Dutch F-104G

[Mikele]

Hi all,

I am preparing myself for another build and i am lookign for some references. I'm going to build Dutch F-104G (from Hasegawa's kit plus Eduard's decals, PE and resins) and as there are quite a lot of good walkarounds of German of Belgian birds it's preety hard to find any good references for planses from Holland, this one in particular:



I'd like to verify the level of paint degradation and all kind of exploitation marks - oil and fuel stains, scratches and so on. If you could help me with this one i would be grateful.

[MarkVerploeg]

I was told by a former ground crew member that this plane was cleaned and repainted just days before the open house where the reference from Eduard comes from
So basicly it was almost a brand new looking jet
Some notable details are that this plane was the flight leader of the straffing runs over the hijacked train at "de Punt" and that it has markings from both the 313th and 315th squadrons
As the pilot flew in the 315th before he was transferred to the 313th
As far as i know the only pictures of the real plane are in private hands and no or very few pictures can be found online

[MarkVerploeg]

1 little mistake on my part
It is the 312th not the 313th

[Mikele]

Thank you for the quick reply. So basically it's either "brand new" or "let one's imagination go wild"? I guess i'll pick the second choice. If i may ask one more question - which paint scheme (in terms of camo pattern) is correct? Eduard's ar Hasegawa's?




I'd rather pick the one by Eduard, comparing to the photos i've found online, but confirmation would be nice.

[MarkVerploeg]

The guy i was talking too is also a modeller and he told me it wad pretty accurate
The only decals that are different are mentionned in the instructions
Other then that it appears to be a good model
Including the lack of the pylons that where removed at the time

[Mikele]

Is two fuel tanks at the wing tips and a Cormoran pylon underneath the fuselage proper configuration? That's my inspiration:

[MarkVerploeg]

As far as i know that is the standard lay out for a dutch F-104
But at the open house (where the kit version is based on) the pylons where removed
The tip tanks where standard on dutch planes and it did had them at the time
I never saw a photo of one without them
Still is funny as i am building that plane at the moment
Currently i am putting the decals on it

[Mikele]

I'm not going to do exact "display layout" model, more like regular day in this particular painting. Your answers helped me a lot, thank you.

I'm looking forwart to see your build in Air Gallery soon

[MarkVerploeg]

Thanks
I would have to have it finished by wednesday night so it is on there pretty soon i think

[MarkVerploeg]

Maybe i do have some reference pictures
2 pf them come feom a dutch plane photographer and hobbyist and the 3rd is how the plane looks today
Yes it still excists ,not all that likely as most where scrapped


These are photo's taken at Volkel airforce base in Braband,the Netherlands
Actually pretty close to my hometown
That is the base where the unit was stationed at the time and it still is active
Allthough they have F-16's now


This is where it is at these days
The Science musuem of Oklahoma in Oklahoma city ,USA
Apperntly the plane was stripped of it's military tech and then donated

But i also found some additional info
If a Dutch F-104 was seen without the tip tanks then it was on a test flight either after maintenance or after the upgrade they all had at some point
D-8331 was build at the Fokker factory in Amsterdam in 1964 and was decommisioned in 1984
It also had it's first flight in 1964 and was upgraded somewhere in the 70's
The way it is shown in the kit is during the time Capt. Hans van der Werf flown it but before he was transferred to the 312th it was flown by a sargeant
It is unclear who that was as the unit had several sargeants that where pilots at that time
Allthough a plane would usually have 2 pilots
It was still the middle of the cold war and that was standard pollicy at the time
After this period and with the introduction of the F-16 all pilots had the rank of leutenant or higher
But Capt.van der Werf retired along side his plane and as far as i could find he left the airforce at that point as he was too old to be retrained for the new jets
But it is possible he became a civilian pilot at that point
Airlines had trouble finding pilots and a former airforce pilot was a good choise as they had most of the required papers and skills to fly a plane so only a relatively short retraining was needed to get them approved to fly a civilian plane
The KLM was known to do this with fighter pilots
These days it is less ordinary at most airlines

Anyway that is all i could find about the plane and pilot
Hopefully the photo's are usefull but the plane looks fairly clean and well maintained in them

[Mikele]

There are just a hints of dirt or pale spots here and there, and it works for me just fine. Thank you once again.

[MarkVerploeg]

You're welcome
I totally fogot that there are some dutch websites with a lot of information about individual planes
When i made my Solo Display F-16 i found the complete life line of J-015 (that plane)

[Mikele]

Link to this website, please. Link! I love such things.

[MarkVerploeg]

http://militaireluchtvaartnederland.nl/ ... rs/23/135/
It could be a problem that it is a dutch site and written in dutch
But it show a lot of individual planes and their lifeline when they where in service

[Mikele]

I'll just click everywhere

[privatepete]

Hi I don't know if this helps ? sorry to jump in

F-104G (22+98) Starfighter Walk Around

http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/ulric ... php?Page=1
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/ulric ... php?Page=2
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/ulric ... php?Page=3
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/ulric ... php?Page=4
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/ulric ... php?Page=5

F-104G (FX-47) Starfighter Walk Around
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_c ... 04g_fx-47/
http://www.primeportal.net/hangar/luc_c ... php?Page=2

[Mikele]

There is no need to apologize if you help.

Thank You.