BY BILL ENGAR

​ATLANTIS MODELS H-210 -- 1/56-SCALE LOCKHEED F-94C STARFIRE INTERCEPTOR JET -- UNASSEMBLED MODEL KIT REQUIRING GLUE AND PAINT (NOT INCLUDED) -- RECOMMENDED FOR AGES 14 AND UP -- 26 PARTS MOLDED FROM SILVER-COLORED STYRENE PLASTIC -- COMPLETED MODEL 9.5 INCHES IN LENGTH, 9-INCH WINGSPAN -- MSRP $24.99 -- MADE IN USA!

In late 2025, Atlantis updated their logo and boxtop design.  That's vintage Revell artwork!

In 1953, Revell Models began producing their early plastic model kits.  After the wildly successful USS Missouri, Revell produced a trio of fighter jets including the F-94C.  Originally tooled without landing gear or rivets, the company decided to modify the molds, adding these features.  The F-94C was a state-of-the-art aircraft prior to 1953 and the model kit was very popular.  Thank its success for the legacy of plastic model airplane kits that exist to this day.  Atlantis Models has re-released the F-94C nearly 75 years -- 3/4 of a century -- after it originally debuted!  

One of the hobby's oldest airplane kits returns in an Atlantis Models box.   In 2026, it is still a plenty build-able, fun model kit!

Atlantis' F-94C is molded in a silvery-colored plastic to minimize painting for those builders wishing to simplify assembly as much as possible.  Molded-in decal guide markings and plenty of rivets are present.  Again, this is one of Revell's very first aircraft kits and the "Revell Riveteer" was just getting started.

Cutouts in those Air Force insignias are to assist in working the decals around those mid-wing rocket pods.

RIVETS RULE!!!  This photo gives you an idea regarding the type of raised details on the F-94C!

These ancient molds, old enough to have great-grandchildren, have actually aged extremely well.  We don't detect a whole lot of flash or sinkholes.  Our philosophy here is to Revere the Rivets -- there's nothing to prevent you from sanding them off if you want though.  Our build will carefully fill the center fuselage seam while trying to preserve as many rivets as we can.  Masking panels at those rivet lines and airbrushing some slightly different metal shades will provide a very realistic finish.  In our experience, Atlantis decals will conform to uneven surfaces using decal setting solution.  Our advice is to cut off as much of the clear film around the markings as you can.

One thing we noticed is that the model has no bulkheads inside meaning you can see light through the intakes and exhaust from all the other openings in the model including landing gear and to a lesser degree the cockpit.

You could add some sheet styrene bulkheads or at least paint the interior of the model black before closing up the fuselage halves.

If you choose to depict your model on its landing gear, don't forget to add some weight to the nose to avoid a tail-sitter.  Atlantis includes their awesome swiveling stand with this model; you can portray it with gear up or gear down on this stand.

If you choose not to use the stand there's a slot in the fuselage bottom that you might want to fill if you're so inclined.

The F-94C had very thin wings and Revell caught this detail nicely on their model.  Note the raised decal guide lines.  Wing leading surfaces are textured as well; these represent de-icer boots that would be flat or semi-gloss black.

The canopy has no molded-in framing!  We'll provide painting references later.

Landing gear struts are basic as you would expect for a kit of this vintage.

Pilots are molded into their seats!  We like the intricate detailing!

The kit is designed for the cockpit to be trapped between the fuselage halves.  We find it easier to assemble the fuselage first so you can drop the cockpit in after all painting has been done.  You'll have to make some minor modifications to do this.  first, cut off the tab on the front of the cockpit "sled."  add a sheet-plastic "floor" with enough thickness so the cockpit doesn't drop too far down when inserted inside the fuselage.  With a little trimming here and there and maybe some plastic bits added as support, the cockpit "sled" should drop right into place with the fuselage halves glued together. 

