Revell's 1/32 F-104 "Olympus"

Modeling Subjects Aircraft
1

Hi gang!

In my continuing efforts to build kits with interesting, out of the ordinary markings, I was eyeballing Revell’s 1/32 F-104 Starfighter kit with the “Olympus” markings. I think it’s from the Greek Air Force but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong about that part. Anyway, does anyone have any experiences with Revell’s 1/32 F-104? How is the fit? Detail level?

Thanks!

Eric

2

Here’s a review, not real detailed but it is the kit with the Mt. Olympus decals.

http://www.largescaleplanes.com/reviews/Kits/Jets/Revell/f104g/f104g.htm

3

It is a Greek Air force aircraft. Hasagawa has a 1/48th scale kit with the decals also. There are a few beautiful pictures of the aircraft on the web and If I can find them again I’ll post the sites or the pictures.

4

In case you can’t find the Revell Olympus F-104 but do find another, Eagle Strike did decals for it in 1/32, sheet number 32030.

5

Thanks guys! It doesn’t seem to be a bad kit so I think I’ll grab this off my LHS shelf before someone else gets to it!

Eric

6

Depending on how accurate you want the kit to be; you will have to do something about the ejection seat. I have the 1/48 Mount Olympus Starfighter and it comes with a different seat to the 1/32 kit. As the seat base is part of the cockpit floor (on the 1/32 kit) it might be tricky to correct.

EDIT

Just read the article mentioned above. It does mention the seat. I should have read it first[:I]

7

The F-104 went through an evolution with its ejection seats. The early F-104s ejected downward. To further complicate the problem the F-104 were built under license in other countries and some were sold or otherwise transferred from the U.S. to other countries. So, check your referrences to determine where the Greek F-104 came from and what “brand” of seat was used.

8

Most NATO F-104s used the Martin Baker Mark 7 (MK.GQ7/7A). The Martin Baker Mark 5 was used for a short time on German F-104s and was replaced by the Mark 7. The Belgian, Norwegian, Dutch, and Turkish Air Forces retained the Lockheed C2 seats for their service life.
So, you need a Martin Baker Mark 7 ejection seat for your Greek Air Force F-104.

9

I have the “new” Hasegawa 1/32 scale “Nato Starfighter” The box art shows an Italian F-104S complete with four underwing pylons with two underwing drop tanks in addition to the wing tip tanks, launch rails for AIM-9 Sparrow missiles, and a pilot sitting under the the double firing handles of a late model upward firing ejection seat.

The Kit has only the two wing tip tanks, no underwing pylons, two sidewinders for the under fuselage rails, and the old style ejection seat with only the lower firing handle.

I hate it when that happens. The box art should reflect the kit contents. I need a set of underwing pylons and the two additional drop tanks, but I don’t think I’m going to have much luck finding them. The Revell F-104C/G does have the underwing pylons, and a few bombs to hang on them, but it’s been out of production for quite a while now.