Fiddlers Green CF-104 repaint project

**avro202** · #1 11-23-2012, 08:40 PM

This is one of those things I have been meaning to do since FG released the F-104. I would like to try my hand at repainting it as a early CF-104 with RCAF markings and the old Canadian flag on the tail. So far, I think its looking OK (as far as I can tell just looking at the computer screen). But after looking at the few books I have, and scouring the net, I still have one problem- I am not sure what the horizontal stab should be. The wings would be, I think, white, and I *think* the horizontal stab should be too, but it seems awfully hard to find pictures that show it at the right angle to see exactly what the colour would be. I have seen some image with it in red, but I prefered to do a repaint without a red one.

So, the question I have for those with more knowlege than me is, should it have a brushed silver look, or a white finish?

**Ron0909** · #2 11-23-2012, 09:20 PM

I grew up on RCAF bases in Germany where we had Cf-104's. I specifically remember when all of those wonderful aircraft went from silver (bare aluminum alloy I'm thinking) to ugly NATO green. The wings were always a curiosity to me as a boy because I couldn't see how something so small and razor thin could keep that rocket in flight! The ones we had were all silver from what I could remember...the drop tanks I don't recall. I did see a Tiger Meet '104 once which really had me excited! Those were the days

Beautiful repaint by the way! I started on a repaint of the GPM kit at one point and as usual got distracted
Ron

**Hi-Torque** · #3 11-24-2012, 04:05 AM

Hello,

Maybe here: F-104 Starfighters - all produced types shows white stab just after delivery from USAF.

Or here history of CAF CF-104's http://www.427squadron.com/pdf_files/cf104.pdf Shows both red and white.

Regards,

Cris

**airdave** · #4 11-24-2012, 12:09 PM

White Wings and Red Horiz. Stabilizer (just like my Stomprocket repaint)

**k5083** · #5 11-24-2012, 04:08 PM

The definitive source on this is Pat Martin's "Royal Canadian Air Force Finish and Markings 1947-1968" and the answer is, it depends.

Original 1961 scheme was natural metal fuselage, white on top of the wings, gray underneath the wings, with natural metal stabs. In 1963 the stabs on Canada-based aircraft were repainted fluorescent red-orange top and bottom. Note that this color is brighter than the insignia red of the ensign and that that the stabs were never painted insignia red. Europe-based aircraft were changed to white stabs and were never red.

The tip tanks were painted fluorescent red-orange only on the 2-seater CF-104D variant, not on the single seaters, as you can see by the two shots Dave posted.

August

**avro202** · #6 11-25-2012, 01:40 PM

Thanks all! That helps a lot.

**avro202** · #7 12-06-2012, 02:41 PM

I had read that before- about only the two seaters using the red tip tanks. But a picture I recently found seems to show that the single seaters sometimes did fly with those bright neon tanks!

**mchale** · #8 12-06-2012, 03:32 PM

how about the one from that star trek tos episode

**k5083** · #9 12-06-2012, 04:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by avro202

I had read that before- about only the two seaters using the red tip tanks. But a picture I recently found seems to show that the single seaters sometimes did fly with those bright neon tanks!

Yup, there you go. Of course the tanks were interchangeable so this might happen sometimes. It looks like the silver tank in the foreground even has a few replacement panels from a red one. The 104s were mostly based in the cold far north where the erks were far from the bureaucrats and had more important things to worry about than which color tanks to use with which birds!

August

**avro202** · #10 12-07-2012, 08:57 AM

I got all the repainting done last night and printed it out. It printed out darker than it looks in Photoshop, but I think it will be OK. The main background is made up of two layers- the first is a texture I found that is actually for scifi spaceships.

But when faded waaay back and with appropriate bluryness it looks a lot like different coloured gray panels and lines. The second layer is made up of a customized gradient of white and black horizontal streaks. I was inspired by Airdave's amazing P-51 collection when I made this background up. I have no idea how he made up the metal finish on those, but I think I have been able to come up with a suitable simulation of it! Mine may be too heavy, but the only way to find out for sure is build it and see.

This is a big model; 7 pages. I just checked and the scale is 1:35!

Here is a small jpeg of part of page 2. I hope to start cutting and pasting tonight or at least over the weekend.