The pilots' flight suits are sculpted with realistic creases and fabric "wrinkles.".  After painting them, add a little white to a small quantity of your base flight suit color ("Sage Green"), put a small amount on a paint brush and wipe off most of it so that a gentle swipe of the brush over the wrinkles in the clothing will leave a small amount of paint in the high parts of the suits.  Experienced modelers know this technique as "dry brushing."  It'll make those little 1/56-guys look real!

That cockpit "sled" will benefit if you go the extra mile with your painting.  It'll be pretty visible beneath that clear bubble-canopy.  For example, the various components can use three shades of green, and that doesn't even include your lighter dry-brushing shades.  Read on into our Bonus Features where we tackle the three shades of green you'll encounter inside your F-94C!  We'll even include a photo reference.

Instructions are printed on glossy archive-grade paper using vintage Revell artwork.

One important item to note as an accuracy hint is the wing dihedral.  With its redesigned wing, the F-94C had considerably more wing dihedral (more than double!) than the P-80/F-80 or T-33. We have included a drawing that will be helpful as you glue the wings on your Atlantis F-94C.  Stay tuned for more details on this subject in our Bonus Features accompanying this article.

If the fuselage and wings have plenty of information to help with decal placement, the canopy is a blank slate.  The modeler will need some sort of reference to aid with painting the narrow canopy framing.  The F-94C had a bubble canopy with good visibility for the pilot and radar operator.  Framing was very narrow.  We'll provide some photos and info that should be helpful for painting in our Bonus Features.

Atlantis has great kit boxes; this side includes kit specs and paint list

Being an early model kit, the Revell/Atlantis 94C was engineered to fill a standard-sized box and the model ended up being 1/56-scale.  Odd-scale, yes.  However, Atlantis makes or made three kits in 1/54-scale including the S2F Tracker, F11F Tiger and D-558-2 Skyrocket.  The model will look great displayed with these or your other Atlantis box-scale models.  Why not add the F-94C to your collection of great Atlantis kits today!

The kit is licensed by Lockheed.  Yes, permission is needed to depict a taxpayer-built publicly contracted piece of military equipment.

We really like this model kit!  We've got some of the earlier Revell releases (1987 and 1998) and the decals and instruction sheet are better quality in the Atlantis re-release.

The 2Modeler Guys give this kit an enthusiastic Four Thumbs Up!

SPECIAL THANKS TO ATLANTIS MODELS FOR PROVIDING THIS AWESOME KIT FOR US TO REVIEW AND ENJOY!

BONUS FEATURES

BUILD IT!

Note that this F-94C is a very shiny silver, or polished aluminum which almost appears chrome-like in this photo.  The nose radome is glossy or semi-gloss black.  Wheels are aluminum.  Note that the rocket doors (behind the nose radome) are a darker shade of metal.  Those red seat headrests give the model a splash of color.  Anti-glare panels are olive drab-green.  Insides of the landing gear doors and cockpit components (including ejection seats) are zinc chromate-green (Wikipedia Commons photo)

Early F-94C's were usually seen in a natural polished-aluminum metal finish. Over time and during use it could become very dull.  Whether or not you decide to keep the rivets, the shiniest metallic finish you can find will look great on your Atlantis F-94C.  We like Alclad-II metal finish.  You have to apply this using an airbrush.  It will only look right over a very glossy dark surface, particularly gloss-black.  We like glossy Testors enamels to prime our riveted models or Alclad has its own undercoat.

The F-94C has a little more canopy framing than the T-33, on which the platform is based.  In the photo above, note that there is a narrow band across the middle of the canopy between cockpits.

The kit plastic has a pretty good coaming right below the canopy.  Perhaps you could get away with simply painting the narrow loops at front and middle cockpits and the curved framing around the front cockpit pane.  Check out our view (from Wikipedia) of the cockpit canopy on the F-94C at the Pima Air Museum.

In our accompanying drawing (Wikipedia), you can see that the F-94C has quite a bit of wing dihedral.  Keep this in mind when you glue the wings on your F-94C.  This aircraft has significantly more dihedral than the T-33.  Remember that the F-94C has a completely new wing design!  Both the P-80 and T-33 had much less dihedral, less than 4 degrees.  The F-94C has over twice as much--a full 8 degrees!

