F-104G Starfighter
First look at Italeri 1/48 F-104G Starfighter Special Colors
SCALE: 1/48
SKILL LEVEL: 3
MODEL LENGTH: 13.7 in (347 mm)
NUMBER OF PARTS: 147 (estimated)
STOCK NUMBER: ITAS2777
MANUFACTURER NUMBER: 2777B
ecause of the appeal of
its sleek design, and
the worldwide service it
enjoyed, the F-104 Starfighter has
always been a popular subject.
During its time, however, it
gained a bit of notoriety because
of the various methods of
procuring it, and also because
of its unforgiving nature. It was
not friendly to any pilot that lost
focus, or had yet to master piloting
in unfavorable conditions.
Nonetheless, it continued to be a
fighter-bomber, reconnaissance
platform, and fighter-interceptor
into the 1990’s, and even now
continues to serve as a vehicle
for private aerospace ventures.
Italeri announced that they had
a 1/48 F-104G in the plans, and with
them having possession of the old
Esci molds, it was hoped this was not
going to be a re-box of that outdated
model. I am pleased to say that what
is in the box is none other than
Hasegawa moulded parts, with some
beautiful Cartograph printed decals!
I won’t spend too much timeon the plastic, as Hasegawa’s kit
has been reviewed the world over.
However, you do get everything
needed for a basic Italian F-104G,
or any “G” model for that matter.
The correct bulged main gear
doors, larger wheels, and late
model exhaust are all included.
Absent, as they are in the Hasegawa
single-seat kits, are the wing
pylons and drop tanks that were
common on the G. Luckily these
are now available in resin form. You
will also find none of the needed
items for an F-104S, other than the
fuselage dorsal fins. For that, you
will need to source the outstanding
Daco F-104 correction set.
Of interest in this Italeri boxing is
how the clear position lights, shown
as “optional” items in the Hasegawa
kits, are part of the normal sequence
within the instructions; Italeri
has you drill out the locations in
the fuselage and insert the clear
parts. Other than that, if you have
built a Hasegawa Starfighter, then
this latest incarnation will be
nothing new to you. The kit is a
pleasure to build, with little fuss.
What is new is the fantastic decal
sheet. The schemes represented
include one that flew, and one that
did not. The first, an attractive
yellow-white-black banded
fuselage, covered in stars andartwork, is from the 3° stormo,
28° Gruppo, Villafranca (VR) in- The next is a total “Ferrari
Red” aircraft of the 4° Stormo,
20° Gruppo, Grosseto, that was
gifted to Ferrari in 1989 and is on
static display at Fiorano track. The
gifted F-104 commemorated the
race on November 21, 1981 between
Canadian F-1 driver Gilles Villeneuve
and an Italian Air Force F-104 of the
4° Stormo. Villeneuve won the race.
As far as the fuselage numbers
on the commemorative F-104,
the number “4” was for 4th Wing
and “27” was the race number
of Villeneuve ́s Ferrari 126 CK
Turbo. In this livery, the aircraft
never flew, but has remained
on static display. Being that the
markings are from Cartograph, I
expect no trouble from them, but
care will be needed in handling
the large “witch” emblem.
Overall, a welcome addition to
the Starfighter collection of kits,
and my thanks to Hobbico and
Italeri USA for the review sample.B
y today’s exacting military standards, the
success of the Panavia Tornado is quite
achievement, and one that made its tri-national
programme one of the greatest feats of international
military and political co-operation of the 20th century.
Rather than being the proverbial ‘camel’ (otherwise
known as a horse put together by a committee), the
Tornado has proved itself to be a true thorough-bred,
able to deliver ‘as advertised’ in all weathers. The
latter has been the cornerstone of the Tornado’s
performance, when at its peak, it was one the NATO
that could function by night, by day, in fog, in rain
or snow, and mount realistic offensive operations.
Tornado was conferred with an excellent radar,
powerful engines, the ability to carry a large war-
load at both low-level and medium altitudes, had a
superb short field ability, which offered a compromise between traditional
runways and STOL performance. Many historians would doubtless say
that the famous De Havilland Mosquito was the original Multi-Role CombatAircraft, but the arrival of the jet age brought a plethora of
new aircraft into the skies. Many designers clung to the
‘traditional’ one-aircraft-one mission thinking, and therefore
air forces found themselves with numerous specialised
fighters, bombers and reconnaissance aircraft. As budgets
became tighter, many promising projects began to be
discarded through financial or political pressures, and
several countries began to see the sense in committing to
bi-national or tri-national military projects, or alternatively
were persuaded to ‘buy American’. In Europe, the growing
Soviet threat post-War, led Britain, Germany and Italy to
agree to produce a single aircraft type, that could fly a wide
variety of combat missions, and yet still be tailored to meet
the needs of the individual user nations. So was born the
‘MRCA’ - later Tornado - and a management company,
Panavia Aviation, was created to oversee the project, which
was for a swing-wing, low- level ‘bomb truck’, capable of defence suppression,
stand-off laser designation, anti-shipping and reconnaissance tasks, with further
consideration for a dedicated interceptor variant. The programme was a triumph
of co-operation, which incredibly faced few hitches and produced perhaps the
greatest aircraft of its type. Proven in battle from the deserts of Iraq to the skies
of Europe, as well as in keeping the peace, the Panavia Tornado has a singular
history, and up-date programs has kept it flying onto the 21st Century. Now in
the last years of its service life, was perhaps a good time to look back on what
is, and remains a very fine aircraft, and this new Datafile from SAM Publications
brings the Tornado story to life!TORNADO
THE PANAVIA
A COMPREHENSIVE GUIDE
MDF 29
TORNADO
£19.99
+ P&PBy Andy Evans
Cover: Illustration Purposes OnlyIDS, ECR and ADV Versions
29
M D F
TORNADO
ORDER HOTLINE: 44 (0)1234 211245
ORDER ONLINE: http://www.sampublications.com
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FIRST LOOK!
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