Gots my F-104

[norwaystar06]

I could not be anya more happy than i am mow... Lately i have only been collecting World War 2 Aircraft and decided to get my first Jet. The F 104 looks fantastic its long and sleek and just looks like a human powered Missile (maybe that was the point o.O) Anyway i think i got this at a good price 99.00 (eBay) with 18 dollar shipping. My next jet i want a modern fighter so i plan on getting the F 16 Fighting Falcon "Qatar". I would go for the new BBI F-18 thats coming out in June but i get Shipped off to Basic Training in june so ill stick to the F-16...

My F 104 next to my Corsair


Looks like the Corsair can swallow this plane hole... Big GRILLE!


My Fleet of Aircraft So Far...

[jbell]

WOW! You are on a 1/18 buying frenzy! You've contracted the disease about 5yrs. too late. Better late than not at all. I remember a long time ago when I purchased an F104 at WM for $15. Ha, just "rubbing it in". Your collection is coming along nicely. Thank you in advance for your "service".......John

[norwaystar06]

Yeah I was actually on the market 4 years ago with my first plane being the old crow mustang and the daisy june corsair... after a few months I found the hellcat at toys r us... (and my brother did something most japanese couldn't do... destroy the hellcat fell off a shelf I was devestated) but after that I sorta forgot all about the aircraft till quite literlly 2~3 weeks ago... with a massive buying spree of 4 new planes within that time span... I gotta say this market really did get alot more expensive. I remember the corsair being about bucks at Toys r us... and the f 18 I saw too but it was too expensive for me then (jobless high school student ) but now its more expensive... as for the Navy I am very excited to go

[Razor17019]

You have a nice collection!
Razor

[tmanthegreat]

Nice collection. A word of advice: keep it representative and not overblown. When a collection gets too large, it starts to loose its meaning and some things become less-special... At least thats the way I see it

That F-104 you have (the S1 USAF version) is one of my favorite 1:18 aircraft of all time. 21c really did a fantastic job with it

[Mitch]

Nice collection. A word of advice: keep it representative and not overblown. When a collection gets too large, it starts to loose its meaning and some things become less-special... At least thats the way I see it

That F-104 you have (the S1 USAF version) is one of my favorite 1:18 aircraft of all time. 21c really did a fantastic job with it

I agree - I have at least one of every aircraft/armor...way over-did it...don't know if I could part with any now. I should have just kept it to "my favorites"

[Rowsdower]

Nice Starfighter, I never cared for the plane itself but I gotta give 21st credit, they did a great job on that one. Now go clean all that bird poop off your desk!

[iballdriver]

It is a great model. A very fine specimen. After all this f104 discussion, makes me wish i boight the smoke II.....it is an addiction after all.

[snake]

Good pick up on the F-104 for a decent price.

21 Century did a good job on this one, and it always gets good reviews.

[norwaystar06]

yeah im very happy with this... im also very intrigued by the landing gear its very simple but incredibly cleaver how 21st did what they did to 1) look the gear and 2) the way the used that strut that connects to the body

Edit: I was going to to get the Smokey II but i like "busy looking planes", like alot of decals and paints and stuff... If the Smokey had a large Roundel like this plane with large USAF letters and stuff... i would have definitly 100% would have gotten that plane but it didnt nor did i want to paint it on (that kinda workis far too intrigute and detailed for me)

And the paint on my desk is from the painting i did when i built my Model ships... All of them being 1:350...

One more question why did 21st pick this plane? i love the way it looks but after reading in depth about the aircraft people say this thing is a nightmare to fly and some call it the Widow Maker... If i had to chose between the any of the Century airplanes i think i would like to have the Delta Dart.... that looks amazing too... not to mention it looks like the Europeans kinda took the design from the Delta Dart to create their Eurofighter Typhoon... but that could be a large misconception, then again all these planes were very futuristic during the Vietnam Time Era

[snake]

Think 21 Century may have chosen this Century series jet as a few other countries other than the US flew this fighter. 21 Century did a Canadian version, as well as a German version. Maybe they figured it would have more international appeal than a strictly US aircraft?

