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To keep you interested, dear reader - another motivational shot from my father's library of hard copy pics. This one he took while taxiing in a 104, showing some other Starfighters on the ramp. I don't know for sure, but I suspect this one was taken at a Tiger Meet in Bitburg Germany, in the mid 70's. You can make out some of the shape of his instrument shroud and the little stuff sticking up that is well represented in the resin cockpit part. More on that later...

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The assembly of the rest of the airframe parts went rather quickly. This kit goes together like a charm. Decisions made:

-speedbrakes closed. I recall seeing that unless specifically opened for maintenance, the speedbrakes remain closed when the engine is shut down.

-flaps up. Most pics I have, and personal recollection, is that it was rare for them to be dropped when parked engine off.

-stabilator not yet glued in place. This tended to sit at a particular angle when shut down; I'll have to check my ref pics. For painting, it might work out best if this thing is not yet glued on, so that masking can be simplified and overspray avoided more easily.

-I found a small rock to use as a bit of weight in the nose cone. Experience with this kit is that it sometimes sits a tiny bit tail-heavy; not sure how the resin parts (cockpit and exhaust) will affect this balance. To make sure, I stuck the rock in the nose, holding it in place with some CA glue and a bit of plasticene (yellow tack).

Now the pics showing the assembly in progress:

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And, in a blatant attempt to keep you coming back, here are some other ref shots. A silver bird sitting on a pedestal in front of Wing Headquarters in Cold Lake. I took this pic in 1979.

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Here is 756 (the tail number of this tiger bird) in its natural all-green camo scheme. Note that the radome is overall black. The initial overall green scheme had a light grey underside to the radome, with a black vee-shaped antiglare panel on top. This tiger bird had a black radome, and in its green livery around the same timeframe (1976) it looked like this pic:

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ARCer Serge Dompierre did a great example of this tail number, looking just like the pic above, in recent main page postings.

ALF

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Final posting for today. I took great care assembling the tip tanks, especially when it came to the angle of the tail fins. I proudly dry-fit the tanks onto the end of the wings, and it looked like this:

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As I sat back admiring my handiwork, a look of horror came over my face. Have a good look at the tip tank fins!!!

I somehow managed to install the long fin on the wrong side of the right-hand tip tank. Both long fins should point inward toward the fuselage. Now what? :cheers:

I carefully pried off the two side fins, and luckily they didn't break. After some scraping and reglueing, the error was fixed!

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Next steps - painting with white Tamiya spray primer, to help the yellow colour coverage (saw this tip on ARC).

Here's another ref pic, showing this Tiger bird's main landing gear.

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ALF

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OK, I couldn't resist. My reminiscing is getting out of control... One more post for today.

More motivational shots. I seem to recall Dad telling me he took these pics at Deccimomaneau (not sure how to spell that, but that's how it sounds) in Italy, on a Gun camp. His aircraft was still silver, while the others were all green. Remember, of course, that the world was black and white back then (only 5 years after the last time the Maple Leafs won the Stanley Cup for the last time).

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I apologize for the poor quality of this one, but it gives an impression of the area around Baden at the time. This blown-up WW II bunker was in the little town of Greffern, about 10 km from Baden, two doors away from the apartment we rented when we first arrived in 1972. Here are my father and brother exploring what was safe to see (on the outside). Bonus points for identifying the tank.

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Meanwhile, young ALF (way before he earned that nickname) was spending all his spare cash on gliding. This pic was taken in Lasham England, within weeks of the Tiger Bird pic. This was just before being hooked up to the airtow for my first flight in the Pilatus B4.

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Here I am operating the winch at the military airfield in Lahr. The Lahr Gliding Club took over the infield between the runway and parallel taxiway on weekends, and ran a small 4-glider operation. I used to live there every weekend, and loved driving the winch and its 3-ton double-clutched truck as well as the cable “retrieve cars†that lugged the cable back from the winch to the gliders about 4,000 feet downfield. All of this at age 15 – no driver’s licence yet!

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Finally – back on topic. This is part of the 36-plane flypast that was held in 1973 in Lahr, when Prince Phillip presented the Colours to the CF-104 squadrons at 1 Canadian Air Group. Dad flew in the flypast (and managed to get this shot doing it), and I handed out programs on the ground at the parade, dressed in my Air Cadet uniform. Hot, muggy southern German day to be spent wearing a WW II era woolen outfit…

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Back to work now – thanks for looking!

