Dutch Decal Dutch Decal DD 32014 F-104G Starfighter

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Dutch Decal

DD 32014

F-104G Starfighter

Available directly from Dutch Decal here: http://www.dutchdecal.nl/where-to-get for €15

 

 

A little history:

The Royal Netherlands Air Force received its first F-104 on the 12th of December 1962. That day the D-8013 and D-8022 were handed over to 306 Squadron at Twenthe Air Base. In total the Klu received 138 F-104's; 18 TF-104G’s, 18 RF-104G’s and 102 F-104G’s. Later 10 F-104G’s were converted to RF-104G but received no internal photo reconnaissance systems but only the Orpheuspod (from The Oude Delft Optical Systems in conjunction with Fokker), which also replaced the internal reccesystem of the original RF-104G’s.

 

25 F-104’s had been delivered under the Militairy Assistance Program (MAP) and were built by Fiat in Turin, Italy. These F-104’s could be easily recognized by their serial number beginning with D-66..

 

Five operational squadrons flew with the 104 namely 306 squadron; from December 1962 till February 1983 in the tactical reconnaissance role, 311 squadron, from March 1965 till August 1982, and 312 squadron, from October 1965 till June 1984, in the fighter bomber role from Volkel Air Base. 322 and 323 Squadron used their Starfighters in the air defense role from August 1963 till 1980. There were also some conversion units in the KLu flying mainly with TF-104G.

 

The first conversion unit was the “Dutch Masters” stationed at Twente Air Base but this unit was decommissioned  on January 1st 1969. The TF-104G’s were then assigned to the  “TCA”(Training en Conversie Afdeling) at Leeuwarden and “CAV” (Conversie Afdeling Volkel) at of course Volkel.

 

On March 15th 1978, after the last Starfighter conversion had taken place at Leeuwarden, the TCA was the first unit which retired the 104. On 16th May 1979 645 Squadron was founded. This squadron received some Starfighters and would be flying with them until 322 and 323 were operational  on the F-16. The remaining F-104’s were transferred to Volkel. Turkey was interested to buy 25 surplus F-104’s from the KLu and they were delivered on 25th August 1980(12), 15th December 1980(11) and the final 2 in 1982. Meanwhile the US decided that the remaining 16 under the MAP delivered F-104's had to be transferred to Greece (10) and Turkey (6). The Greek Starfighters were deliverd on 7th May 1982(4) and 23th June 1982.

 

Meanwhile Volkel was in the middle of it's F-16 conversion, the first Squadron to receive F-16 was 311 which transferred al their F-104’s to 312 squadron which had at that time 40 F-104's. In February 1984 the final RF-104G flight was made so the KLu had a great surplus of  104’s. Turkey was interested in buying an extra 23 Starfighters. But only 22 were handed over because the D-8103 crashed  before having been handed over to the TuAF. On  30th November 1983 a remarkable delivery flight took place, that day 13 (T)F-104G were flown to Turkey but only 11 made the delivery flight. The D-8052 crashed an hour after take off and the D-5807 crashed while on approach to Izmir (Turkey).

 

On June 1st 1984, the last 104 squadron converted to the F-16 and a final but never official squadron was founded, the UFO flight (Uitfaserings onderdeel). Pilots who were not converted yet on the F-16 could stay current on jets. But on 21th November 1984 it was al over. That day the D-5803,D-5810,D-5804,D-8258  and D-8256 made a final flight along al the KLu  Airbases.

 

In 22 years the Klu flew 345.500 hours with the F-104 with the loss of 40 aircraft. The sight and sound of this great aircraft is still missed...

(Text http://www.afterburner.nl/f104.htm)

 

Although this decalset isn't exactly new; the prospect of having the 1/32 Italeri F-104G makes it quite relevant to have a look at the set.

 

With this sheet you can build almost any (T)F-104G as flown in the Royal Netherlands Air Force, except for two units. The badge of the first OCU for the F-104G, "The Dutch Masters" operating from Twente Airbase is missing.

 

(copyright http://www.klu-inkleur.nl/)

 

Also missing is the early (round white base) and late (triangular orange base) emblem of the TCA -Traings- en Conversie Afdeling; Training and Conversion Unit Leeuwarden. The subject of that emblem was "Meneer de Uil" (Mr. Owl), the anchor"man" of the children's series "Fable News" which brought everyday human problems to children in a playful way through the animal inhabitants of "The Big Animal Forest". But let's not digress...

 

 

 

The D-5815 with which my father had a heavy barrier engagement in 1970 as a result of which the aircraft had to be repaired at the Avio-Diepen facility. Note the early TCA badge...

 

Back to the decal sheet; on the beautiful colour instructions there are 13 examples of (T)F-104G schemes. The variety of markings is outstanding.

 

- A natural metal Luftwaffe F-104G built by Fokker was "hijacked", the German crosses were masked off and Dutch rosettes added for the press because at the time there weren't enough "real Dutch" 104's available...

- A few (T)F-104G's in the early scheme of light grey.

- A 311 Sqn 104 in camouflage with a replacement tail cone from rival 312 Sqn. Of course a 311 badge was duly added to the front fuselage!

- A 312 Sqn "Agressor" with white top wings and airbrakes.

- A 322 Sqn 104 with Dayglo orange tiptanks and dummy Sidewinders.

- A 306 Recce Sqn 104 with AC tail-code; presumably for a Tactical Air Meet.

- The F-104G Solo Display from Captain Hans van der Werff with a happy sharkmouth.

- And lastly a couple of F-104's from the UFO; the Uitfaserings Onderdeel (Phasing Out Unit), the unit with which the pilots who hadn't yet converted or wouldn't convert to the F-16A could stay current on a jet.

 

 

The decalsheet also contains the stencilling pertinent for Dutch F-104G's

 

 

The decals themselves are printed on two sheets; one for the rosettes, the stencilling and the squadron-badges and one for the black codes.

 

 

The decals are sharply printed, in register and true of colour. The decalfilm is nicely thin. I'm looking forward to use these decals when the 1/32 Italeri F-104G hits the shelves.

 

Very Highly Recommended

 

Erik Bosch.

[Fran]

ssama thing here... no permission...

[Wingco57]

Wow, that is a nice sheet and good timing too. Now that AFV Club has promised a 1/32 F 104 too.

Cees

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Photos now hosted at Photo-Bucket. Hopefully no restricted access anymore.