It is also one of the smallest of the Century series jets, and might have also been a consideration, given the 1/18 scale.

But it just looks fast. Basically a big jet engine, with small wings. Sheer performance.

For a number of reasons, think this was the smart choice for 21 Century to do.

[norwaystar06]

Yeah that does seem to make sense... either way im very happy with this jet i may not know how well it performs in te air but what i do know it does spice up the mancave from the World War 2 fighters...

[norwaystar06]

Yeah that does seem to make sense... either way im very happy with this jet i may not know how well it performs in te air but what i do know it does spice up the mancave from the World War 2 fighters...

[tmanthegreat]

One more question why did 21st pick this plane?

Always a matter of speculation. Why 21c chose to do a lot of things is sometimes beyond reason... The F-104 did have a limited history with the USAF, but not foreign operators, and there were plenty of other aircraft from the same era that could have qualified as more important... The F-4 Phantom being one.

I suspect the F-104 may have been a favorite of the 21c owner/ceo, which is why it was done. The F-104 also has good repaint potential. That is often another consideration manufacturers take into account. 21c did 5 variations on the plane, from flashy late-1950s USAF schemes, the Vietnam Smoke II, to foreign operators RCAF "Tiger Meet" F-104 and the German Marineflieger. 5 schemes is a high number... There were a lot of other 21c aircraft that only got 2-3 schemes.

For a comparative example of my reasoning behind the F-104, it was a stated fact that the 21c owner liked the FW-109D9 variant, and so it got made as opposed to the more common and significant FW-190A/F version. It also had high repaint potential and 21c cranked out 5 examples. The 'D9 then went on to sell terribly back in the day.

[Dauntless]

One example of a German pilot not liking the F-104 is WWII ace of aces in his post war flying days Eric Hartmann:

Hartmann considered the F-104 a fundamentally flawed and unsafe aircraft and strongly opposed its adoption by the Bundesluftwaffe. Although events subsequently validated his low opinion of the aircraft (282 crashes and 115 German pilots killed on the F-104 in non-combat missions, along with allegations of bribes culminating in the Lockheed scandal), Hartmann's outspoken criticism proved unpopular with his superiors. General Werner Panitzki, successor to General Josef Kammhuber as Inspekteur der Luftwaffe, said, "Erich is a good pilot, but not a good officer." Hartmann was forced into early retirement in 1970
(Wikipedia)

[gburch]

The F-104 is one of my favorite planes of all time, for reasons that aren't exactly "rationale." First, it's an almost pure Kelley Johnson design, and anything Kelley Johnson was involved in had a distinct "look and feel" about it -- I think of him as the "Burt Rutan of his day" (or, probably more accurately, visa versa).

Second, the timing of the Starfighter fit perfectly into the personal development of my own knowledge of aviation and my subjective aircraft aesthetic. The F-104 was just simply the "coolest looking," most "futuristic" aircraft one commonly saw when I was a little kid first becoming aware of aviation.

Third, though, the specific story of how the F-104 came to be is fascinating to me: The USAF wanted something that could go as fast and high as possible with the then-available engines. Everyone knew better engines would be available before too long, but didn't know exactly when. Johnson was given a power plant as a starting point, and a free hand to do the best he could with what was then available ... and he did. The result was a gorgeous expression of pure aerodynamics around some simple -- but limiting -- parameters. Like Rutan in our own time, you could give Johnson a power plant, and he would give you a work of aerodynamic art in return.

For me, the Starfighter will always be "a missile with a man in it" ...

[Tanker85]

norwaystar06

Congrats on your addition of the F 104, word of caution though, the landing gear is notoriuosly fragile so if you display with wheels down you should support its weight with a stand of somekind.

Also of historical significance, my uncle Bill flew one of these jets in the early sixties. As of yet to get any tales of his exploits, just acknowledgement that he flew it.

Have fun with your growing collection.

Eric

[norwaystar06]

Hey yeah i was a bit concerned about that... I wonder if there was an Acrylic stand for the F-104, You know those special acrylic stands for the F 14, F 16, F 18... of if none exists if anyone can recommend a decent stand to make it look flying.