ALF

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Holy **** Alf......I want to crack into my 104 RIGHT NOW!!! lol

Those are some amazing images of a bygone era. Your Dad's hero shot is great.

Your 104 is really coming along. That resin almost becomes a kit within a kit eh? Lots of fiddling involved....but many times it's worth it. Nice save on the 'tip-tank' fins. The Starfighter fans would've slaughtered you on that one. ;)

Oh....and that photo of you in the Pilatus....uhmm.....you were an Air Cadet with that hair???? lol j/k :P

p.s. The Leaf's never ever won the cup......that's just a wives-tail...lol

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OHHHH YES ALF !!!!! for sure you keep my attention with such a rich subject !

Perfect job on this kit !

Once more, thanks a lot for those old photos. You have a great chance to have seen all of this !! (at a time when I came to be born...)

I took a look here : IFS, and it says that the photo with the Italian 53-22 was

probably shot in LECK September 1975 ... ?

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Great pics Alf, thanks, but can you slow down some I have 3 CF-104s to finish!!! :P And I'm getting tired, the computer is on the second floor and the 'Man Cave' in the basement! :jaw-dropping:

That's a great shot of your Dad in the 104, ;) got any hero shots of yourself with a Hornet?

Your 104 is coming along great, I think I am adding too much to mine but you guys can tell me if it's OK when I post pics of the work on the seats tonite.

There aren't too many of us in this build but the finished kits will really ROCK!

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Holy **** Alf......I want to crack into my 104 RIGHT NOW!!! lol

Those are some amazing images of a bygone era. Your Dad's hero shot is great.

Your 104 is really coming along. That resin almost becomes a kit within a kit eh? Lots of fiddling involved....but many times it's worth it. Nice save on the 'tip-tank' fins. The Starfighter fans would've slaughtered you on that one. :P

Oh....and that photo of you in the Pilatus....uhmm.....you were an Air Cadet with that hair???? lol j/k :jaw-dropping:

p.s. The Leaf's never ever won the cup......that's just a wives-tail...lol

Tilt

Saw you browsing while I posted - glad you added comments.

Resin stuff is definitely painstaking work. I still have some of the tiny cockpit bits waiting for the paint job to be finished so I can add them in at the very end. I'm looking forward to the little extra touch they will bring to the cockpit.

You're too young to remember the 70's, right Tilt? Short hair was not exactly de rigeur... even Regular Force folks had long hair tucked under their hats and behind their ears if they could get away with it. Our Cadet staff was quite understanding, and mostly didn't say anything. I'm just glad I didn't have a hard-*ss like you inspecting me! ;)

ALF

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OHHHH YES ALF !!!!! for sure you keep my attention with such a rich subject !

Perfect job on this kit !

Once more, thanks a lot for those old photos. You have a great chance to have seen all of this !! (at a time when I came to be born...)

I took a look here : IFS, and it says that the photo with the Italian 53-22 was

probably shot in LECK September 1975 ... ?

Fabien

Thanks for posting that great reference. It is highly probable that the Italian 53-22 was from the 1975 Leck tiger meet. My dad was at that one, and he didn't often visit Italy, with the exception of Decci (plus the weather looks far more like Germany than sunny Italy).

Glad you're enjoying this.

ALF

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Great pics Alf, thanks, but can you slow down some I have 3 CF-104s to finish!!! :jaw-dropping: And I'm getting tired, the computer is on the second floor and the 'Man Cave' in the basement! :jaw-dropping:

That's a great shot of your Dad in the 104, :P got any hero shots of yourself with a Hornet?

Your 104 is coming along great, I think I am adding too much to mine but you guys can tell me if it's OK when I post pics of the work on the seats tonite.

There aren't too many of us in this build but the finished kits will really ROCK!

Flyboy

Don't worry about my apparent fast pace. I only have 4 modelling days left before a well-deserved vacation in Europe. I'm taking my wife and teen-aged kids to Paris, where we'll visit the Loire Valley castles, Paris of course, and spend a few days around Baden and Lahr. I plan to take a literal trip down memory lane, showing everyone where we used to live, and hoping to give my small family a taste of the environment that shaped my teen years. I have such fond memories of that time, and the amazing timing of this group build coinciding with my first trip back to Baden since 1992 is really bringing it all back as if it were yesterday.

