Lockheed F104 - Fuerza Aérea Venezuela

[beowulf]

part of an Alternative Time Line project covering 50 years that i have going elsewhere



1970

The World is at an interesting junction in affairs...........

The USSR is fully occupied in controlling its Bloc in the Far East............the Iron Curtain with the Axis Alliance in Europe has held steady for over 25 years, with neither side interested in antagonising the other.

The Commonwealth and the Axis Alliance continue to fight in North and West Africa

The Continental America Treaty Organisation is 20 years old and has proved its worth since its inception, trade has grown between its member nations and mutual defence is guaranteed

CATO has as its member states all those who are not either Commonwealth or Axis aligned......Argentina in the South and Canada to the North are the largest non-CATO nations but it's in the Caribbean and the East coast of South America where there is most activity.

Between Venezuela and Brazil are the three Guiana's, colonies of Britain, France and Holland, which form a perfect location for the Commonwealth to launch naval and aerial patrols into the Atlantic.......protecting its own convoys heading between Canada and South Africa/Australia and attacking Axis ones between Argentina and Europe/North Africa

In the Caribbean the Commonwealth has a significant presence due to colonies such as Jamaica, Trinidad, St. Lucia, etc mixed in amongst the minor nations of CATO............this presence is not ignored by CATO who recognise the significant strategic value of Panama with its canal.

As the Commonwealth Forces are employing Soviet supplied Tupolev Tu-142 maritime reconnaissance aircraft to patrol between Guiana's and the Caribbean and out into the Atlantic, CATO use high speed jet fighters to intercept and escort away any that get too close to CATO airspace.

Shown is a Lockheed F104 from the Fuerza Aérea Venezuela flying from Maracay Air force Base in the Palo Negro area of Venezuela............as CATO is not at war with the Commonwealth and just enforcing its territorial borders the tip tanks are in a more visible red colour to aid recognition







Kit is an F104 by Esci in 1/72................i bought it a long time ago on ebay.....supposed to be the 'Red Baron' which was a civilian owned aircraft that was made from parts bought and borrowed, and was going to attempt all sorts of world records cept it crashed when practicing........when i got it i realised the fancy decals were destroyed by damp and chucked the kit to the back of the stash.........now I'm into what-iffing i pulled it out with the intention of using some spare tanks or ordinance to tart it up so i was pleasantly surprised when i opened the box that it was the standard f104 kit with tip tanks and Sidewinders that were not supposed to be used for the Red Baron.

It started off in an all over silver colour which didn't work..........then it went to a light grey lower, dark grey upper scheme that i hated as soon as i took the masking tape off..............so i decided to use any leftover thinned paint from recent builds.....the grey is from the Me 262 night fighter, the green from a Comet tank and the red from a Datsun 240Z Safari rally car i did for a Group Build somewhere.....thing is after 3 different paint jobs all that preshading is looooooooong gone! lol

Decals are by FCM....second time ive used these and I'm not impressed again....no matter how i prep and apply i still get silvering

[tigercat2]

Outstanding!!  Great model and story.


Wes W.

[chrisonord]

That is a very nice looking Starfighter, it certainly looks the part in that colour scheme 
Chris.

[Brian da Basher]

One of the sleekest and sharpest Starfires to come along in a while!

My hat's off to you for this simple, yet incredibly eye-catching scheme!

Brian da Basher

[ysi_maniac]

Nice, neat, elegant! 

[BlackOps]

Sometimes paint schemes just don't look right so that they can end up as something better  While I'm sorry to hear the extra painting caused you extra work, I think the end results were worth it. 

[Cobra]

No Matter others may tell You, You did an Awesome Job with the Paint & Decals Keep up the Great work & Hope to see more from You!!!!! Dan

[Spey_Phantom]

looks great 

[thedarkmaster]

I really like the look of this one mate, top class     

[Captain Canada]

Nicely done. She sure looks different in those colours. Nice, but just different !

[dragon]

I like it.
However there is one small error...The triangle is facing backwards. 

See, there is actual meaning in the symbology: the red triangle means the changing dynamic that the pilot must always face and the delta wings of the first supersonic planes, the circle with striations symbolizes the jet engine, and the number 11 symbolizes Simon Bolivar's 11 Field Marshalls during the War for Independence.

However this being an alternate universe....I suppose it is legal.

[beowulf]

well spotted........i had to go and check this............you can blame the instructions/diagrams that came with the FCM decals cos i followed them 

[Radish]

 

[dragon]

well spotted........i had to go and check this............you can blame the instructions/diagrams that came with the FCM decals cos i followed them 

Try the multiscale FAV sheet by Aztec (available at Hannants).  These decals are much nicer than the FCMs.  Just apply a drop or two of micro sol- and step away from the model (the decal will wrinkle worse than the cast of Golden Girls, but that is the nature of the solution, when it dries the decals will be nice and flat and almost painted on).

[beowulf]

will do..........i just happened to get the fcm sheet of south american insigs for not a lot