Ortiz> Good job on the P-38. I especially like the early markings.
Nick> That's a beautiful T-33! Well done.
Here's the finished photo's of the "Missile With a Man In It", done as a NASA F-104.
The Academy model is easy to assemble, but lacks detail in the wheel-wells, cockpit and engine. The pilot seems to be too small for the cockpit, and I imagine there is a midget that somehow managed to become a test pilot. But, overall, it looks like an F-104.
The history of NASA's F-104s is an interesting read:
It was Monday, Aug. 27, 1956, at the NACA High-Speed Flight Station (HSFS) located at Edwards Air Force Base. Several employees anxiously watched as crew chief D. Payne made sure that chief test pilot Joe Walker was properly strapped in the cockpit of the HSFS's newest research aircraft, the No. 7 F-104, SN 55-2961.
As Walker taxied the aircraft off the ramp onto the dry lakebed runway for take-off, anxiety began to build. Soon the canopy closed, the pilot moved the throttle forward and the aircraft responded to the thrust of its powerful state-of-the-art jet engine.
This first NACA flight lasted approximately 30 minutes, and it ushered in a legacy that would span portions of five decades, ending Feb. 3, 1994. It was the legacy of the "Starfighter."
The F-104 aircraft series designated "Starfighter" was a product of the Lockheed Burbank Skunk Works. It first flew in February 1954 and was the first jet aircraft capable of sustained Mach 2.0 speed in level flight. Previously only rocket planes had been flown at speeds this great and not for sustained periods of time. A General Electric J-79 engine powered the F-104 aircraft. The F-104 was developed for a primary Air Force mission. However, as history would show, it also would become perhaps the most versatile aircraft ever to grace the skies over the Mojave Desert and to reside in the hangars of the NACA/NASA unit at Edwards AFB.
You can read more about the NASA F-104s at
http://www.916-starfighter.de/F-104_NASA%20legacy.htm
Thank for looking! Now onto the Martin B-26!
Gary