Circa mid-1950's, USAF pilots wore mostly white helmets.  Visor would be a glossy-black and the oxygen masks semi-gloss black.  Flight suits were Sage-Green.

Instrument panels would be flat black.

Take a look at the front tire in the above photo.  Note that it isn't quite as black as the radome.  Your model tires will look a little more realistic if you stir in a little bit of brown paint in the black you'd normally use.  It'll better simulate rubber.

We like this drawing but the canopy "hoop" is missing across the center in that lower side-view

Here's a great look at the canopy framing on the F-94C at the Pima Air Museum in the Tucson, AZ area.

"IT'S NOT EASY BEING GREEN"

A 1950's USAF fighter jet such as Lockheed's F-94C would be expected to have at least three shades of green on specific components, including inside the cockpit alone!

ANTI-GLARE PANELS AND SEAT CUSHIONS:  OD GREEN.  While some aircraft might have black antiglare panels in front of cockpits or on surfaces of midwing ordnance pods visible to the pilot, F-94C's were seen with green panels.  Ejection seat cushions are also seen in this color.  A commonly seen shade was Olive Drab green (FS 34087).  If the modeler doesn't wish to purchase paint in this shade, it can be made by mixing regular green paint with some brown until the hue pleases the modeler or matches color chips.  This paint will almost always have a flat sheen.  If you mix glossy paints to make your OD-green or other shade of green described here, simply over-spray with a clear-flat finish once the OD coat is dry.

INTERIORS: ZINC CHROMATE.  Cockpit walls, floors, ejection seat components and sometimes the insides of landing gear doors and wells were seen in zinc chromate in 1950's jets (check your photo references).  Zinc Chromate was a durable preservative paint, FS 34151.  Lighten up your green paint with a quantity of white and add yellow until it looks right.

AIR FORCE FLIGHT SUITS:  SAGE GREEN. FS 34201 is known as "Woodland Desert Sage."  Standard Green with some added Gray simulates "Air Force Flight Suit-Green.".  Take standard Green, add a little white and a lesser quantity of black.  Sage green is "cooler" than OD-Green.

FS 595 TRIVIA:  FS 595 or Federal Standard 595 is a standardized color system created in the USA for the various military services.  It's widely used by modelers in attempts to duplicate colors accurately.  Hobby paint manufacturers commonly use it to designate the colors of their paints.  You can check color charts online in your attempts to duplicate various colors if you mix the paints yourself.
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This is the front cockpit of the NMUSAF's F-94C.  Note that instrument panels are black, floor and ejection seat is zinc-chromate and seat cushion is OD-Green.  Not shown is a flight suit; that's going to be Sage Green!

The number 3 at the beginning of the trio of "Greens" that we've mentioned means they are all flat sheens (not "shiny" at all).  If an FS-color starts with the number 1, it means it is a glossy sheen.

The modeler needs to be aware that a number of factors are at play in how a color actually appears on a built model.  "Scale Effect" tends to change the shade of a color when it is shrunken down to model-scale.  We've got a pretty good demonstration of this phenomenon in our Atlantis F11F Tiger article, another model kit review for a classic Revell model aircraft.  The topic is "What Color is Blue Angels-Blue," a favorite discussion topic among modelers.  Check it out!

At the end of the day, our best advice is always to paint it how it looks right to you and HAVE FUN!

MORE OPTIONS FOR THOSE FLIGHTSUITS!

If you don't care to mix up some Sage-Green, here are some other flightsuit color ideas for that aircrew-duo in the cockpit throughout the 1950's.  USAF pilots in Korea circa early 1950's wore dark blue flight suits, type L-1A and K-2A.  The shade would be SAC Dark Blue, probably just a tad lighter than navy blue.

