[PART 1 of 2 - Post is divided due to posting size limitations]:

Hello All,

Being an F-104 Starfighter fan, and being curious about the 1/72 and 1/144 scale plastic kits' PMC (Plastic Model Conversion) possibilities, I looked at and measured some that I have. (Centuri also offered a Luftwaffe F-104G as part of their "Fighter Fleet" series: http://www.ninfinger.org/rockets/no...a/79cen026.html .) Now:

Airfix, AMT, Hasegawa, and Heller (and other plastic model kit manufacturers such as Italeri, Matchbox, MPC, Revell, etc., see: https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...HUTyDRcQ4dUDCAs ^and^ https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...ghter+model+kit ) all make/made 1/72 scale F-104A, C, G, J, and/or S kits (the F-104S has *three* ventral strakes, which should aid a PMC model's stability in rocket-powered and coasting flight). Plus:

Their fuselages are divided (front-to-back) at different stations, with the Airfix and AMT ones (and possibly other manufacturers' kits, too) having the fuselage dividing line just forward of the vertical stabilizer. A 13 mm mini motor will easily--with little or no sanding--fit inside these models' tail sections, enabling their tail sections to eject themselves, pulling a small parachute (or streamer) and shock cord out of the forward sections of their fuselages. (In my [Airfix, AMT, Hasegawa, and Heller] 1/72 scale F-104 kits, there is either--the arrangements differ between makes of kits--a integrally molded-in open centering ring to hold the afterburner nozzle [this could help center the 13 mm mini motor], or a glued-in plastic tube to hold the afterburner nozzle [in these models, an appropriate length of BT-5/ST-5, containing a thrust ring, could be installed, or the motor could be friction-fitted directly in place, using masking tape].) The other makes of 1/72 scale F-104 kits divide the fuselage farther forward, enabling their remaining forward fuselage sections to serve as nose cones. Also:

The 1/144 scale F-104 kits (which are also made by multiple manufacturers, see: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...el+kit&_sacat=0 ^and^ https://www.google.com/search?sxsrf...HazJCV4Q4dUDCAs ) will accommodate the 6 mm diameter Quest MicroMaxx motors. Like the 1/72 scale F-104 kits, the 1/144 scale ones also divide their fuselages at different locations, enabling "tail-ejection" or "nose-ejection," depending on the make of the kit, and:

The 1/144 scale F-104 models are light enough that simple nose-blow recovery (or its "tail-ejection" equivalent) should be sufficient, especially if the models are flown on grass or soft soil. To improve their visibility in the air and on the ground, a narrow (say, 3 mm - 5 mm wide, and 2" to 3" [or more] long) strip of aluminized Mylar or Kapton could be used as a streamer. In models where the internal space is more limited, the aluminized plastic strip could serve *as* part of the shock cord (which could be thin cotton or Kevlar thread [Apogee Rockets, among other vendors, carries these]), with the streamer's ends being tied in the middle (in this case, the streamer wouldn't flutter, at least not much, but would be used solely as a reflective visibility marker. As well:

I don't have any 1/48 scale F-104 plastic model kits. Due to apartment size (mine is smaller than a typical Tokyo apartment) and thus storage space reasons, plus my very small (about 1 square foot) area for building plastic model kits *and* model rockets, I only buy and build 1/72 and smaller-scale plastic model kits. (I prefer 13 mm mini motor powered model rockets, including scale ones--although not-enormous 18 mm motor powered ones, and even small 24 mm motor powered ones are okay--for the same reasons.) I think, however, that 1/48 scale F-104 PMC models fly fine on 18 mm motors; I seem to vaguely recall a 1990s issue of "Sport Rocketry" that covered--and had a picture of--a 1/48 scale, 18 mm motor powered F-104 Starfighter PMC model, which had won the PMC category at a NARAM or another high-level model rocketry competition meet. Incidentally, regarding the 1/144 scale F-104 kits:

The F-Toys 1/144 scale UF-104J kit (see: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...4+scale+UF-104J ), of a drone conversion of the JASDF F-104J Starfighter, depicts the *very* UF-104J drone--with the forward fuselage "Buzz number" of 600--that is shown in the following videos (see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ayx4hSeIzcg ^and^ https://www.youtube.com/results?sea...arfighter+drone ). In addition:

Below are links to photographs (and spectacular flight & shoot-down videos of!)—and information on—QF-86s and other drone-converted jet fighters and jet trainers, including the QF-104A and the UF-104J (not all of them were/are painted all-orange or all-red), including the latest one, the QF-16 (drone conversions of earlier-model F-16 fighters). Duncan Curtis’ 2001 book “North American QF-86E/F/H Sabre Full Scale Aerial Targets” (see: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/NF58 [some of its material is on “Duncan’s Sabre Website”: http://yocumusa.com/sweetrose/duncan/index.htm ]—the book is also available from Amazon https://www.amazon.com and AbeBooks www.abebooks.com ) contains a wealth of QF-86 scale and paint scheme data.

[END of PART 1 of 2 - PART 2 of 2 follows below]

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