Hasegawa 1/72 scale conversion
F-101A Voodoo

by Eddie "Grunticus" Wilson
 

  

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Today I present a 1/72 F-101A conversion, built from the antiquated Hasegawa RF-101C kit. The nose was reconfigured back to the fighter variant by grafting on the radome from Revell's ancient 1/48 F-4E, then re-contouring the sides of the forward fuselage by building up the flat areas with cyanoacrylic gel and sanding them flush. Likewise, the cannon ports were added by adapting two pair of inner slat actuator fairings from the Testors F-4G.

I replaced the kit's spartan interior parts with a cockpit tub and instrument panel from Monogram's 1/72 A-10 but I retained the Voodoo seat.

The pilot figure is also from the A-10, sparing me the chore of further detailing the sparse accommodations within. Decals were used on the instrument panel and side consoles then a suitable gun sight from my spares box was glued to the coaming.

The wheels were all replaced with better substitutes and I scratch-built new main gear struts using the outrigger wheels from Monogram's B-52D kit as a basis. The plastic door actuators were deep-sixed in favor of chrome steel wire and tiny lengths of tubing from Small Parts Inc. A pair of small MV lenses up front for taxi/landing lights completed the landing gear details.

Hasegawa thoughtfully provides a pair of 450-gallon drop tanks but the mounting points are slightly mis-located. After moving them outboard I scratch-built a centerline pylon and mounted a "special" surprise to depict this aircraft's true mission during the heyday of the Cold War. The bomb is actually the belly tank leftover from my previously-posted Monogram A-1E project, for which I modified the tailfins to a cruciform pattern.

After fashioning a new pitot tube for the model and installing it below the nose I made new navigation lights for the wingtips and fincap.

I had hoped to use this model as a "test mule" to try out some of the new metallizer paints but the more I sanded and polished, the more flaws in my construction I discovered.

Undeterred, I re-scribed the surface detail and removed as many tooling marks as I could to achieve an acceptable foundation for paint.

Ultimately I ended up using tried-and-true Testor's Chrome Silver, but I sprayed the model in sections, using Tamiya tape to give me hard mask lines. This method produced some manner of multi-toning but less than I had hoped for.

As marked, this model depicts the 81st TFW's wing commander's aircraft at RAF Bentwaters, UK in early 1961. The decals came from Microscale's 72-223 but for the most part the sheet is woefully incorrect and incomplete. The only usable items on it are the flashes for the fin and rudder, and the unit insignia for the fuselage. I could not authenticate the serial number given on this decal so I removed it and substituted a known (and
photographically-confirmable) set. Also, the instruction sheet for this decal would have the modeler apply the grossly-oversized "buzz numbers" upside-down on the bottom of the fuselage -- the numbers should be right side up when viewed from side elevation. All of the lettering and numbers were replaced in any case with the correct Insignia Blue equivalents from various Scalemaster sheets.

The national insignias came from Repliscale while the servicing data and stencils are parolees from the "decal dungeon".

Truth told, I "inherited" this kit from a subordinate co-worker in 1981 who was separating from the service under less-than-amiable conditions. The sudden nature of his departure resulted in my acquiring most of the contents of his barracks room that would otherwise not fit into his 1974 Dodge Dart sedan. Such items also included a Teac 4010SS open-reel deck, several model kits (all armor save for this RF-101), and the "infamous" marble coffee table -- a huge hideous monstrosity from Germany, in Bavarian Green with a red-oak base (!).

The Voodoo languished in my garage for two decades when I rediscovered it and decided to give it a go. My friend had thoughfully purchased the Microscale decals when he originally bought this kit but the years had taken their toll to the point that liquid decal film was necessary to render them usable once more.

Nevertheless I would like to thank fellow HyperScalers Bill "Mr. Widgeon" Bailey and Jonathan Primm for their encouragement and support to help me completel this model. Thank you, Gentlemen (!).

Click the thumbnails below to view larger images:

Model, Images and Text Copyright © 2007 by Eddie "Grunticus" Wilson
Page Created 15 April, 2007
Last Updated 24 December, 2007

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