COBI Lockheed F-104 Starfighter Set 2426

COBI's Lockheed F-104 Starfighter is a 1:48 model built from 438 blocks under licence from Lockheed Martin, with movable parts, a removable cockpit, wheels on rubber tires, and a display stand with a transparent stem and a printed plaque. All markings are printed; the set contains no stickers.

A missile with a man in it

The F-104 was the first production aircraft to reach twice the speed of sound, and it got there by discarding almost everything that makes an aeroplane forgiving. The wings were trapezoidal stubs barely two metres from root to tip, with leading edges sharp enough that ground crews fitted protective guards so nobody walked into one. Lift at low speed was marginal; the approach had to be flown fast and exactly.

In the hands of an experienced pilot on an interception it was superb. As a general-purpose aircraft in ordinary squadron service it was unforgiving in a way that cost lives. West Germany bought 916 and lost 292 of them in accidents, with 116 pilots killed; the German press called it the Witwenmacher, the widowmaker, and the losses became a political scandal that ran for years.

Fourteen countries flew it and six built it under licence. In Vietnam the USAF used it for what it was actually good at — escorting radar aircraft and flying fast weather reconnaissance ahead of strike packages, where its speed kept it out of trouble.

In the COBI range

At 1:48 the model stands correctly beside the other jets in the range, including the F-5A Freedom Fighter (2425) and the F-4C Phantom II (2427).

Specifications

Pieces: 438 · Scale: 1:48
Model dimensions: 33 × 16.5 × 9.5 cm (13.0 × 6.5 × 3.7 in), 14 cm high on the stand