Being an all-weather interceptor, the F-94C flew ADC (Air Defense Command) missions from USAF bases in the Continental United States.  Later in the 1950's, while the F-94C was still in service, ADC pilots were not expected to be over enemy territory and they wore orange flight suits.  Think conspicuity colors for an aircrew that might have an equipment failure during a training exercise that would require rescue in Arctic conditions.

THE F-94C

The F-94 evolved from Lockheed's T-33 which itself was derived from the P-80 Shooting Star.  The P-80 was essentially late WWII technology with the most distinctive feature being its early jet engine.  Stretching the design into a 2-seater made an excellent jet-trainer (T-33).  Postwar, the P-80/F-80 became obsolete and began to experience rapid replacement throughout the early 1950's.

The P-80 was the USAF's first operational jet fighter.  It was developed by Lockheed's Skunk Works.

While the P-80/F-80's were quickly retired in the early 1950's, its stretched version, the T-33, was a different story.  It made an excellent, relatively economical jet trainer.  The last operational T-33's were finally retired by the USAF in 1997!

With a pair of seats, the T-33 made an excellent trainer which stayed in service for decades with various military services in the USA and around the world.  That second seat also became key in transforming the design into an all-weather fighter.  A radar operator would become the GIB (Guy In Back) allowing day-night missions with the design of what was formerly a day-fighter in the form of the P-80/F-80.

The F-94C on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force with its rocket doors in the open position.  Note the wing dihedral!

The original P-80 airframe was stretched and tweaked considerably in its F-94 guise and in the "C" version, it became an interceptor.  Thinner wings new to the "C" improved transonic airflow and allowed a slightly higher top speed (still subsonic) matched with a more powerful engine.  Horizontal tail surfaces were modified with some sweep.  The F-94 was the first U.S. fighter jet to receive an afterburner. 

Weaponry evolved on the F-94 platform until the "C" version which added a unique annular rocket launch system which fit around the radar antenna.  These rockets were unguided and could be launched in a large barrage or in sets.   There was also a pair of mid-wing rocket pods.

Rapid changes in technology quickly rendered the F-94C obsolete.  Swept wings improved high-speed performance.  The F-100 (also an Atlantis kit) could exceed the speed of sound in level flight and became operational in 1954.  Guided air-to-air missiles had many advantages over the shotgun rocket-barrage which was the primary weaponry of the F-94C.  The original P-80 design seemed stretched to its limits with the F-94C.  A last-gasp attempt to give the platform swept wings failed to sell with the Air Force in the form of the XF-90.

Lockheed's XF-90 was also based on the basic P-80/F-80 airframe but it was underpowered and not purchased as a weapons system.

Swept wings revolutionized supersonic aircraft but ironically Lockheed's F-104 didn't have much of a swept wing.  Still, the aircraft's super-thin, razor-edged wing facilitated a USAF fighter beyond Mach 2 for the first time.

Lockheed started with a blank page to create its Mach-2 F-104.  It has no engineering relation to the F-94C except perhaps the utilization of a very thin wing with a nearly flat airfoil.  The F-94 was mature technology  when the XF-104 made its first flight in 1954.  Once supersonic aircraft carrying guided munitions began deployment, the F-94C's days were severely numbered and the type was withdrawn from front line and reserve service by 1960.

Young model builders in 1953 were thrilled when Revell released three new aircraft models--the F-94C, F9F Cougar and F7U-1 Cutlass.  These first releases didn't have landing gear--or rivets!  Revell retooled the kits in 1954, adding the rivets and landing gear which made them even more popular.

Additional aircraft model kits followed.  Subsequent kits added new levels of detailing and features but the originals were still strong sellers and they've been re-released occasionally to this day.  It's now about three quarters of a century and counting and modelers today still have fun with these vintage kits!  We're confident that you'll enjoy your Atlantis F-94C and the many other vintage model kits in their growing catalog!

REVELL'S EARLY AIRCRAFT KITS

Revell's 1953 release of the F-94C Starfire.  Box art evolved and improved after this period.

