U.S. Marine Corps F-101 Voodoo
12As the middle of the 1950s approached, it became clear that American naval aviation would need to upgrade from subsonic types like the Grumman F-9 Cougar. There were misgivings about the upcoming Vought F7U Cutlass, which were soon proven accurate. Another Vought product, the F-8 Crusader, was offered, and went head to head with a McDonnell contender, a navalised version of the F-101 Voodoo. While the twin-engine arrangement of the Voodoo was tempting in terms of safety, the much lower weight of the Crusader gave it the edge, and it was adopted by the Navy and Marine Corps in 1957. The navalised Voodoo only existed as a sales mock-up, with a prototype only existing as an airframe awaiting conversion.
345 6 The KitThe old old old Revell kit picked up at an antique shop in Tweed, Ontario. I took a look in the box to make sure that all the important bits were there, and the requisite cash was transferred. A more intense inventory at home found that one main gear leg and wheel were missing, no big deal - wheels up it is. Well, that idea didn't last long, but long enough for me to have already glued the main gear doors in place. Kit-bash worthy replacements from a Heller Mustang were salvaged, and gear doors were destroyed when prying them off. Meh, they were ugly-thick anyway, so new ones were cut from plastic sheet. Decals were from the equally old Aurora Skyknight. Paint was Tamiya X-3 Royal Blue. And it's done.