1/48 Hobbycraft F8F - FINISHED, More Photos

Thanks John. Yes, the RVN markings are quite bright and colorful. As far as the grayness of the aluminum goes, I'm leaning for the look on this aircraft, which sure is not a shiny BMF at this point into service life. The aluminum had weathered substantially in the climate.

So I’m trying to get this project wrapped up shortly, and have been working on it for the past few days.

First up I added and cleaned up a panel line wash

and then this evening I made up some replacement gun barrels using brass tubing

More updates to come soon…

Nice work, Carlos.

Thanks John. This really is a neat little kit of a great subject.

A little more progress on the Bearcat. I painted up and weathered the kit 5” HVARs, plus added some Pro Modeler decal stenciling, then glued them in place. I also painted up the 20mm gun barrels using a mix of Testors Gun Metal & Flat Black. That gave a nice parkerized finish looking color.

More coming tomorrow hopefully… lots going on here… 

Finally, enough time in the day, and no complications, to get in a good bench session. I did the last bits of airbrushing, then started removing all of the masking. Some of that dampened tissue paper in certain areas sure was reluctant to come back out, and that ended up causing me to knock a 5” rocket loose during the handling. But man does this look good now.

One more good session and I ought to be able to wrap this one up…

Ok, I’m calling this Cat finished

I’m gonna let the landing gear fully dry overnite, as it is a bit spindly. Tomorrow I’ll get a full proper finished multi angle bunch of photos taken and posted.

Well done!

Very nice Stik!  

John & John, thank you. I do appreciate your comments. Tough crowd here on FSM nowadays, over 4800+ views on this thread, but only a few folks saying anything. 

Great build, Stik. The airplane looks really different not Navy blue.

stikpusher

Man, that is really HOT looking!

Love it!

stikpusher

Tough crowd here on FSM nowadays, over 4800+ views on this thread, but only a few folks saying anything. 

Perhaps they're just in awe of your modeling skills! 

Nicely done Bearcat!

Gary

Many thanks for looking in and commenting guys!

Frank, the Bearcat really looks sharp in NMF, or any other paint scheme. But this end of service life scheme is quite attractive with the RVN markings.

DM, thank you for your kind words!

Gary, thank you as well! But my modeling skills are no where near awe inspiring. Nothing fancy going on with this one.  Just basic work and a few simple add ons.... at a slow pace... 

I'll admit, I've never been a big fan of the Bearcat. No reason, just never resonated with me. But this one, WOW!! That is a stunning build, Stik. You have me rethinking my choices in life now. Well done, I really like this one. 

BK

Brandon, thank you. I'm happy to hear that you like this build. Pick up a F8F for yourself! I used to think the same way about the Bearcat. But then you build one and it pulls you into its' corner. The same engine and firepower as a F4U-4B, but in a smaller, lighter airframe. A real hot rod of a fighter! 

So here we go, a proper all angle walk around of the Hobbycraft 1/48 F8F-1B, in the markings of the VNAF 1st Fighter Squadron, Bien Hoa AB, Republic of Vietnam, 1959, at the end of their service career.

And out in some sunlight

Only changes to the kit were replacing the gun barrels with brass tubing, adding an acetate gunsight lens, and a Kits World 3D decal seat harness. Paints are Humbrol and Testors enamels. Mig panel line wash, Tamiya Weathering Master set, and oils used for weathering.

Thanks for looking, comments and critiques welcome. 

Hi, Stik.

That's a really well turned out and dressed up 'Cat, you sure went to town on this one. I've always thought of the Bearcat to be a brute in appearance, it just looked ready to pounce on anything that needed a good whooping. Being from the "Grumman Ironworks" it had to be a super strong airframe.

Very nice job, I enjoyed following this one. Thanks for the post and photos.

Patrick

Thanks Patrick. The Bearcat was indeed a strong product of the Grumman Ironworks. It had a feature that would allow the outermost portions of the wings to come off in flight and allow the aircraft to remain flying and controllable if the airframe was overstressed. Not to mention that it was fully carrier qualified, and so able to survive those repeated controlled crashes that are known as carrier landings... 

Ordanance looks great.  Really key I think.  And I finally see bare metal out in the sun.  The other pics looked grey to me.  Dig this one!

Thanks John. The sun sure did bring out the metallic sheen in the paint that the LED lighting washed out on the indoor photos.

That turned out amazing!  Love the color scheme and the markings.  A real head turner!

tjs

Thank you for your kind compliments Tom.

Very nice build indeed-and an interesting subject to boot! 

Always like to see a build that makes me want to research & add to the stash.

Outstanding work Stik!   

Jim 

Stay Safe.

Bob & Jim, thank you for looking in and commenting. 

Bob, the research was definitely a fun part on this one, aside from the build of course. Not your everyday subject matter.

Stik, that is a gorgeous Bearcat. I love the non-traditional paint job, and your weathering appears spot-on.

Something you did that has intrigued me is the tubing for the guns. I'd love to do that on a future build. What gauges did you use? 

Aggieman

Stik, that is a gorgeous Bearcat. I love the non-traditional paint job, and your weathering appears spot-on.

Something you did that has intrigued me is the tubing for the guns. I'd love to do that on a future build. What gauges did you use? 

 

Thanks Aggie. In all honesty, I have no idea what gauges the tubes are. I bought a set of Albion telescoping brass tubing several years back, and used two sizes that looked right and would fit together properly. I did measure them to length of the kit parts on the barrel portion and based off the photos guesstimated the outer sleeve portion. Is it accurate in diameter or the sleeve length? No. But it looks close enough.

I think my next Skyraider will also have barrels made in the same manner. For 20mm guns it looks right. .50 cal. air cooled preforated barrel sleeves are a bit more of a challenge. 

What I found at PAMSCON today:

.

The Testors kit was over priced at $10 but the Hobby Boss was quite reasonable at $10. Not sure what I'm going to do with them yet but Stik, you've motivated me.

For $20, get 'em both! Seriously, you're not gonna lose either way. That Testors boxing has the Jolly Rogers and Beetle Bomb markings options. As for the Hobbyboss kit, well it's newer and more detailed. What's not to lose?

Yeah, ten bucks apiece was too good to pass up. When I opened the Testors box, I found resin wheels, a resin engine and two sets of P.E. for the cockpit. I think I got more than my money's worth.