The Cutlass looked like science fiction even though it had been deployed a couple years by 1953.  Here's Revell's version in 1/60-scale.

The 1/54 Cougar is sometimes referenced as Revell's first aircraft model although these three kits were released at the same time.

Revell's 1/535 USS Missouri Iowa Class Battleship is acknowledged as their first model kit.  It was a sensation upon first release.  It is still for sale as of this day,  Uniquely, both Atlantis and Revell sell a 1/535 Iowa Class battleship.  Atlantis took possession of an alternate set of tooling intended to keep up with unanticipated demand for the kit when it was first made.  It's sold today as a USS Iowa.

Building upon the success of the Missouri, Revell released three aircraft models referenced above.  They were popular into the 1970's after which their releases became more sporadic.  Atlantis took possession of the F-94C molds in 2018.  The Cutlass molds are still presumably in the possession of Revell Germany; as far as we've been able to determine, the tooling from their 2006 Classics series (about a dozen kits) never left Europe.

Revell's last release of the F-94C happened in 1998 as part of their "SSP" program.

In 2006, Revell of Germany released a 50th Anniversary version of the classic Cutlass.

This "Blue Band" box with Revell 's original F9F Cougar kit was released in 1985 and received a couple additional re-releases into the 1990's.

We don't know where the Cougar tooling ended up.  We'd guess that Atlantis may have it.  The Cougar was 1/54-scale model.  In 1985, Revell indicated that it was a 1/48 kit on the box!  Back then, "Box Scale" was a dirty word among modelers but attitudes have changed and many builders and collectors nowadays love vintage kits and the emotions and memories they evoke.  Perhaps we'll see the Cougar in an Atlantis box some day.

With release of the Starfire, each of the kits in this "Blue Band" Revell lineup of four kits from 1987 has now been re-released by Atlantis.  Artwork for these versions is 1987-vintage by Stu Shepard.

RIVET RESURGENCE!!!

In late 1987, Revell released a series of four box-scale Revell classics, the B-58, F-89, F-100 and F-94C.  Prior to this, re-releases of box-scale kits had become sporadic.  Perhaps this was a grand experiment to see what interest there was among modelers for these old kits.  Our guess is that it was a success, for just a few years later, Revell initiated its "SSP" program which consisted of a handful of vintage model kits released every year from 1993 onward with their original box art.  The SSP program lasted until Revell USA's demise in 2018.  

Back to the pioneering 1987 quartet of Blue-Band Revell classics, their 1/93 B-58 was tooled originally in 1957.  The F-89 came along in 1955 and was a 1/77 kit.  The F-100 came along a year later in 1956.  Atlantis came into possession of the kit molds in 2018 and began releasing them gradually starting in 2021.  It took five years but Atlantis has now re-released this entire series.  Of course Atlantis has released many dozens of other vintage kits during the same timeframe, taking the vintage kit re-release strategy to a "riveting" extreme.  We now see a "new" vintage kit from Atlantis released every few weeks!  The "good ol' days" of plastic modeling have returned!

Rivet!  Rivet!  Rivet!

Now that you've enjoyed this article, we'll route you to our exit through the Amazon "Gift Shop" (it's just like what they do at  Disneyland).  Check out pricing and availability of a number of cool Atlantis aircraft kits from our Amazon links below!
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Being Amazon Affiliates, we get a small commission if you buy the model after clicking these links.  Click the link -- buy the model -- help the website.  At no extra cost to you!  Of course you're not obligated to buy anything simply by clicking the link.  It's so easy to add an inexpensive Atlantis model kit to your Amazon order!  Shop now!

As of early July, 2026, Atlantis' F-94C has become available on Amazon!

HELP THE WEBSITE!  We are Amazon Affiliates.  If you buy the any of these model on Amazon after clicking the link, we get a small referral commission--at no extra cost to you!  Of course you're not obligated to buy when clicking the link.  It's so easy to add an Atlantis model kit to your Amazon order!!!  Note that availability and pricing may vary!

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