Hasegawa's 1/48 F-104 is a very nice kit and build into a fine replica of a very pretty plane. Eduard has started to release aftermarket sets for the plane to upgrade the exhausts and the wheels. This set deals with the early F-104 version using the GE J79 engine. The set consists of five perfectly cast resin pieces with two photoetch pieces. The photoetch pieces are for flame holders. To prepare the set, you need to remove the casting blocks from the exhaust tube and exhaust petals along with two braces to support the installation of the engine in the fuselage. When you are cutting the exhaust petals loose, be slow and careful as it is fragile due to its thinness and detail

Assembly is simple. Add the flame holder inside the exhaust tube. Add the second flame holder to the top of the engine back. You then glue the supports in and then assemble the three pieces. The supports hold the exhaust snugly and the you need to make sure that the exhausts protrudes appropriately.

As far as detail, the Eduard set is hands down above the kit parts. As you can see in the exhausts tube, the kit parts have ejector pin marks and weaker details. The exhaust petals are much more detailed both inside and out and more accurate. The engine face is so much better in depth and detail plus both flame holders are not included in the kit parts.

If you have an early F-104, you need to buy this set. It fits well (almost a drop in replacement) and improves detail significantly and is well priced at $17.00 MSRP. Recommended.

My thanks to Eduard and IPMS/USa for the chance to review this new release.