RF-101C auxiliary tanks

[quangster]

Hi gents,

 

I’m currently building the Kitty Hawk 1/48 RF-101C Voodoo (a smooth and pleasant ride despite what’s being said on certain forums).

My intention is to do an Vietnam-era replica with one of the early test camouflage. 

During my research, I noticed that Voodoo of that theater often carry a different kind of aux tanks, slimmer and longer than their European counterparts.

 

 

Since the RF-101s in Vietnam originally were based in Japan, were these long tanks associated with their base in Japan ( just like the Misawa tanks on the F-86 during the Korean War?) What do you Voodoo fans, think?

 

Thank you for your input.

Cheers,

Quang

 

 

[Des]

Had a look through a couple of F-101 reference books and can see what you mean about some RF-101 around 1964/65 carrying more streamlined and tapered tanks which seem similar to those carried by the twin-seat variants.     Can find no explanation as such but a couple of image captions in Robert F. Dorr's McDonnell F-101 Voodoo in the Osprey Air Combat series refer to the more usual RF-101 blunt tanks as being 350 US Gallons while the more tapered tanks under some twin-seaters are described as 450 US Gallons.

 

No idea if this is right or wrong as while he was a prolific writer he was not always an accurate one although depending on circumstances every operational flight could potentially lead to a pair of tanks being blown off so the replacements would have to come from somewhere.

[Starfighter]

The tanks in the Kitty Hawk kit are the same as the ones in the F-101B kit, which I'm building at the moment, and they are 450 gal. tanks.

I know this as I used a pair from the Monogram F-101B kit for my F-100D Super Sabre to replace their "Banana " tanks. All i had to do was add fins to them.

I now have a set of resin  450 gal. tanks for another F-100 build, and they're the same size as the Kitty hawk tanks ( Not too confusing, I hope ! ) . 

[Starfighter]

PS : I see what you mean about the tanks in the photo being longer, so not sure what capacity they were. I'm sure someone with more knowledge than me will be along soon . 

Edited March 10, 2019 by Starfighter

[quangster]

7 hours ago, Des said:

Had a look through a couple of F-101 reference books and can see what you mean about some RF-101 around 1964/65 carrying more streamlined and tapered tanks which seem similar to those carried by the twin-seat variants.     Can find no explanation as such but a couple of image captions in Robert F. Dorr's McDonnell F-101 Voodoo in the Osprey Air Combat series refer to the more usual RF-101 blunt tanks as being 350 US Gallons while the more tapered tanks under some twin-seaters are described as 450 US Gallons.

@Des thank you for your input.

This is an ‘official’ drawing of the 450 US Gallons manufactured by Sargent-Fletcher fot the F-101. The dimensions and the shape fit well with the ‘blunt’ tanks provided by KH in their Voodoo kits. So the slimmer tanks remain a mystery.

 

 

@Starfighter How does it go with your F-101B build? I’m curious to compare notes with you.

 

cheers,

Quang

Edited March 10, 2019 by quangster
Insert drawing

[Starfighter]

1 hour ago, quangster said:

@Des thank you for your input.

This is an ‘official’ drawing of the 450 US Gallons manufactured by Sargent-Fletcher fot the F-101. The dimensions and the shape fit well with the ‘blunt’ tanks provided by KH in their Voodoo kits. So the slimmer tanks remain a mystery.

 

 

@Starfighter How does it go with your F-101B build? I’m curious to compare notes with you.

 

cheers,

Quang

So far, so good. The intakes needed a bit of work, but apart from that everything seems OK. I've added Eduard cockpit details and True Details ejection seats. I have found some of the sprue attachments  a bit awkward, but mostly OK.  Don't bother with part E16 for the fin tip light, as it's actually included on the clear sprue !

[Des]

What about the larger of the two sizes of drop tanks provided with the Revell/Monogram F-84F kit with the fins removed?

 

Just conducted a completely unscientific test by holding a Kitty Hawk F-101 tank half against  half of a Revell F-84F kit inborad tank and they are almost identical at their greatest diameter but with the F-84 tank being slightly more rounded at the nose and crucially that bit of extra length as it tapers towards the tail.

 

Also in real life with the RF-84 being replaced by the RF-101 user squadrons would be familiar with the tanks and have stocks on hand.

[quangster]

Haha! That's exactly what I found out BEFORE asking the question on the forum.

 

Above: Kitty Hawk F-101 tank

Below: Monogram F-84F tank with fins removed

The Monogram tank matches the photos to a tee.

Also your explanation about RF-101 squadrons using their old RF-84 tanks is plausible.

Thanks Des,

 

Cheers,

Quang

 

[quangster]

16 hours ago, Starfighter said:

So far, so good. The intakes needed a bit of work, but apart from that everything seems OK. I've added Eduard cockpit details and True Details ejection seats. I have found some of the sprue attachments  a bit awkward, but mostly OK.  Don't bother with part E16 for the fin tip light, as it's actually included on the clear sprue !

