Five months for this?

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I’m not certain it took five months, but it was around that long. Not working continuously, of course.

A photo of a model F-101B Voodoo jet fighter. It is grey with US Air Force insignia prominent on the nose. A navy blue triangle containing stars is on the tail, indicating that this plane belongs to the Minnesota Air National Guard. A Lego minifig of Batman looks on. The plane is twice as tall as Batman.
Lego Batman contemplates a possible replacement for the Batplane.

I don’t feel like going into too much detail right now. It’s the Revell 1/72 F-101B Voodoo, this version was made in 1992. Decals are from Experts-Choice (which is the company that makes Bare Metal Foil). The kit decals were out of register, which means the red stripe in the insignia was noticeably off-center.

A top view of the same model, showing the swept wings and opened canopy. The light grey walkways on the wings can be clearly seen, as can some discoloration of the aluminum-colored jet engine exhausts.
Fun fact – the XF-88, which was the prototype for the F-101 Voodoo, was one of the inspirations for at least one version of the comic book version of the Batplane.

The only other aftermarket part is the pitot tube, from Master Models. (Is a decal sheet considered a part? Most contests allow aftermarket decals in basic kit build categories, but not brass or resin bits.) I used a canopy and wheel mask from KV models, but that’s definitely not a part.

Right rear view of the same plane. The blue triangle on the tail can now be seen to contain stars in the shape of the Big Dipper. The canopy is propped open and the wing flaps are dropped. Some zinc chromate green primer can be seen inside one of the flaps.
The exhaust weathering didn’t come out quite the way I wanted, but the very light preshading of the panel lines is about what I wanted.

The instructions, which I found somewhat vague, have you install the finished cockpit tub up through the missile bay after the fuselage halves are glued together. I broke parts off doing this which had to be reattached from above once the tub was in place. The front landing gear well was also rather fiddly, as you have to build a box with the gear strut sandwiched between the sides. The main gear attachment points were simple butt joints that I suspect will cause me problems in the future.

A closeup from behind of the cockpit. Not much can be seen, but the pilot's instrument panel is partially visible. Warning stencils are on the side of the fuselage below the cockpit. No decal film can be seen around the stencils or insignia because I did a good job of it this time, so there!
The cockpit, which I advise you to install before gluing the fuselage closed.

Otherwise a pretty decent build. The aftermarket bits — pitot, mask, and decals — all worked well for me. Paint is mostly Model Master Enamel, with Alclad for the exhausts.

One of the first kits I ever built was the old Monogram box-scale F-101, probably the 1970 or 1973 boxing, molded in blue plastic. So when I saw this at a show, I had to pick it up. (Well, okay, I didn’t have to, but I did anyway.)

A right rear three-quarters view from above. Nothing new to see here.
One last photo.
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