1:32 Lockheed F-104 Startfighter FOD covers - type I.

The real subject

The Lockheed F-104 Starfighter was an American supersonic fighter with a strikingly thin and short wing and a slim fuselage with side air intakes. It is those intakes that are covered on the ground with protective covers, so that a stone, a tool or another foreign object cannot get inside. The abbreviation FOD stands for exactly this risk: foreign object damage to the engine.

What the set contains

The set brings covers of the first type in 1:32 scale. Once they are fitted, the model takes on the look of a machine parked on the apron, with its intakes closed and its ground crew ready. It is a small thing, but one that immediately reveals that the model captures a particular ground situation rather than an aircraft torn out of context.

Building and painting tips

The parts are not injection-molded polystyrene; use cyanoacrylate glue to attach them. Cut off the excess material with a sharp blade a little away from the part and sand what is left. Wash the surface in lukewarm soapy water before painting and let it dry through.

Try the covers dry, so that they sit against the rim of the intake with no gap, and paint them separately from the model. They tend to be in a strong warning shade, which comes into its own only once the camouflage is done; apply it over a well-covering undercoat, or it will read as patchy.

Who it is for

The set will please a modeler who is building an aircraft in a ground scene or into a diorama with ground crew. The model of the aircraft, paints and glue are not part of the delivery, unless stated otherwise.