Though only being flown by one air force, the F-104 Starfighter is still a potent interceptor and ground attack aircraft. In fact, the Italian version has been modified a number of times from the original F-104G to the much more capable F-104S and F-104S ASA interceptors. These modifications have meant that the Starfighter will still be in service for a few more years until replaced by the Eurofighter in the mid-2000s.

The F-104 has been the subject of a number of special paint schemes in the last 15 years, some of the more impressive of them on Italian Air Force aircraft. This decal sheet offers two very impressive schemes for your 1/72 F-104. 

The first is for an F-104S ASA of 21 Gruppo from the 1996 Tiger Meet. It is in aluminum and dark blue and shows a tiger appearing to tear its way out of the airframe. 

The second is an F-104G from the 28th Gruppo. This unit is a photo reconnaissance outfit and had the aircraft painted in a striking yellow, white and black scheme for a meet in 1989.

Kits of the Starfighter in 1/72 are available from Revell, ESCI/AMT, and Hasegawa. Probably the Hasegawa kits would be the best ones for this sheet. None of them does a true F-104S, however a pretty close approximation can be done with those that claim to be an F-104S boxing.

As you can imagine, most of the decals on this sheet are stars for the 28 Gruppo aircraft. It will be fun getting them all on the kit and I can only hope there are a few extras! Registration looks very good for the tiger. It may be just me, but it seemed as if the registration was off a bit on the witch as it is noticeably off on the hat band. However it may be the way the real aircraft looked. I'll have to check my slide archives to see if that is true. Regardless of which scheme you choose, it is bound to draw a lot of attention and will look great on your shelf!

Review copy courtesy of me and my wallet!!

If you would like your product reviewed fairly and quickly by a site that has over 900 visits a day, please contact me or see other details in the Note to Contributors.