Monogram 1/48 F-102A Delta Dagger

The Convair F-102 Delta Dagger was an American interceptor aircraft designed and manufactured by Convair. Built as part of the backbone of the United States Air Force's air defenses in the late 1950s, it entered service in 1956. Its main purpose was to intercept invading Soviet strategic bomber fleets (primarily the Tupolev Tu-95) during the Cold War. A total of 1,000 F-102s were built.

A member of the Century Series, the F-102 was the USAF's first operational supersonic interceptor and delta-wing fighter. It used an internal weapons bay to carry both guided missiles and rockets. As originally designed, it could not achieve Mach 1 supersonic flight until redesigned with area ruling. The F-102 replaced subsonic fighter types such as the Northrop F-89 Scorpion, and by the 1960s, it saw limited service in the Vietnam War in bomber escort and ground-attack roles. It was supplemented by McDonnell F-101 Voodoos and, later, by McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs.

Many of the F-102s were transferred from the active duty Air Force to the Air National Guard by the mid-to-late 1960s, and, with the exception of those examples converted to unmanned QF-102 Full Scale Aerial Target (FSAT) drones, the type was totally retired from operational service in 1976. The follow-on replacement was the Mach-2 Convair F-106 Delta Dart, which was an extensive redesign of the F-102.

This is the 1990 release of this kit and provides and aircraft with the Case XX wings. These wings have the drooped down wing tips while on the Case X version, they are slightly upswept. Monogram doesn't seem to differentiate on the box which is included and one has to sort of figure things out by the art work and finished models.

Typical of Monogram kits of the era, it has raised panel lines and superb interior and well detailing. The cockpit tub fits a three piece ejection seat along with control stick, throttle and instrument panel. Detailing on the panel and side consoles is raised and must be painted. Cockpit assembly fits in through the underside of an already closed fuselage. Main and nose gear can be installed after painting which is a real plus.

Monogram will have you clean out holes for the nose mounted IRST and on the lower wings for the fuel tanks. These tanks have small fins and you might want to check references as I don't think all of them had this feature. Engine intakes are fairly shallow but with a narrow opening this won't be much of an issue.

Landing gear is very nicely detailed and should be strong enough to hold things up without any wiggle. Speed brake can be modeled open or closed and the same is for the canopy. You also have the option to model the weapons bay open or closed. With the open position, you have an additional option to model the missile racks raised or lowered. Falcon missiles are provided. Modeling the kit with the bay closed will save a lot of time.

Instructions are well done with generic paint references. These planes were silver lacquer then ADC Grey. Markings are for one unidentified aircraft. It is unfortunate that the sheet is off register so you'll have to find aftermarket. Actually, it isn't such a bad deal as the markings are for a Case X wing aircraft so not applicable to this boxing. Case XX wings started with serial 61-1317 and were not retrofit to earlier airframes. 

This is still the only 1/48 F-102 on the market. I'm surprised that Trumpeter or Meng haven't had a go at this one, but perhaps it is an aircraft that doesn't sell well. Regardless, the kit makes into a very nice, and large model.