The first time I set foot in Baden was getting off the bus from Lahr. We'd just landed in the Boeing 707 a few hours before, and I felt like a zombie at age 12 after a sleepless night on the 707, clearing customs with our 11 suitcases (4 of us kids, of course). My job was to count the suitcases and kids as we got on and off each mode of transport during the pilgrimage from Regina Saskatchewan to Baden, and make sure we had all of them at destination.

So I stepped off the bus, and heard a sound I'll never forget - two 104s hitting the break and making that distinctive howl that all us Starfighter freaks just love. When my father did his course on the CF-104 in Cold Lake, the family stayed behind in Regina, so I had never heard that sound before.

I used to crawl through a gap in the barbed-wire fence on the base in Baden near the Fire Hall and control tower, and would sit hidden by a bunker from the Tower, watching the 104s, F-4s, Mirage IIIs, G-91s, etc taxi by. The pilots would wave to me and my friend.

Flash forward many years later, to my last flight in a Hornet in Baden in 1992. I was stationed in Bagotville, but often would deploy to Germany (either to Lahr with our Bagotville aircraft, or to Baden by myself to fly with 409 Squadron there). This time I was taxiing down that same taxiway, looking over at the little hump of grass covering the bunker near the tower, and imagining my 15 year-old self sitting there waving as I went by. That was the last time I ever saw the airfield in Baden. I have heard it looks quite different now; hopefully I can get some good shots and post them in this thread when we get back from our trip.

Hornet hero shot? I might have a few... ;)

I'll try and dig one up and post it here, but you must realize I was much younger and better-looking then.

Looking forward to seeing your seats. Don't worry - with my forced vacation interruption, you should catch up and maybe pass me soon!

ALF

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ALF,

I wanted to reply here sooner and say thank you so much for also sharing all those great stories and memories of you and your Dad's past. Your build is coming along nicely and quickly for sure! I am checking your thread daily. All these historical photos add so much to the spirit of your outstanding build. Truly a project from your heart. Very moving I think.

Regarding your "memory lane" trip to Europe: If you'd like to pay a visit up in the control tower in Baden, don't hesitate to shoot me a PM.

As a side effect, I will soon open a thread of my CF-104D (1/72 Hasegawa) project (starting soon) in this ubercool Group build. Your thread got me kick-started after a 10 year hiatus. :deadhorse1:

Greetings from Germany,

Rafael

...oh, here's one of your scans with some color correction applied. Maybe it is of use for you.

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Edited by RedIndian
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Wonderful shots from you and your Dad Alf, thanks VERY much for sharing!!!!!

Motivation for my to hopefully get back on my models tomorrow.

Thank you, Phantom!

And here I was worried about your possible reaction to my insensitive comment about how F-4s were good examples of how anything could fly given enough thrust... :)

Just for you, my friend - here's a Tiger Meet shot (probably from Leck in 1975, because it was in the same batch of photos with the two Italian 104s).

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ALF

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Awesome photos and a great retrospective ALF. Absolutely outstanding. Great progress on your 104 a well. I hope the recharge brings back some more memories that will help with the completion of the build.

Take care my friend and enjoy your time.

Mike

p.s. - by the way, I really like 756 in the overall green. I think I just found the markings for my 1/32 scale project!

Edited by AX 365
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got any hero shots of yourself with a Hornet?

You asked for it - you got it!

You may be sorry you asked...

Firstly, in a feeble attempt to somehow link this to the topic and justify doing this, here is a pic from my father's last flight in the military in November 1984. We were both instructors on the Tutor at the Big 2 in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan.

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And here are the requested hero shots. One taken while on the CF-18 course at Cold Lake. I'm sitting in tail number 783, which had just been delivered in the summer of 1987 to 410 Squadron. It had less than 25 flying hours on it at the time, and smelled like a new car. It was the first aircraft of the series 783 through 792 that equipped my newly-formed squadron in Bagotville, 433.

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And the summer of 1988, when we took the first Hornet hero shots at 433 in Bagotville.

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Finally, back to Baden. I broke my leg skiing in Austria at age 15. Here is proof that nothing stops me from modeling!

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And look carefully at the aircraft drawn on the cast...

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ALF

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You got to fly with your Dad!!! That is really sweet!!!

I was in AETE from '87 to '92 as the OPSO for the Sqn. We had planned to do some hero shots with the Hornet but something seemed to foul up every chance, so it never happened. But, when I went to the LIAS in '92 my last flight with AETE and last in the CF a friend who had flightline access took a 'hero' pic with me beside the jet and Perry in the cockpit, I'll see if I can dig that up.

