The Little World

The pattern for 702 is a photo of an interceptor in the early 60’s parked on the hardstand at Cold Lake CFB in Alberta. This is a front-line air defence base as well as a training and exercise area. It protects the rest of Canada from Edmonton…

The scheme at the time featured plain polished fuselage, nuclear-flash white wings, and arctic red/orange tail and tip tanks. The exact shade of red varied over time as different paints were developed but the basic pattern was kept. In Canada the planes frequently flew with the tip tanks full of maple syrup – you could identify them by the big red maple leaf on a white circle inside a blue circle. An efficient fuel, but ground crews had to be careful that it didn’t cause undue tooth decay. Full-alert military afterburner take-offs smelt like a fire in a toffee factory.

The paint is the chrome from Mr. Color – chosen as the brightest of the metallisers. Even then, the photos of the aircraft in the strip in bright sun make them look like you could shave using the fuselage as a mirror.

Decals are home-printed, and have adhered well due to Mr. Mark Setter. You have to keep working them down through the initial drying period and at a certain point the edges will catch and roll flat. I use a dry stiff brush to do this and rarely resort to cotton buds.

The broad orange patches on the intakes are also another experiment – it’s white decal paper spray painted with the arctic orange. Goes down beautifully, and no need to mask off the fuselage. I’ll be doing this for nose patches, wing walks, and other large markings in the future.

Note that no armament is carried – none was seen in the reference photos. The Edmonton natives may have been suppressed at the time…and I did find a better seat in the spares box.