I have continued my recent break from the prop planes of WW2 by building three F-104 Starfighters. The Starfighter’s sleek, pointy design seems to me to embody the Rocket Age. The Starfighter itself is not far in appearance from a missile. Various models of this plane were in service from as early as 1958 (U.S.) until as late as 2004 (Italy).

As far as model-building goes, I must say I have enjoyed not having to deal with the complexities of getting engines, engine cowlings and propellers painted neatly and in a sequence that still allows the propellers to spin–but the jet aircraft have so many more decals than most WW2 models! The F-104 decals alone literally took a few hours per aircraft.

The “airshow” notion is just a way of imagining all three versions (the American F-104C, the Luftwaffe F-104G, and the JASDF F-104J) together on the same tarmac. I think they look pretty nifty all together…

The Hasegawa model (F-104J, on the right) definitely has more realism, but the difference between it and the Italeri models is most apparent only when looking at the bottom, so for my purposes that is not going to be much of an issue. I like them all.

Meanwhile, these two videos on the Luftwaffe Starfighters are great fun.

Photos of my “airshow” are posted here.