USAF MILITARY JETS

Has there ever been a better name for a plane than the Starfighter?  To a young child in the late 1960s hearing about Thunderbirds and Starfighters made me think that Science Fiction was actually real life!

I made this kit in about 2007 but the kit itself dates back to the 1970s and is extremely simplified.  I would have liked to get a more "shiny" aluminium finish to this model to complement this amazing colour scheme.  

The finished kit remains one of the longest in my entire collection and as a result, the pitot tube keeps snapping off.  Otherwise it stands the test of time pretty well.  Not a museum piece however... 

Like the F104 Starfighter, this is another old Hasegawa kit repackaged with new decals.  It actually dates back to the 1970s when it was originally moulded by a firm called Minicraft.  I built it in 2018 and found that like the Starfighter several years before, it is an easy kit to build with a low parts count and over-simplified wheelbays and undercarriage parts.  

I actually replaced the undercarriage with metal parts but otherwise built it out of the box using the Sundowners livery supplied.  

It is a pretty plane and I think the finished kit looks pleasant – but nothing very special really.

To my mind this is still one of the greatest jet planes ever made.  I was SO proud when they used to fly with the Royal Navy and also when they were co-opted into the RAF in the 1970s and 1980s.  The downward sloping rear wings and upward sloping mainplanes reminded me of the Angel Interceptors on the Thunderbirds TV programme.

Even now they sometimes turn up at Fairford for the International Air Tattoo although they are always forbidden from flying due to some tiny piston engined plane from somewhere in the Middle East getting preference.  

They still look amazing even if they are weather-beaten. but they have never looked better than in US Navy colours where camouflage was not really necessary.  Tamiya actually released several versions of the F4 and I have not ruled out the idea of making another at some stage - perhaps with Vietnam colours.   The kit dates back to the 1990s but still fits perfectly and is very strong due to its metal undercarriage legs.  I put in a resin cockpit but I am not sure that I needed to have done and I think I just made life harder for myself.  

I built this Tamiya kit in 2002 and was blown away by the quality and complexity of the kit.  Most notably, there is a lovely smooth mechanism that enables both wings to swing forward and back together and in sync.  

The undercarriage is supplied with metal parts to support the weight of such a large kit.  I used metal foil for the leading edge of each wing but otherwise built it up conventionally.  I added a resin cockpit which looksOK but you can barely see the difference between it and the kit-supplied parts.

A classic aircraft and it was excellent to see it take a starring role towards the end of the Maverick Top Gun film in 2022!

In 2022, Tamiya brought out a 1/48 version of the kit and if ever space becomes more of a problem for me, it would be a pleasure to build the F14 in a smaller scale.  It has to be one of my favourite fast jets.

Originally released in 1994, I built this Tamiya model in 2004.  Despite its rather dull colour-scheme it was a delight to build. Its metal undercarriage means that it is still sturdy today.

I made my usual mistake of buying a resin aftermarket cockpit and ejector seat but for once I think the seat in particular "pops out" and looks really realistic.  The jet intakes are movable which is a nice touch and enables the model to be shown in full power or minimum power configurations.  Not that I suspect anyone notices. 

Many real F15s fly over our house from Lakenheath and I always wonder if this actual has ever been anywhere near us.  The subtle camo scheme was a challenge but I like the look of it now.

Another lovely and complex Tamiya kit.   I enjoyed the “leaping Tiger” Tiger Meet decoration and loved the intricacy of the removable engine and interchangeable ordnance.  Such fun!

I found it more complex than I expected to mask the demarcation between the lighter and darker grey top colours.  Whilst never one of the best looking planes in my opinion, this was a very satisfying build from 2009.

In real life, I gather the F18 was designed to compete with the F16 in the 1970s for a combined contract to replace the Phantom.  One was accepted by the US Navy and the other for the USAF – but both have been pretty successful and I am pretty sure that we should really have bought the F18 instead of the F35 for the Royal Navy.

Unlike the F16, I have always found the Hornet really pleasing to look at and so I jumped at buying this Academy kit back in 2003 when it was released.  Whilst in many ways it echoed the quality of the Tamiya jets, the instructions were less clear and the decals looked great but were extremely thick and I found it hard to get them to conform to the shape of the plane – particularly around the nose.  

I am not sure I got quite the correct shade of grey for the overall colour-scheme and the canopy always seem to sit too low compared to the real plane.  Otherwise the kit came together without too many problems.  

This is one of my favourite 1/32 kits.