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CD48233 - 1/48 F-104 "Test & Drone Zippers"


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CD48233 will be a 1/48 sheet dedicated to various test & drone F-104 Starfighters that I could not include in the recent Starfighters sheet. Simultaneously coming in 1/72. Probably August/September-ish.

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On 6/1/2023 at 5:09 AM, The Arrowhead said:

Kinetic’s A is a C, unfortunately. 
For early A features (fuselage vents, gun rounds ejector, downward firing bang seat and associated canopy defogging pipes, etc) you’re still on your own.

Not that much longer...😎

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  • 1 month later...

I was browsing the web for 479th info when I came across a website devoted to F-104 crashes. From the YF-104 page link, I found YF-104A 55-2971 with ARDC badge on the nose and ARDC wedge with Edwards AFB badge on the tail.  She was initially named "Slosher", then "Slosher No. II" on both fuselage sides.  Also notice the neat grills installed in the intakes for the ground barrier trials.

Enjoy! 

Dutch

YF-104A_55-2971_ARDC_a.JPG.39e18562e15995f6d4e8294c0e96dd7a.JPG

 

YF-104A_55-2971_ARDC_c.JPG.05135365fed139d37d69949194840875.JPG

 

YF-104A_55-2971_ARDC_d.JPG.41a31488ef2ec656e21586e8d55fc0a9.JPG

 

YF-104A_55-2971_ARDC_b.JPG.4b1e207d4fb9048fc994ef2d96c0ab50.JPG

Edited by Dutch
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Here she is again in color during the 1958 Edwards AFB Open House. She has the ARDC badge on the nose and the Edwards badge on the tail wedge.  The name "Slosher" is seen in white.  Again, notice the grills on the inside of the intakes. She had a pretty bad ground run accident later in 1958 and was rebuilt at Lockheed Palmdale.  My guess is that she received the "Slosher No. II" moniker after this photo and before the 1959 barrier accident noted above.

YF-104A_55-2971_ARDC_1958.JPG.8932c4ba78626c26ee06c4f938332f8e.JPG

Edited by Dutch
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To come full circle, YF-104 55-2971 eventually ended up as a QF-104A at Eglin AFB in the late 1960s. I am not sure what the badge is just in front of the intake.  Looks like the Air Force Systems Command (AFSC) badge. 

QYF-104A_55-2971_Eglin_1961.JPG.668859c39ee66cf06567c5f31db7eb59.JPG

 

QYF-104A_55-2971_Eglin_1960.JPG.8235664d6fc03bb784a4b21653274288.JPG

 

 

 

Edited by Dutch
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45 minutes ago, Paul Boyer said:

Both times you typed "791" and the tail number is 971. I hope you are not an accountant!🙂

No just fat-fingered and consistent! 🙃

 

There you go again with those negative waves, Moriarty!

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  • 3 months later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I really would like to include this one, but could not find a more detailed image or a color photo. There will have to be some guesswork.

 

I think the motif at the top of the tail and drop tank fins is red and black. This copy from Wikipedia is somewhat dark, but there are better quality photos of the aircraft that clearly show the two colors here.

 

I am not so sure about the "mission markings" on the front fuselage. But the first two seem to be AIM-9 silhouettes while the rest are probably Bomarcs - any ideas? Perhaps we can find some records from where we can glean the missions that this jet was involved in.

 

1024px-Lockheed_QF-104A_060928-F-1234S-0

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Kursaid, you likely already know Phillip Fridell of Replica In Scale.  On this F-104 you may reach out to him via his ReplicaInScale blog.   Some how I think he has a bit of info on this bird - that the QF-104 in the picture you posted 60375.  

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Certainly from an earlier timeframe but this photo shows the other side of 56-0735 in QF configuration, with the dayglo still fresh.  The same site has a section on other QF-104As that may also be helpful for confirming general markings and timeframes.  Unfortunately I don't see any with the tail/tank trim colors to confirm.

 

A caption in a 1974 issue of Replica In Scale, found online from a source I can't link here, indicates the tail band as red/white/blue and tank tips as red/black.  Is it possible the tail mark is a "command stripe" used somewhat haphazardly on some USAF types in this era?

 

The partial airframe history here indicates 735 was destroyed in 1965, if that helps narrow your search some.

 

 

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Thanks for the comments - I will definitely reach out to him and ask. i noticed that there are similar markings on later period QF-104 tails at the same location - sometime in the form of parallel stripes, always at a particular slant. Maybe this was some sort of visual aid to set the horizontal stabilizers at a specific angle before unmanned flight? Could this marking be just a stylized version to serve the same purpose?  Then perhaps someone with aesthetic sensitivities just added it to the drop tank fins 🙂

 

104tailmkg.jpg

 

Edited by KursadA
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