Wings900 - Herpa Wings USAF F-104G 1:200

In 1954, the Starfighter, manufactured by Lockheed, had its maiden flight. The interceptor behaved like a race car in supersonic speed but lacked mission flexibility. Ultimately, the Air Force purchased barely 300 aircraft, far less than planned. In Germany however, the Starfighter, as an all purpose interceptor in an advanced version became a huge success but not without controversy. The cockpit of this US Air Force model can be displayed opened and closed. Finally Herpa makes one of my favorite jetfighters! I hope it is as good as they promise.

Model Details

Manufacturer: Herpa

Airline: Us Air Force
Make: Lockeed
Model: F-104G Starfighter
Scale: 1:200
Part Number: 552073

Model Review

Mould & Assembly: The general shape of the mould is really good. It got that fast and aerodynamic look, and the very thin wings. Only the pitot tube at the nose looks very fat. And the little fin (on the top of the fuselage) should be located more to the back. But I really the tail is nicely done, and has that nice rounded corner above the jet nozzle. Another little error is the forward landing gear bay, it is a little bit to big (the length is good but it is to wide).
I will discuss the assembly later on.
Realism: There are some major flaws with this model, because maybe you did notice already, it looks very childish in other words it has a toy-like look. This is partly cause by the livery (which I will discuss later on), but mostly it is caused by the abnormal big and deep “production lines/seams”. With production lines/seams I mean, the seams you would normally see on a aircraft where one plate or part is attached to another plate or part (this I the best explanation I can give). If you look to the real starfighter, it has a really nice sleek look. But this one more looks like the wrinkled mother of the F-104 and sets the whole model back.
Another contribute to the toy-like look are the assembly seams of Herpa. They have put the wings on, in a rather nasty looking way. Because now you see a really big seam, in the middle of the fuselage, so farewell sleek look. The cockpit is too big and doesn’t have that aerodynamic shape like the real F-104.
Details: The livery should look more metallic and a bit darker. More a American airlines style metallic, so this one is way off… Apart from that, most details are on it, like static port markings.

Conclusion: Herpa has the general shape right, but whare stays the rest?

Pluses

General shape of the mould

Minuses

Toy-like look
Bad livery

Photos