1/72 Meng F-102A Delta Dagger 32nd F.I.S.

Gallery Article by Carl Jarosz on Dec 19 2019

 

      

Be still, fellow ARCers, for I only plan to build only one more Delta Dagger: when the spirit will move me, I can't say. For now, though, please accept this latest '102' with another striking unit marking, this of the 32nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron. All the '102's I've built on ARC were based on units in service in the late 1950s and into the 1960s; very few were left by the 1970s.

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I can't add more than I already wrote on my previous '102' submissions (see Gallery). I only spent extra funds for an after market cockpit seat and the decal sheet for the 32nd FIS unit. I will point out, though, that it's important to marshal as many historical references as one can get when trying to replicate a historical aircraft. To wit: two different books, for example, had photos of the 32nd FIS, but the color layout was different. One had a red-white-blue (top to bottom) marking on the tailplane; the other had a blue-white-red marking (top to bottom), which more represents the French flag tri-color layout. The date of photo when taken was not provided. At this point, it's up to the modeler to choose which one he wishes to build.

Just one more item on this build: I threw away the three-color decals that were on the after market decal sheet and instead opted to mask and paint the colors on the tailplane. I did so because: 1) one of my reference photos showed it as such, and it was broader in area than the decal size, and: 2) there were enough raised and curved surfaces on the tailplane to cause one to cut or lance the sheet decal for it to seat properly.

Carl Jarosz

Photos and text © by Carl Jarosz