Meng 1/72 F-102A (Case XX)

[Lee]

I will definitely finish this kit for this GB, honestly!




Vietnam service



The F-102 served in Vietnam, flying fighter patrols and serving as bomber escorts. A total of 14 aircraft were lost in Vietnam: one to air-to-air combat, several to ground fire and the remainder to accidents.

Initially, F-102 detachments began to be sent to bases in Southeast Asia in 1962 after radar contacts detected by ground radars were thought to possibly be North Vietnamese Il-28 "Beagle" bombers – considered to be a credible threat in that time period. The F-102s were sent to Thailand and other nearby countries to intercept these aircraft if they threatened South Vietnam.

F-102As of the 509th FIS over Vietnam, November 1966. These aircraft wear standard Southeast Asia camouflage (T.O. 1-1-4).
Later on, Boeing B-52 Stratofortress strikes, codenamed "Arc Light", were escorted by F-102s based in the theater. It was during one of these missions that an F-102 was shot down by a North Vietnamese Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 using an AA-2 Atoll heat-seeking missile. The MiGs approached undetected, and one of the F-102s was hit by an air-to-air missile, which did not explode immediately, but remained lodged in the aft end of the aircraft, causing stability problems. As the pilot reported the problem to his wingman, the wingman observed the damaged Delta Dagger explode in midair, killing the pilot. This was the only air-to-air loss for the F-102 during the Vietnam War. The other F-102 pilot fired AIM-4 missiles at the departing MiG-21s, but no hit was recorded.

The F-102 was employed in the air-to-ground role with limited success, although neither the aircraft nor the training for its pilots were designed for that role. The 509th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron's Deuces arrived at Da Nang Air Base, 4 August 1964 from Clark Air Base, Philippines.[27] The interceptor was equipped with 24 2.75 in (70 mm) FFARs in the fuselage bay doors. These could be used to good effect against various types of North Vietnamese targets in daylight. At night it proved less dangerous to use heat-seeking Falcon missiles in conjunction with the F-102's nose-mounted IRST (Infrared Search & Track) on nighttime harassment raids along the Ho Chi Minh trail. Some F-102As were configured to accommodate a single AIM-26 Super Falcon in each side bay in lieu of the two conventional AIM-4 Falcons. Operations with both the F-102A and TF-102A two-seaters (which were used in a Forward Air Control role because its two seats and 2.75 in/70 mm rockets offered good versatility for the mission) continued in Vietnam until 1968 when all F-102s were returned to the United States.

[Willem]

Well, we've all got evidence of your intention to finish so no excuses.

Looks a great kit of an iconic jet.

Good luck with your build mate.

[LudvigN]

One of my absolute favourites and the it looks gorgeous. Surely this will result in a really cool model!

[MarkVerploeg]

Well as the biggest Vietnam noob to walk this earth
I must say that was an intresting read

I watched the review when it was released and i think it is a nice kit and not too big either

Good luck with the build

[UKguyInUSA]

Looks like a fabulous kit Lee, have fun building her!

[rodrant]

Nice entry Lee

[felisbarcinonensis]

The kit looks cool! Nice entry

[Lee]

Progress.....!!! Look Mum, work on the work bench....




Had a problem with this as when packing up my Sister accidentally knocked the both the wheel struts off their toothpicks and were lost forever in the upheaval of the old mancave. So, I'm going to have to close up the wheel and bomb bays. Shame as I'd already painted and weathered all the landing gear and wheel bays

Fuselage together with some seam filling and sanding required...






Wings together, again some small filling required...




All greebles ready to go on...




Canopy masked...

[Filmman586]

Nice to see you on the bench Lee!

[MarkVerploeg]

Quick call the newspaper ,Lee is modelling
Good to see you're back at the bench and working on some models again

[Lee]

Cheers fellas


Quite a lot of seem filling last night. All good though...




