“The missile with a man in it!” is the way the F-104 Starfighter by Lockheed was described. Mach 2 speed and very high altitude was just a couple of the remarkable aircraft’s abilities. Even after marking it’s 50th anniversary in February 2004, there are a few left with the Italian air forces. They will all be retired by the end of 2004.

Space, the final frontier…..these are the voyages… Whoops, digressing already. To most people, these words are very familiar as they are the opening of the original Star Trek TV show. Polar Lights has come out with a nice snap together kit of the original USS Enterprise. The kit is loaded with options and is targeted for both kids and the causal builder. There are over 50 pieces made from clear and white styrene along with a very comprehensive decals sheet and stickers. You can make four versions of the Enterprise from the kit. First, the ship as was seen in most 78 episodes of the series. Second, the first pilot version, third, the second pilot version and lastly Mirror Universe show. The main differences are the nacelles and the decals. There are three separate sets of warp nacelles to get this done and the instructions are very clear on what goes where for each version. The difference between the second pilot version and the Mirror Universe is decals.

This is an interesting little kit of a subject that, while something that I've always been interested in, has never before held much modeling interest to me. Maybe this was due to the lack of decent kits in the past, as I missed the boat on the old 1/1 scale pistol kits that were available many years ago and since then the only other firearm kits that I recall seeing were the 1/4 scale items from Verlinden back in the early ‘90s or so. These were resin kits that were OK, but not really for the casual builder. Dragon's kit of the M14, however, is a kit that a relative beginner can successfully build. I spent the equivalent of a long afternoon on this kit, spread out over a weekend. A nice, simple, quick build.