help immensely with this build too. There are so many options on the sheets!  

 

Martin

 

[billn53]

Just wondering, but will you be putting the 52963 on a snow base, like in the photo? That would be really cool! ☃️

[RidgeRunner]

12 minutes ago, billn53 said:

Just wondering, but will you be putting the 52963 on a snow base, like in the photo? That would be really cool! ☃️

That's a great idea. I've not built a display base before but there's always a first time ;). I'm looking forward to that one because it will go nicely with my Phase 5 Thud

 

M

[Courageous]

For me, the F-104 is my second most favourite aircraft, the F-86 has 1st place...sorry. Some interesting subjects with lots of goodies and as Bill53 says, the snow scene would look great and the Taiwanese a/c looks good too. Crack on then Martin...at your own pace of course.

 

Stuart

[RidgeRunner]

2 hours ago, Courageous said:

For me, the F-104 is my second most favourite aircraft, the F-86 has 1st place...sorry. Some interesting subjects with lots of goodies and as Bill53 says, the snow scene would look great and the Taiwanese a/c looks good too. Crack on then Martin...at your own pace of course.

 

Stuart

It’s great to see you aboard, Stuart @Courageous. The ‘104 has to be my No.1 and No.2 is probably the F-84F. Sorry, and to Duncan @Sabrejet. I’m a sucker for jets! I do like the Sabre, though, and have a stack of them :). 

[Hook]

On 10/4/2022 at 11:00 AM, Lord Riot said:

Will be very interesting seeing the Taiwanese one particularly.

One of my many many one-of-these-days plans is to make a ROCAF LOROP Stargazer. Thank Cthulhu I managed to get the Albatros sheet when it came out. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

[RidgeRunner]

3 hours ago, Hook said:

One of my many many one-of-these-days plans is to make a ROCAF LOROP Stargazer. Thank Cthulhu I managed to get the Albatros sheet when it came out. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

Ah, now there is one exception to my loving of all things Starfighter, and that is the Stargazer. I’m sorry, Andre. It’s like my love of Delta Mirages and then the long, droopy-nosed Kfirs, which I dislike immensely. You know the saying: “ if it looks right, etc, etc ......” Everyone to their own, though, with beauty being in the eye of the beholder. 

 

Martin

[Robertone139]

15 hours ago, Hook said:

One of my many many one-of-these-days plans is to make a ROCAF LOROP Stargazer. Thank Cthulhu I managed to get the Albatros sheet when it came out. 

 

Cheers,

 

Andre 

I have a 1/72 Stargazer nose, I can try to replicate it if you are interested.

[Hook]

12 hours ago, Robertone139 said:

I have a 1/72 Stargazer nose, I can try to replicate it if you are interested.

Oh, yes please! My plastic card / milliput attempts so far have been less than stellar.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Hook]

On 10/6/2022 at 9:20 AM, RidgeRunner said:

It’s like my love of Delta Mirages and then the long, droopy-nosed Kfirs,

I'll see your Kfirs and raise you the Tzunit Mirage. 😎

 

To me those grotesque modifications are interesting subjects. There's a reason I have a Snoopy in the stash.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

[Paul J]

Hmmmm. I'd  like another Stsrfighter or two. I can feel the need coming on. 

 

By the way Martin, I have posted up pics of all my F 84 models of the past. Have you seen the post?

[John R]

When I built my YF 104A I contemplated using the Italeri wings on a Hasegawa fuselage but I couldn't see enough improvement to justify the extra hassle of fitting them as the mountings were different

John

[RidgeRunner]

39 minutes ago, Hook said:

I'll see your Kfirs and raise you the Tzunit Mirage. 😎

 

To me those grotesque modifications are interesting subjects. There's a reason I have a Snoopy in the stash.

 

Cheers,

 

Andre

Oh no!!!! U-G-L-Y!!!  but pretty to some

32 minutes ago, Paul J said:

Hmmmm. I'd  like another Stsrfighter or two. I can feel the need coming on. 

 

By the way Martin, I have posted up pics of all my F 84 models of the past. Have you seen the post?

I'll take a look. Paul. In RFI?

[RidgeRunner]

20 minutes ago, John R said:

When I built my YF 104A I contemplated using the Italeri wings on a Hasegawa fuselage but I couldn't see enough improvement to justify the extra hassle of fitting them as the mountings were different

John

Thanks John. On my first one it was relatively simple, actually. As I recall you just cut back the locating lugs. The wing tips need a bit of extension, though.