RetroWings 1/144 F-102A Aftermarket Sets
By Matt Bittner
While RetrokiT has previously released a cockpit and Case X wing for the Arii/Otaki 1/144 F-102 they have now followed up those releases with more.
| First up is the “Early Short Tail”, which is a direct-replacement for the kit’s own tail. While the majority of the production F-102s used a larger tail – needed to improve control – pre-production and the first 25 production F-102s used a shorter tail. Granted, most of these were eventually replaced but in the early life of F-102As some were seen with the shorter tail. In addition, most of those with the shorter tails also had the splitter-less intakes, the subject of the next conversion set. |
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| Most of those with the “Early Short Tail” could also be seen with the “Early Intakes” which did not have splitter plates. Again, these conversion pieces are just a direct replacement for the kit parts but you must perform a modicum of research before embarking on creating an early F-102A. Some of these early F-102As also were sporting the “Case X” wing so research is a must. Like I mentioned above RetroWings do have a direct-replacement Case X wing. |
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| The last set RetroWings created for the Arii/Otaki 1/144 F-102A is a replacement “Exhaust Cone”. Once again, direct a kit replacement and much better detailed. Plus they can be used with any F-102, “Early” or “Late”. |
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The next thing I hope to see from RetrokiT is a 1/144 TF-102A, two-seat conversion. That would definitely be awesome.
A problem when building an "Early" F-102A would be sourcing decals. While Starfighter Decals have released three F-102 sheets in the past they have been out-of-production for some time. Plus, just looking at the instruction sheets don't mention if these are "early" or "late" machines so you'll need to perform research to see if the markings provided could be used for an "early" conversion.
However, all is not lost. Fellow 1/144 modeler John Haverstock has been creating ALPS-generated decals for a number of subjects, and one of those just happens to be the F-102. These decals can be used for either "Early" or "Late" Daggers and if you look at the images at the end of this article you get an idea of what he has. Remember these are ALPS-generated decals so before using them you definitely want to overcoat them with something (I mist on a layer of Future) before using as they are delicate and it's easy to remove the ink from the decal paper. For more information definitely contact John Haverstock.
Huge thanks to RetrokiT for sending these sets for review. Now to source two Arii/Otaki F-102As so I can build an "Early" and "Late", plus front a RetroWings Case X wing and two cockpit sets.
