1:72 RF-101C 45 TRS 'Polka Dots' (wet decals)

The polka-dot squadron and its long-nosed Voodoo

The McDonnell RF-101C was the reconnaissance counterpart of the heavy F-101 fighter. It carried no armament, but it had a lengthened nose packed with cameras and performance that let it cross the target area faster than the air defenses could react. From 1961 it photographed the situation in Laos and over Vietnam and it long remained one of the few machines able to bring back usable images from deep in the rear.

The whole sheet is devoted to a single unit, the 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron, nicknamed after the dots on its tail. The eight subjects carry a code letter on the fin, the standard camouflage intended for Southeast Asia and above all the varied personal names that the crews painted on the nose. The dates run between 1968 and 1970, the last years in which the type served in the region before reconnaissance Phantoms replaced it.

What you get:

• eight machines of one squadron, each with its own name on the nose
• national insignia, tail codes and small lettering
• the scale matches common plastic models of the Voodoo

The set also suits collectors who want to build several machines of the same unit side by side and show how the equipment and the lettering changed over two years. The airplane model itself is not in the package.

The finish can be handled two ways: either faithfully from photographs of the particular machine, or as the typical pattern with dark fields above and a light underside. The dots on the fin are the most striking element of the whole set and they decide whether the model belongs to the right unit at first glance.