RAF 74 Squadron Starfighter F.1A-"Tiger Meet"-COMPLETE

[Aircav]

It is a beautiful aeroplane the Starfighter   

[AeroplaneDriver]

It's been an unusually busy week at work,

Thats what you get when you skive on your first day back  
Looking good AD  
Whats the silver paint?

HEY!! I didnt skive off a whole day!  Just a few hours!   

Anyway....the metallic is all Testor's Metalizer from rattlecans (too lazy to airbrush the stuff!).  Mostly Buffable Alumin(i)um Plate with Magnesium on the aft section.  When I polished it I left a few panels unpolished for a little variation in tone.

[Scooterman]

Stunning, APD.  Simply stunning.

[Taiidantomcat]

Most impressive 

[Aircav]

It's been an unusually busy week at work,

Thats what you get when you skive on your first day back  
Looking good AD  
Whats the silver paint?

HEY!! I didnt skive off a whole day!  Just a few hours!   

Anyway....the metallic is all Testor's Metalizer from rattlecans (too lazy to airbrush the stuff!).  Mostly Buffable Alumin(i)um Plate with Magnesium on the aft section.  When I polished it I left a few panels unpolished for a little variation in tone.

Looks a great finish, I'll have to try and find where I can get some in the UK. 

[AeroplaneDriver]

OK, she's done.  I'm pretty happy with the end result.  It's pretty clost to what I imagined when i started.  Total time spent on it was less than a week, so with a bit better planning and no trip to England it could possibly have made it for the OWGB as planned. 

So...to give the full backstory:

As the EE Lightning F.1 struggled with teething troubles, the RAF needed a fast inteceptor to fill the gap as Soviet airpower grew. In 1960 the RAF began recieving 34 Lockheed F-104. The urgent nature of the RAF requirement meant that the first 14 aircraft were drawn from Lockheed's production line, while the remainder were taken from European production, intended for the Luftwaffe. The initial 14 aircraft entered service with 74 Squadron as Starfighter F.1s, while the European-built aircraft were wired to carry Firestreak missiles, entering service as F.1As with 19 Squadron. The initial 14 were later modified in the field to carry Firestreak, and in service the aircraft would carry Firestreak, Sidewinder, and Sparrow missiles.

The Starfighter's UK career was short lived, with the type being phased out and passed to the Luftwaffe as the Lightning entered service. The Starfighter's last operational RAF flight took place on July 19, 1965, during the ceremony to mark 74 Sqn's transition to the Lightning. Of the 34 aricraft dleivered, 4 were lost in accidents, and three remained in British hands, with one remaining in flying service with the Empire Test Pilot's School, and two unservicable examples remaining at RAF Binbrook until the 1970s when one transferred to the RAF Museum and the other became a Binbrook gate guardian.

This model depicts the 74 Sqn machine that represented the RAF at the very first NATO Tiger Meet in 1961, only three months after it entered squadron service.  It was the first US-built F.1 converted to F.1A configuration with the addition of Firestreak missile capability.  It appeared at the 1961 Tiger Meet with dummy Firestreak rounds, as trials were ongoing.

[Shasper]

Words cannot do it justice AD . . . but it shure is perdy!

[AeroplaneDriver]

 

Just realised that I forgot to put the rudder on before the pics!!  There's always some little thing that gets forgotten.  The rudder is on now, so picture it with a shiny black rudder attached.

[ChernayaAkula]

What a beauty!

[Cobra]

Awesome Job!!!!!!!! You do Great with the 104,Makes me a little Jealous!!!!!!!

[Ed S]

Nice, very nice.  Great looking F-104. 


Ed

[Chap]

That is a beautiful paint scheme AD. Incredible craftsmanship.

~Steve

[SPINNERS]

Great work AD.

[upnorth]

Wow! I'm floored!

It looks great and those Firestreaks look very right on it.

[Spey_Phantom]

ooh, shiney 

i just love the finish on this one, nice work