Caracal Models CD 72064: F-104 in Vietnam

Often overlooked in a listing of US aircraft that flew in Vietnam, the F-104, along with the F-102 were operated for a few years on alert in case of an incursion by North Vietnamese into the south. That never happened and while the F-102 was used in ground attack missions, the 104 did its job and then was returned to the 'states to be operated by the ANG.

This sheet covers the use of the F-104 in Vietnam during the 1965/66 time period. They started in standard silver schemes and were soon camouflaged. These aircraft were all from the 479th TFW out of George AFB, initially deployed to DaNang in 1965, moving to Udorn in Thailand during 1966. Most of the 1966 planes had either names, nose art or both. The lone 'stranger' in the mix is a Puerto Rico ANG plane of the last unit to fly these in US service, trading them in on A-7Ds. 

A recent camouflage scheme used on F-16Cs used in the wild weasel scheme is a radar absorbent paint called Have Glass 5th Generation and is similar to that used on the F-35.

So here is what we have:

F-104C 56-0919, 479 TFW - Da Nang AB, 1965

F-104C 56-0892, 479 TFW - Da Nang AB, 1965

F-104C 56-0891 "NancyJ / Snoopy Sniper", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 56-0892 "Miss Bevie J VI / My Darlin Dorothy", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 56-0898, 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 56-0910 "Pussycat", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 56-0938 "Show Me", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 57-0923 "Helloo Dolly", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 57-0925 "Smoke II", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 57-0927 "Debbie Sue", 479 TFW - Udorn AB, 1966

F-104C 57-0929, Puerto Rico ANG

The markings are printed by Cartograf with enough insignia and data markings to do at least two aircraft.  While no kit is specified, to my knowledge, in this scale we only have the ESCI kit which was reboxed by AMT and has been available on and off by Italeri over the years. It is a nice kit, though somewhat less detailed than what we have come to expect. Sorry that the white is so difficult to see. A better image is at Caracal's web site. See link.

March 2017

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