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CD48202 - 1/48 USAF F-104 Starfighter


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Here is a photo of '60821 in the air, but from the exact same angle. Photo taken from pg. 76 of "USAF Interceptors" by Marty Isham & David McLaren.  Of note, the "Sooner Boomer" logo appears on the fuselage above the wing is a white box bordered in black with black block letters speling  "SOONER BOOMER." The forward fuselage logo appears to be a white disc with a figure, like a comic book hero, dressed in red with a wide yellow belt. Perhaps it is "Flash Gordon?"  Also of note, the forward edge of the intake and the forward portion of the shock cone appear to be a golden yellow in color.  On page 75, there is another photo of a line-up of Aircaft Gray and natural metal Starfighters from the 331st & 319th FIS at Homestead AFB on 6 June 1964.  Two of the Starfighter's Flight code can been seen on the small trim rudder under the large rudder, a white script B on red and a white script C on dark blue.  Interestingly, the forward lip edge of their respective intakes & shock cones are painted red and blue!  This particular Starfighter has a very dark blue or black [instead of yellow] trim rudder which does not match the intake lip and shock cone yellow. Curiouser and curiouser...   

 

Kursad, In your b&w photo, it looks like the words "City of Topeka" appear above the Outstanding Unit Award bar.  It is not on this photo.  Do you have the Isham / McLaren book?  I have a spare.  K/r, Dutch

 

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Edited by Dutch
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Hi Dutch - I have a larger version of the same photo, thankfully saved to my PC before the owner of the excellent "Jet Pilot Overseas" blog inexplicably shut down the site and took the priceless photos offline. The name above the OUA is "City of Lamesa", which is also how the Italeri decal sheet depicts it. But the details of the circular badge can not be seen in any other photo, and I need help with that one..

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20 minutes ago, KursadA said:

Hi Dutch - I have a larger version of the same photo, thankfully saved to my PC before the owner of the excellent "Jet Pilot Overseas" blog inexplicably shut down the site and took the priceless photos offline. The name above the OUA is "City of Lamesa", which is also how the Italeri decal sheet depicts it. But the details of the circular badge can not be seen in any other photo, and I need help with that one..

Yes, I am looking through my other USAF interceptor books and F-104 books as we post.  Will let you know if I find anything.

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I did find an interesting article in the Oklahoman about the sonic boom tests and the fact that one of the pilots settled in Edmond, just north of Oklahoma City.  There's a photo of him with a different Starfighter, 60858. Note the road runner caricature on the trim rudder, the fact that a city name has been painted over the OUA (can't read it), and I can't make out the nose emblem as the angle is more acute that the previous photo. It appears that this photo was taken at the same time as Kursad's previous photo.  In fact, you can see the nose cone of 821 to the left of the J-79 exhaust on 858.

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And here is the other photo of 331st & 319th FIS Starfighters lined up at Homestead AFB for gun trials.  The 331st was visiting from Webb AFB, TX.  You can see the flight colors on the trim rudder and the intake lips / shock cones.  FG-784 has yellow (A flight), 882 has blue (C Flight), & 834 has red (B flight).

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Kursad, I am going to kill a baby seal here.  Victory Productions released a 1/32 F-104A/C sheet including one set of markings for a Sooner Boomer Starfighter, with the nose emblem, but the wrong city name. This is the closest I have on the nose emblem.  It doesn't look like Flash Gordon, so I was waaaaay off on that one! K/r, Dutch

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On 1/26/2021 at 5:57 PM, KursadA said:

I think the test / drone aircraft alone could fill up a sheet - I had early operational F-104A/B and perhaps the C's of 479TFW in mind. I will plan to have another sheet for test aircraft, including the NF-104 : with the help of a common stencilling / general marking sheet, this would be a nice modular set of releases for Spring. 

Where's the drooling emoji?

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Kursad- I'm building an NF-104 and using the old Victory sheet for the markings.  Unfortunately, the USAF markings for the wings are too large.  To fix this, I went to your 104s in Vietnam sheet to grab the wing decals.  I discovered yours are the same size as the Victory sheet.  I'm hoping you can get these properly sized for the tiny wing of the jet on the next sheet as I'm looking forward to building these.  Keep up the great work!  Your responsiveness and openness is one of the great things about your product.  Add me to the list of those eagerly anticipating this release.

 

Oh, and I vote for FG-914, Bluejay 4 from the original Star Trek. 🙂

Edited by Ed Nirel
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1 hour ago, Ed Nirel said:

Kursad- I'm building an NF-104 and using the old Victory sheet for the markings.  Unfortunately, the USAF markings for the wings are too large.  To fix this, I went to your 104s in Vietnam sheet to grab the wing decals.  I discovered yours are the same size as the Victory sheet.  I'm hoping you can get these properly sized for the tiny wing of the jet on the next sheet as I'm looking forward to building these. 

 

I already fixed this, after it was brought to my attention soon after the Vietnam F-104 sheet. The letters have the correct height, as specified in the T.O.1.1.4.  I believe most painting crews either adjusted the spacing, or reduced the height a little bit to get it to fit on the wing. I adjusted to marking to match period photos and ensured that it will fit on the wing.

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2 minutes ago, KursadA said:

 

I already fixed this, after it was brought to my attention soon after the Vietnam F-104 sheet. The letters have the correct height, as specified in the T.O.1.1.4.  I believe most painting crews either adjusted the spacing, or reduced the height a little bit to get it to fit on the wing. I adjusted to marking to match period photos and ensured that it will fit on the wing.

Awesome!  This is going to be a great sheet.  Thanks again.

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Kursad, I just ordered a Hasegawa 1/48 F-104C Starfighter kit. I know that it comes with red comet 479th TFW markings, but I am wanting to build a TAC one with the lightning bolt on the tail. Any plan to include a generic TAC Zipper on the sheet? K/r, Dutch 

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9 hours ago, KursadA said:


The Vietnam F-104C sheet being reprinted has options with TAC lightning bolts - would these work? 

Doh!  Yes, indeed!  I thought that they were all camouflaged.  But the top two will work fine!  I will wait for the reprint. Or see what nice markings are on this sheet! 😉 K/r, Dutch

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On 11/20/2021 at 9:23 PM, Paul Boyer said:

Rocketeer also had a sheet dedicated to 479th TFW Zippers in the REAL scale that counts: 1/72. I got one, but since they went under, they're pretty rare.

You hoarder!🤣🤣

What about some Edwards AFDC tail chevrons?

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