Kittyhawk Models F-101 was highly anticipated and in most cases, it delivers a modern tooling of a desirable aircraft with many options. One of these is open speed brakes. The kits parts consist of an entire speed brake as one molding with the actuator as a separate piece. Looking at the attached pictures, the kit part has severe molding sink marks. This could be due to pulling to quickly before cooling or one of several other reasons. The speed brakes are pretty smooth and they could be fixed with CA or putty and made to work.

Aires has given us an alternative with their set 4634 which replicates the speed brakes with even more detail and a better actuator. Aires parts are molded in their now familiar gray resin with a total of four parts- two speed brakes and two actuators. The molding is perfect and has excellent detail which surpasses the kits. Preparation is simple. Use a razor saw and cut the parts loose and sand lightly and you are good to go. One thing to remember is that the speed brakes (kit or Aires) are handed- there are specific ones for left and right. I primed mine and then sprayed the inside insignia red and the outside first with Tamiya Gloss Silver lacquer decanted from a rattle can. Pictures show this a lighter color than the rest of the plane so I used Light Aluminum for contrast. Once done, the hydraulic cylinder on the actuator was given a coat of silver and the parts given a wash of black to bring out the details and then flat coated and glued in place.

These parts look wonderful and they are as easy as pie to drop in place. If you are going to display the speed brakes closed, I would use the kit parts but if you are going to show them open, these are going to be better detailed and save you tons of sanding. Definitely Recommended.

My thanks to Aires and IPMS/UISA for the chance to make my Voodoo look great!