F-104 Starfighter "Tomorrow is Yesterday"

I had to chuckle when I saw this box, but it brought back a wave of nostalgia for the old Star Trek episode, so I picked it up, expecting the old AMT basic approach to things, and was not surprised. The kit is molded in AMT's typically brittle plastic, white in color. I had to cut from the sprues very carefully to avoid nasty chunks pulling free, which I later had to fill. While the rivets and panel lines are raised, I appreciated the presence of lots of rivets because if you have seen this fighter in person or in walk around videos, you'll notice the rivets are prominent. The build is a simple design with a wide array of weapons, none of which I chose to use. Detail was generally good except in the cockpit, where it was sparser than many 1/72 kits I've seen, and no pilot. The fit is rough in places, worst of all the fuselage halves, so I had to invest considerable time in putty and sanding, as well as restoring rivets with a Trumpeter rivet tool. I decided on wheels-up configuration, which was a bear because the gear doors fit quite poorly and had to be filled in some spots, trimmed and sanded in others. The instructions lacked detail, so if you want to do it up with all the various weapons, you'll need to research online to find paint schemes. Having said all that, I was pleased with how it turned out. The tiny USS Enterprise kit is cute.