F-106A Delta Dart

First of all, check the cornfield bomber history. Long story short: pilot ejects after loosing control. plane (with no pilot!) gains control, and lands by itself with almost no damage. just some scratches, and if flew many more houres after this... But, about the kit: its a nice hasegawa model. Very nice cockpit, the weapons bay are well detailed. Like the new Raptor and lightning 2, its weapons are carried concealed, not because of stealth, but due to the high speed of this airplane. Its not that big, its a little bigger than the F100, kind of the same size of the voodoo, less wingspan but longer than the raptor. This was an interceptor, sleek, elegant, fast. The model faithfully reproduces that. A nice learning model for a little more inexperient builders, and a nice one to do the self landing diorama.

The first impression of the Delta Dart is just how big it is for a single-engine 1/72 fighter. The kit is nearly 12 inches long when completed. The big plane is almost entirely one color, Air Defense Command Gray, only broken up by the black radome and gray anti-glare panel. Fortunately, the markings are fairly colorful, to break up the monotony a bit. The first option, shown on the box, is for a Massachusetts Air Guard plane with light blue Cape Cod markings, from exercises in 1985. The second set of markings has a large yellow lightning bolt on the tail, for the Air Force's ADTAC unit in 1984. The kit goes together fairly easily, since there aren't too many parts. Fit is mostly flawless, with a minimum of filler required. Detail is somewhat lacking for a kit of this size; the cockpit is mostly hidden from view by the heavily-framed canopy, but could still benefit from some detailing, like ejection pull handles or seatbelts. The landing gear bays have some ridges which look sort of like structural beams, but are fairly disappointing. The weapons bay is almost completely empty, apart from the trapeze arms which hold the Falcon missiles. The bays could definitely benefit from some added wires, or actuator arms in the missile bay. If you try to build the missile bay closed, be prepared for some fit issues; the only time you'll likely need putty is if you close the bay. The panel lines are fine raised, and the kit is covered in very subtle raised rivets. Unlike most old kits, the rivets actually make the kit look better. The weapons include four AIM-4 Falcons and two large drop tanks. Like many old Hasegawa stores, the Falcons are passable, but somewhat chunky, and do not come with markings. These could be improved with replacements from the Hase Weapons Set. Overall, the kit could use a lot of work, but it's your only option for an F-106 in 1/72 scale. (Although, Trumpeter does make a Delta Dart in 1/48 scale)

For more than 40 years this Hasegawa 1/72nd F-106A kit was the only game in town if you were modeling the century series fighters in this scale. They did a very good job in capturing the sleek coke bottle shaped (area-ruled) fuselage of this Ultimate Interceptor. Most of the fits of the parts are good given the age of the kit. Even with the advent of the new and excellent Meng F-106 kit, this Hasegawa kit is still a very good value and will build into a nice rendition of this important, but often overlooked, fighter-interceptor that was the mainstay of the U.S. Air Force Air Defense Command for almost 20 years.