This model was not made for a wheels up as not one of the wheel bay covers actually fits, in the slightest...lol. Lots of fettling to do here



Canopy doesn't fit properly either so, more fettling...lol




Just enjoying being back at the bench though

[MarkVerploeg]

Eeehhh
Maybe the canopy fits already
I don't own this kit so i can't check it but i don't see that raised edge in front of the canopy in any photo
Could it be you placed it too far back?
Just a thought though as it looks like the large canopy part is laying on the windscreen

[Lee]

Eeehhh
Maybe the canopy fits already
I don't own this kit so i can't check it but i don't see that raised edge in front of the canopy in any photo
Could it be you placed it too far back?
Just a thought though as it looks like the large canopy part is laying on the windscreen

It's on there correctly Mark. Those tags are meant to sit in the recess you can see.

[MarkVerploeg]

Ooohh okay
Like i sayed i can't check it
Too bad about the fit though

[DBMiller]

I've always wondered how a manufacturer can get some of the parts so wrong, especially these days.

[Lee]

It's not too bad, just needs a little fettle is all

[chief5437]

Great work Lee! Sure it's not an airfix?! Lol!

[Lee]

Great work Lee! Sure it's not an airfix?! Lol!

Not sure at all mate....lol


Update ...

Well as you know I can't have wheels down so, decided to finish it wheels up. Hmm, mistake!

Some one said it on FaceBook, but why oh why don't manufacturers make kits so you can have wheels up if you want.

As you can see, I had to insert sprue just to get the front wheel bay door to sit otherwise it just fell through...




Had to do exactly the same for the rear bay doors, only they were a LOT worse...!!!





At least I used up all the left over sprue eh....lol


As you can see from this next shot, once all buttoned up the fit is atrocious...




A LOT of careful filling and she is ready for primer.

All I can say is I dry fit all of this in wheels down position before I started painting the wheels etc and it looked awesome, just not made to be wheels up....

[MarkVerploeg]

Looks great Lee
Weird though your kit needs filler and my Bulldozer from meng is friction fitted in some places
Like they didn't gave it the same kind of attention during the design
Anyway looking forward to the finish

[Lee]

There's only some paint on her...!!!




Trying so hard to get it finished over the next couple of days, will be tight!

[DBMiller]

Wow! They really want you to work at having the gear up!

[Lee]

I know right DB...!!!


Anyway, one colour.....




Two colour.....




Trying to get all the colours down before we go out tonight.....

[Lee]

three colours....

[JonMW]

Nice! At this pace you should be able to get it done in time.

[Nige201980]

Looking great mate might even get it finished

[robertw]

Who are you and what have you done with Lee? lol It's looking awesome!

[MarkVerploeg]

Nearly there
It is.looking fine so far
Just a few more hours of work

[rwsmith14]

Camo paint looks GREAT !!!

[Lee]

Cheers guys - Going to be tight as it's Sunday lunch day at the local Taberna today. Going to try and get as much done as possible this morning

[Lee]

Holy crap! I may just do this.....lol

Decals on and glossed ready for weathering tomorrow




Base ready for painting....

[peppie]

Come on Lee, you can do it!

Btw I have The same problem. I'm about to put the gloss on over the decals. And then tomorrow weathering and some details.....
Pff, is gone be tight..

[Hillbilly]

Love that camo job Lee.......soooo close now

[chief5437]

Easy! Easy! Easy! (In that 1970's wrestling chant voice! Lol)

Looks great with the decals on. I like the idea for the base, is it a shelf bracket?

[Lee]

Cheers guys...


Yes chief, cost £1.80

[MarkVerploeg]

Looking very nice
I am sure we will see this build in the reveal section before the end of the build

[Lee]

Base finished

[robertw]

Looking good Lee

[Lee]

Washing in progress....




Next pics will be in the reveal...

Been a long time since I said that.....lol....WOOHOO

[rwsmith14]

Loving the base !! wash looks great !! well done !