Thanks my friends @mornem and @johnb!

"THE BEATINGS WILL CONTINUE UNTILL MORALE IS RESTORED"

Onto final construction...

For the integrated combi shoulder mounted antenna, aft of the canopy, I wanted an ivory square decal...

Wait! Ivory! Did I say old school Hasegawa "white"?

Off to the decaldungeon, I discovere some nice Hasegawa 1/32 "white" invasion stripes. I cut off an appropriate square and applied it!

The exhaust nozzle was painted Testors Burned Metal, its bland inner rear end a mix of copper and burned metal, to give the illusion of a lit AB!

I performed an initial canopy frame painting from the inside, as the frames are molded at the inner side. It is not as difficult as I feared it would be, we'll see how it will turn out...

Finally, some gray touchups here and there took place.

Here is the result so far:

Thanks for stopping by!

A well-done missile Spiros! Nice to see the Marine scheme for a change. I really need to build a 104 - it's been in the back of my mind for a while... need to get through some 109s, phantoms, and perhaps a buckeye or two first!

That's looking real good Spiros. Glad I stopped by.

Thanks my friend @eb801!

Thanks, my friend @mornem!

Spiros, @fiveten
These details you are adding keep getting better and better... The decals have also turned out exceptionally nice. I like how you sourced the "Ivory" square from an old Hasegawa decal. Very ingenious and it looks spot on.
I only have a single 1/48 scale F-104 in the stash, and it is based on the old "Hawk" kit. Mine is a Testors model. You have worked your magic and this Starfighter is really looking good.

I will be watching for the next installment.