No luck on the RF-101 kit. No clear part for the fin tip light. Somehow, on some photos the fin light is over-painted with camouflage. Is that what KH wanted us to do?

 

Curiously, there are 4 no-name parts in the RF kit obviously meant to correct the intakes from slanted ones –on the F-101B- to the straighter ones on the single-seat. Nothing in the instructions neither. It took me some fiddling but it works!

 

Cheers,

Quang

[Starfighter]

6 hours ago, quangster said:

No luck on the RF-101 kit. No clear part for the fin tip light. Somehow, on some photos the fin light is over-painted with camouflage. Is that what KH wanted us to do?

 

Curiously, there are 4 no-name parts in the RF kit obviously meant to correct the intakes from slanted ones –on the F-101B- to the straighter ones on the single-seat. Nothing in the instructions neither. It took me some fiddling but it works!

 

Cheers,

Quang

Looking at photos of RF - 101's they appear to have the fin tip light fitted. The only pics I've found that are  overpainted are  on preserved airplanes. Should be easy to fashion a light out some clear sprue if you wanted to, though I'm sure no - one will notice anyway !

Another boo boo they made is the shape of the wing root louvres, but unless you want to hack the kit about ( Which I don't ) then you can ignore them. HTH   

[quangster]

You’re right about the preserved planes. Guess I’d have to go the clear sprue route.

As for the louvres, I’m working on it 😬

[TheRealMrEd]

Hi,

 

Got nothing to share on the skinny tanks, but would like to give Starfighter and others contemplating using the Monogram F-101B tanks as 450 gallon tanks for an F-100, the the rear of the tanks on an F-100 had an ogive curve on the rear end, not a straight taper as on the 101-B. They probably figured out that it was cheaper to build the straight taper tanks, later on:

 

 

Here are 3 out of 4 F-100 tanks:

 

 

with the middle one needed a little filler.

 

Ed

 

[Starfighter]

Did you mean the 450 gal. tank as shown on your F-100  photo, or the other two which are different tanks ? I have a pair of 1/48 resin 450 gal. tanks from AMS resin for a future build, and they are the same as the F-101 tanks in the Kitty Hawk kit.  🙂

[TheRealMrEd]

The photo of the real plane and the lower item in the model pieces pic are the correct shape for the 450 gallon tanks for F-100's.  Haven't seen the kit tanks you're talking about, but the picture above is correct. I have a few others that verify this.  If they have the straight tapered rear section, they are  correct for the F-101 series.

 

Ed

[Starfighter]

7 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

The photo of the real plane and the lower item in the model pieces pic are the correct shape for the 450 gallon tanks for F-100's.  Haven't seen the kit tanks you're talking about, but the picture above is correct. I have a few others that verify this.  If they have the straight tapered rear section, they are  correct for the F-101 series.

 

Ed

Thanks Ed . . . got a bit confused with your post ( I'm easily confused ! ) Actually, the other two tanks aren't quite right, if they're the Trumpeter ones, as I think the nose section is too blunt / short, and they appear a bit too "Fat " to my eye. When I built my trumpeter F-100F I used Monogram 275 gaj. tanks with a slightly lengthened nose, which looked better. Sorry if I wandered "Off topic " but thought you might find that interesting. 

[TheRealMrEd]

You might be correct, but they DO fit precisely atop the scale 1/72 drawings in Bert Kinzey's "Detail & Scale Vol 33, F--100 Super Sabre".  He has been known to get a few wrong, now and then, But I'm not sure. I don't have anything more to add on the subject, except for a few more pics for those interested:

 

 

 

 

 

and one more of the 450 gallon:

 

 

Interestingly, I did run across one picture of an early F-101 "C" (I think -- can't remember), that had these same F-100 style tanks as above, rather than the straight taper rear end;  I'm pretty sure this was an early and late fuel tank matter.

 

Ed

[Scott Hemsley]

Just an FYI … but according to the OOP publication "CF-101 VooDoo; Canadian profile" by Robert McIntyre  … the longer streamlined tanks seen in the OP's photograph are "450 gallon streamlined tanks' while the shorter, fatter tanks seen in most ,if not all F-101 kits, were  'short (large diameter) 450 gallon supersonic drop tanks'.   Unfortunately, the publication in question, gave no dimension details or photos as the RCAF didn't fit them to their aircraft - just some unscaled (none mentioned) fit-the book-format, 2-page line drawings, that showed both style of tanks... 

 

As for modelling this particular style of tank, just from the photos presented above, I think that the Monogram F-84 tank (fins removed) with a slightly blunter nose would be your best option, and in the absence  of any dimension data … eye-ball the length, etc. on the kit compared to photos..