This is turning out to be a super GB with tons of really excellent models and historical info!!

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Say when you were flying with 409, did you ever meet 'Thorny'?

You talk'n "Thorny" croft? I know that Thorny.

Man, this thread is just great to follow. I love all these images. Keep posting them Alf!!!!

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The Thorny question - which Thorny? I know both guys well. Rob (Thorneycroft) and I instructed together in MJ. I might dig up an incriminating shot of the two of us taken in the back bar of the Officers' Mess... it involved torn flying suits, spilled beer, and bayonets or swords clenched in teeth... on second thought, maybe best imagined and not seen!

And Don (Thornton) was a bit quieter, but still quite a nice guy. But I digress again.

My vacation just started tonight! We have a few days to pack our bags and get ready for our European trip, and hopefully there will be some modeling time possible before we leave.

The white primer coat is now applied (a quick squirt from the Tamiya can). Tomorrow I might get the yellow done, and maybe start on the tedious job of masking a day later, hoping that the yellow hardens nicely and doesn't lift off after the masking. This particular scheme had quite sharp delineations between the black and yellow stripes, and the curves were numerous - not an easy job to mask. I think I will use Tamiya tape for it, because it has exactly the right tackiness, and I can cut it to form curves relatively easily. Nothing I hate more than having paint lift off after masking; my last job on my Spitfire for the BoB GB was surprisingly happy in that absolutely none of the Tamiya acrylic paint came off, using Tamiya tape.

ALF

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I might dig up an incriminating shot of the two of us taken in the back bar of the Officers' Mess... it involved torn flying suits, spilled beer, and bayonets or swords clenched in teeth... on second thought, maybe best imagined and not seen!

Ohhhhhh.....this MUST be posted!!! lol :P

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Wow, some awesome shots, Alf!

And, in a blatant attempt to keep you coming back, here are some other ref shots. A silver bird sitting on a pedestal in front of Wing Headquarters in Cold Lake. I took this pic in 1979.

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My Dad helped put this one on the pedestal when he was in 417. Every time he sees it (or a picture of it) he always reminds me how he left most of the skin from his knuckles inside the left intake when they were hoisting it.

I seem to recall Dad telling me he took these pics at Deccimomaneau (not sure how to spell that, but that's how it sounds)

I think that's why most authors and pilots memoirs simply refer to it as "Deci". :P

Have a great holiday Alf and looking forward to some more shots when you're back.

Cheers,

Sean

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Wow, some awesome shots, Alf!

My Dad helped put this one on the pedestal when he was in 417. Every time he sees it (or a picture of it) he always reminds me how he left most of the skin from his knuckles inside the left intake when they were hoisting it.

I think that's why most authors and pilots memoirs simply refer to it as "Deci". :P

Have a great holiday Alf and looking forward to some more shots when you're back.

Cheers,

Sean

Sean

Amazing how aircraft can mark people's lives - or leave their knuckes raw!

Thanks for the holiday wishes. I'm looking forward to snapping a pic of the Sabre gate guard at Baden. I remember the windy rainy day soon after it was first installed on the pedestal near the front gate. Riding my bike back from my job at the base theatre, I was surprised to see a crowd gathered, and the Sabre fallen face first (nose dug into the ground and dented slightly) off the pedestal. They lugged it off with a crane, and reinstalled it weeks later with more bolts.

There is no user manual or maintenance procedure to mount these pedestal birds - surprising more people don't get hurt doing it.

ALF

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The Thorny question - which Thorny?

And Don (Thornton) was a bit quieter, but still quite a nice guy. But I digress again.

That would be the man, Don and I were on the same Nav Course at Weenerpeg.

My vacation just started tonight! We have a few days to pack our bags and get ready for our European trip, and hopefully there will be some modeling time possible before we leave.

ALF

If you don't get to post before the trip have a great time, are you thinking of showing the kids any of the WWII cemeteries?

Don't rush the model there's plenty of time left, just have fun on the trip. Cheers.

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I had similar problems with Aires C-pit as you had with BB. I had to sand that resin stuff to be paper thin.

I took little diferent aproach on the intakes, I trimmed parts with molded cone, thew where about 1 mm to long, and that preventet parts thats are assemblet to that, nice tight fit with fuselage... when i trimmed that part cone and intake whent on fine..

Edited by Tomcat Fan
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