Monogram Convair F-102A Delta Dagger

[Gary Brantley]

I took this one out to the Cameron Airport today for some outdoor photos. I finished it last week, having started around May 1. Working on it in fits and starts, I finally called it quits. It is the 1990 release of the 1/48 Convair F-102A from Monogram and it marks number four of of my completed Century Series fighters, alongside the Monogram F-100 and RF-101B and the Testors F-104. I still have a Monogram F-105 and F-106 in the stash but honestly, I don't think I'll be able to crowd them all together on one shelf. They are pretty big birds!

I based this one on a photo I found. I was drawn to its rather unusual "silver dope" finish and found a set of Pro-Modeler decals for an Idaho Air Guard plane almost just like the one in that single photo. One of the drawbacks to that scheme was matching the lime-green color of the Idaho marking for the wing fences. That little challenge turned out to be not that much and I got pretty close. Many photos of Delta Daggers show their brake doors painted in a different color. Since I had custom mixed enough green, I exercised a bit of artistic license and painted this one's brake doors to match.

It is almost all OOB except for Eduard seatbelts, and a bit of seat plumbing I added. I added the antennae just aft of the canopy too. The drop tanks in the photo were ADC gray with polished tips and ends but I liked how the ModelMaster Chrome Silver looked and left one in all-over silver; just say it's a replacement tank. The aircraft is painted with Humbrol Metal Cote matte aluminum and finish coated with a semi-gloss clear. I had a few little boo-boos in the topside silver and after it was clear-coated, I tried to touch them up. They looked terrible; but then I decided to mask off the areas and square them up. Then, I cut-out card-stock masks to clear-coat those squares. It looks much better and perhaps represents "touched up" spots. The insignia decals are the 1990 kit, while the Idaho specific decals are from the 1996 Pro-Modeler sheet. I over-coated them all with MicroMark decal film and used really hot water.

Thanks for stopping by and having a look! Have a great weekend everybody!





































real deal:





a sister:

[keavdog]

Turned out great Gary. Nice pics. Always liked the looks of the 102 - especially that canopy

[Stikpusher]

Lovely!

Man I always dig seeing how you do these airport shots of your aircraft builds Gary! They make a good thing even better.

Just curious, but what size is your airfield ramp base for the photos?

[jeaton01]

Beautiful, Gary. Too bad the hangar is too big to fit in the display case.

[LyleW]

That kind of access to any airport is priceless! Great pictures...as usual.

[BlackSheep214]

Nice! I want to get a Delta Dagger myself and do it in Griffiss AFB markings.

[tempestjohnny]

So cool...

[midnightprowler]

Beautiful. I have this, but to tell the truth, the thing scares me. I've heard lots of horror stories about the fit and how much filling and sanding is required, which I hate doing lol.

[Gary Brantley]

Turned out great Gary. Nice pics. Always liked the looks of the 102 - especially that canopy

Thanks a lot!

Lovely!

Man I always dig seeing how you do these airport shots of your aircraft builds Gary! They make a good thing even better.

Just curious, but what size is your airfield ramp base for the photos?

Thanks Carlos! I appreciate that. My tarmac ramp is about 19 1/2" x 41 1/2". It was a random piece of 3/8" Masonite that I had around here. I have been wanting to make a different one for use with some models. I'm thinking about something more suitable to WWII birds, maybe even some of that Marsden matting? I have three WWII models I plan to take to neighboring Rockdale, where the airport has a cool, old Quonset-type hangar that should look great as a background. My ramp is a bit too modern for some planes.

Beautiful, Gary. Too bad the hangar is too big to fit in the display case.

Thanks John! I know, right? The hangar just won't quite make it...pity too, because those hangars make the models look better than they are!

That kind of access to any airport is priceless! Great pictures...as usual.

Thanks Lyle! You are right. It was a lovely morning out there, only one private plane came in while I was there. Perfect weather!

Nice! I want to get a Delta Dagger myself and do it in Griffiss AFB markings.

Thanks Blacksheep! Looking forward to your version!

So cool...

Thanks Johnny!

Beautiful. I have this, but to tell the truth, the thing scares me. I've heard lots of horror stories about the fit and how much filling and sanding is required, which I hate doing lol.

Thank you sir! I know exactly what you mean too. I've been looking at the kit for thirty years, feeling that same trepidation. And you know what? It was well-deserved too because it did require a lot of sanding and filling and fitting. So yeah, there is that. But as the Secretary of the Interior told Lone Watie and his friends, "Endeavor to persevere." And I did.

[Stuart]

That's an awesome looking Delta Gary and I love your airfield shots!