 

Scott 

Edited March 16, 2019 by Scott Hemsley

[Starfighter]

4 hours ago, TheRealMrEd said:

You might be correct, but they DO fit precisely atop the scale 1/72 drawings in Bert Kinzey's "Detail & Scale Vol 33, F--100 Super Sabre".  He has been known to get a few wrong, now and then, But I'm not sure. I don't have anything more to add on the subject, except for a few more pics for those interested:

 

 

 

 

 

and one more of the 450 gallon:

 

 

Interestingly, I did run across one picture of an early F-101 "C" (I think -- can't remember), that had these same F-100 style tanks as above, rather than the straight taper rear end;  I'm pretty sure this was an early and late fuel tank matter.

 

Ed

I love the second photo ( 20th. TFW ) and the third ( 48th. TFW ) Brings back happy memories of USAF " Open Days "  

[Ben Brown]

Hi All,

 

I agree that the skinny tanks on the F-101 might have been the same as the F-84F's tanks, but I don't have anything to confirm that. I can add a little more info about the the fat 450s made by Sargent-Fletcher. They are indeed the same shape as the ferry tanks used on the F-100 (and the CH-21 Shawnee helicopter!). While they were the same shape/capacity, I don't think they were interchangeable between aircraft types, much like the F-15-style tanks couldn't be swapped between Eagles and Phantoms. The 450s on the F-101 had the same rounded taper at the rear as pointed out about the F-100 tanks. Monogram just got that little detail wrong, and Kitty Hawk copied the error in their "research" on the F-101. 

 

Regarding the F-100, years ago, I had the pleasure of corresponding often with the late Dave Menard about F-100s. According to Dave, the F-100 drawings in D&S are actually pretty accurate, even catching the difference in the length of the F-100A/C fin cap vs that of the D/F. Trumpeter would have done well to have used those drawings when they designed their F-100s. Another item in D&S, is where it says the 275-gal drop tanks in the Monogram kit are 1/4" too short. They're actually spot on. While we were discussing the then new 1/32 F-100D kit, Dave made a trip to the Air Force Museum in Dayton and measured the full sized tanks, discovering his mistake from when he helped with the D&S book. Trumpeter's F-100 tanks in all scales are a little too fat and the nose is too blunt. They got the fact that the upper fins are larger than the lower ones (Monogram missed that), but they got the shapes wrong. The 275s were modified to 335-gal capacity in the mid-60s by adding a 28" plug to the joint just forward of the pylon leading edge. In the above photos, 56-3040 is carrying 335s, while 56-3004 has 275s.

 

Cheers!

 

Ben 

Edited March 17, 2019 by Ben Brown

[RidgeRunner]

How did I miss this thread!? I will keep a close eye on it :). I haven't read through it all yet but my initial thoughts on the long tanks is that they were no just for Japanese ops. I, too, have one of these early RF-101As in an experimental scheme in build right now :). 

 

Martin

[quangster]

1 hour ago, RidgeRunner said:

 I, too, have one of these early RF-101As in an experimental scheme in build right now :). 

 

Martin

Aha, I will be watching your build closely. Is it already on the forum?

 

Quang

[tony.t]

The replacement clear fin trailing edge lamp cover is included in the F-101B kit (on the extra little sprue that features the port fwd fuse spotlight cover) but — irritatingly — was omitted from the RF-101C release. 

 

Apart from the duff louvre on one side of the fuselage, the two grille like ventral vents located on the panel between the NLG bay and rear camera bay are missing. 

 

Still wondering if Aires Quickboost will ever get stuck into this kit. 

 

Tony 

 

 

[quangster]

Contrary to some comments on the internet, the KH RF-101C is a very good kit with a few mistakes which are NOT so daunting to correct with a little handiwork and some method.

No need for aftermarket stuff.

 

So far I've finished the tail lamp cover, the right fuselage hot air vent and the RHAWS bumps. The two ventral vents are not present on every aircraft. I decided to skip them on my model.

 

I'm currently working on the intakes. KH obligingly provided the parts to correct them but not a word in the instruction sheet. One has to figure out how it works. Shame on you KH 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cheers,

Quang

 

 

Edited March 20, 2019 by quangster
Adding pic

[Keith T]

Do you have a shot or two of the correct intake parts in position ?

[quangster]

@Keith T

KH provided 4 extra parts to correct the intakes: 2 (upper and lower) for the right intake and 2 for the left intake.

Here’s how they must be located on the right intake. Note the flare on the lower lip.

Note that contrary to what have been published on the internet, the kit intakes need to be extended and not shortened.

 

 

 

 

This present thread is slowly veering into a WIP. I think I’d better create a new dedicated topic on building the KH Voodoo.

What do you fellas think?

 

cheers,

Quang

Edited March 20, 2019 by quangster