So, the other week, I was at the LHS and saw this kit in the Estate Sale shelves - the Encore release of the second iteration of the Monogram F-102A (Case XX wing), at one of those Make Him An Offer He Cannot Refuse prices. Given that I have had the SuperScale sheet for the California ANG around for a long time, I decided to go for it.

As is fairly usual (unfortunately) with most Encore releases, half the resin can be tossed. The resin flaperons aren't the right size, and the cockpit tub (as usual) doesn't fit. After purchase, I read a review where the modeler complained that the seamless s u c k e r (thanks, Nanny - not!) intakes were "too thin" and didn't fit. Yes, the resin is very thin and one has to take real care in cutting the part off the pour stub. They did fit with care, but there was a "dish in" which was actually the result of the way the plastic fuselage half was molded, which required applying a good glop of some Tamiya grey putty and then sanding to fill and get the right shape. I also filled the gap where the lower wing and upper wing come together, then rescribed lost surface detail (thank goodness it's on the lower side, where most won't notice). When I put the fuselage together, I discovered that sanding down the vertical fin on the right half from inside before joining got a nice tight fit of that bad idea for assembly Monogram came up with there. I sanded the leading and trailing edges of the vertical fin and the trailing edges of the wing to get an approximation of a real airfoil shape.

The resin seat is miles better than the plastic would be in looks, and fits the plastic tub after cutting away and sanding down the attachment area for the plastic seat. The resin for the instrument panel coaming and divider, with the photo-etch instrument panel, makes things look much better.

The resin nose might be the proper shape/length, but it's solid resin and slightly small in circumference for attachment to the fuselage, so I stayed with the plastic part, that fits well.

With care and attention to the mating areas, the wing and fuselage sub-assemblies come together nicely with only some need for putty on the area of the lower rear fuselage.

The resin Falcon AAMs are miles better than the plastic versions. I'm going to do the doors open and display them.

Interestingly, I discovered reading the decal painting instructions that the Case XX airplane on the sheet was painted overall aluminum lacquer rather than ADC Grey. Research confirmed that when I found a color photo of the exact airplane (unfortunately a Chrome HTML so I can't post it here) and shots of other silver F-102s the California ANG had - they're all dated 1971, rather than the 1962 the decal sheet quotes. I'll do that with Vallejo Semi-Matte Aluminum.

This is still the only kit of this airplane available in 1/48 scale. I doubt anyone else will ever do it (but never say "never").

Painting is next.

8 attached images. Click to enlarge.

Nice entry, @tcinla! Looks like not all the extra resins are usable, however the ones used clearly depart this model from its standard kit form (which was already not bad at all!).
I have the standard Revell issue and a great decal sheet to build a HAF bird, so temptation is rising.
Looking forward to see this bird in aluminum.

Painted.

I painted the interior parts Interior Green then masked off and painted the whole model with Tamiya XF-18 Semi-gloss Black. then masked the walkways on the intakes, the anti-glare panel and the radome, and painted the model with Vallejo "Semi-Matte Aluminum." The intake lip and ramp was painted with Vallejo Furaluminum and the exhaust area with Dark Aluminum. I unmasked the black areas and pained the radome with Tamiya X-1 Gloss Black.

The Vallejo Semi-Matte Aluminum looks exactly like the aluminum lacquer the actual airplane was painted with.

3 attached images. Click to enlarge.

This kit builds up into a really nice model, Tom (@tcinla). I built the kit (it was the standard kit without all the extras) a couple of years ago and really enjoyed it. At the time, I had forgotten how big the model was and it ended up taking lots of shelf space. Looking forward to the build.

I’ll echo George, that was fast! Monogram or not, it looks great and came together quick.

@fiveten - glad to know that. Looking at the model this morning, with all the paint fully cured and in the bright light of day, it's really much better than I had expected. We'll see with the decals and further final assembly of everything if that continues.

@j-healy - it's a good advertisement for the Vallejo metallics, that's for sure.

Fantastic results, Tom @tcinla
Quick as always.
My experience with the Vallejo aluminum is positive as well till now.
It suites the 102 very nicely.

Looking awesome, Tom.
I just turned my head away from the screen and you already made your next step, incredible.