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Good morning, after the Rafale something a bit older... the F-89 Scorpion was a typical member of the first generation of jets. Straight wings, subsonic, a very classical layout. The most noteworthy thing was the nuclear air to air missile AIR-2 "Genie", which was only tested on the Scorpion. Other aircraft could carry it as well, but never fired a live one. The kit is apparently good from what I read, some minor sink marks, a decal sheet slightly out of register and the horrible silver plastic, but nothing which can't be handled. Tanks were slightly bent, so I used the old trick to get the top point togehter: by pushing the tip into a small rivet hole. The few small sink marks Cockpit tub is a bit empty, I added some panels. I will try to do the knobs at a later stage... Seats are OK for the kit, but I preferred to add the Pavla resin seats (left). Pilot seat from the side. And the ordnance. The Genie should be a bit beefier, I think they are a bit too slim. Falcons look nice with the surface details. To be followed! Alex

I built this in the summer but have only just gotten a decent photo setup to be able to take pictures. This was built straight from the box and I used it as an experiment to try out a couple of techninques. The first was 'pre-shading' panels in different shades of grey before overspraying in Alcad pollished aluminium. This gives the effect of sublte differences in the panels without having the stress of masking metallic paint (it tends to peel off when I try!) The second technique I tried was the use of small dots of oil paint on the large areas of red to create a suble wethered look. A mix of yellow, red orage and brown was used and i'm prety happy with the result, though I will need a lot more practice. I've also made a short video (best watched in HD) Any comments or suggestions welcome John

F-89D/J Scorpion Cockpit, Canopy and Seats for Revell Kit 1:72 Pavla Revells F-89 kit has been around now since the early 1990s and is a great kit. Like many kits the cockpit and seats are limited by injection moulding in this scale. This resin cockpit is designed to replace the original kit item in its entirety. The set is comprised of a cockpit tub, complete with sidewalls and consoles, replacement ejection seats, front & rear instrument panels, control column, rudder pedals and the coamings for the cockpit sides. All of the resin parts are nicely cast and crisply detailed, and there are no bubbles or casting flaws in evidence. The control and instrument details are nicely rendered, and the straps on the ejection seats are very realistically done. Different foot pans are provided for both the pilots and observers seats. Vac form clear parts are provided with a complete canopy, and the clear screen to cover the observer. If you don't fancy shelling out on the whole cockpit, you can always opt to buy the seats on there own. They are great items and if you intend to leave the cockpit canopy closed, it will probably be enough. If you just wish to buy the clear and thin vac canopy then Pavla also offer this as stand alone item. Conclusion The Revell kit is a great kit, but the cockpit can be a little lacking. Whether you just want a nice pair of detailed seats, or want to go the whole hog with the full cockpit set, these details from Pavla will enhance your kit. Highly recommended. Review samples courtesy of

Hello and welcome to build number 7 since getting back on the modeling horse. When I get a dozen done I'll stop counting. Sadly, at the rate I'm going it's that's not happening until the end of 2015! So what do we have here and why? After build 6, which was a satisfyingly dirty ARTF 'pink' Op Granby Jaguar GR1 in 1/72nd, (go see if you haven't. Shameless plug. : http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234953776-172-italeri-jaguar-gr1-op-granby-build-no6-and-counting/#entry1519222), I decided to do a shinier, cleaner and more colourful build, which would also hopefully be a reasonably rapid one as well. So off to the stash to collect an F89 Scorpion my girlfriend bought for me from the Newcastle Modelzone when they were closing down. I had never seen the F89 before until I spotted the Revell kit. I thought it was a most interesting looking aircraft and decided to check out its history, including the failed intercept by a pair of F89Ds of an F6F-5K unmanned target drone on August 16 1956. They did apparently start a few raging bush fires and shred the front of someone's car with the unguided rockets they fired. Accurate they are not. So.. Here it is. Totally OOB and built over a period of about 4 weeks which is super speedy for me. Alclad Aluminium for most of the metallic. A mix of Humbrol Trainer Yellow 24 and Scarlet 60 in approximate 50/50% 60/40% mixes for the red. Weathering? Just a little. Nice, easy, pleasant build of an interesting aircraft. Thank you for your attention. F89_130214_01 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_02 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_03 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_05 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_07 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_08 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_10 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr F89_130214_11 by IrritableRabbit, on Flickr

F-89D/J Scorpion 1:72 Revell The F-89 stemmed from a USAAF technical specification for a jet to replace the P-61 Black Widow. Northrop originally submitted four different designs. Initially the XP-89 made its first flight in August 1948, with the first production being authorised in 1949. The F-89A had an AN/APG-33 radar with 6 x 20mm cannons. Two 300GL fuel tanks were permanently fitted and underwing racks could carry 16 x 5 rockets, or up to 3200lbs of bombs. The major production variant was to be the F-89D. This first flew in October 1951, and entered service in 1954. Here the USAF removed the 20mm cannon in favour of rocket armament which was de rigueur at the time. A new E-6 fire control system was fitted by Hughes and two pods of 52 Mighty Mouse FFAR rockets were added in the front part of the wind fuel tanks. The final variant of the Scorpion was the F-89J. This was based on the D model but replaced the wingtip pods with 600GL fuel tanks. Pylons were fitted under the wings for Falcon and Genie missiles. The F-89 was never exported by, the US but remained a mainstay of the early cold war defense of the US. The F-89J has the distinction of being the only aircraft to fire a live nuclear rocket when in July 1957 as part of Operation Plumbbob the one and only live test of a Genie was conducted. The Kit I think the Revell F-89 has been around since the early 1990s, it has been released under various boxing over the years, all with the ability to build either a D or J model, and this one is no different. The kit comes in one of Revells open ended boxes. Inside we three sprues of silver plastic and one small clear sprue. The moulds for this kit have held up remarkably well over the years. Construction starts with the cockpit. Revell have done a nice job here. The cockpit is made up from quite a few parts. The seats are five part affairs and they have captured the differences between he front and back seats. Once the cockpit has been assembled then this is inserted between the main fuselage parts not forgetting the front engine face and the all important nose weight. Following this the under fuselage insert which runs from the front wheel well to the exhausts is fitted. Then you need to add the engine intakes and exhausts. Revell have moulded these as on part so thankfully there are no seams to clean up here. Following this the wings need to be assembled and attached to the fuselage. At this stage you need to decide (if not done already) if you are going to make the D or J model, as you need to open up the appropriate holes in the wings. For the D just one pair for drop tanks, or for the J 3 pairs for the missile pylons. After these steps then its time for all the small fiddly bits. The sides to the front wheel well (including the gear doors) need to be added. Various scoops and small parts are added, along with the landing gear, though most modellers will leave this till last (I know I would). Finally you need to either build the wingtip tanks for the J, or the tank / rocket pod combos for the D. The kit is finished by adding your various underwing parts and then the canopy. Decals Two decal options are supplied by revell. The First is for F-89D-45 22143, This was with the 61st Fighter Interceptor Sqn, based at Ernest Harmon AFB; New Foundland 1957. The second is for F-89J 32470, This was with the 59th Fighter Interceptor Sqn, based at Goose bay AFB, Labrador 1957. The decals all appear to be in register with good colour density. Like all revell decals at the moment they should work as advertised. Conclusion There are enough parts in the kit via the options to keep the more serious modeller happy, and to challenge the more in inexperienced modeller. The kit makes into a good looking model of an important if untested early mainstay of the cold war. I would recommend this kit. Revell model kits are available from all good toy and model retailers. For further information visit