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F9F-5P Panther, US Marines, September 1956 - MCAS El Toro, CA Kit: Revell F9F-5P Panther (Recon) (#04582) Scale: 1/48 Paints: Vallejo Model Air, Vallejo Metal Colour Weathering: Flory Models Wash, Mig weathering Products Revell Recon Panther based on the 90's Monogram kit. No big issues with the kit, even if it feels/looks a tad dated. Decals were bit problematic at first but finally they conformed to the surface.

F9F-2 Panther, VF-123 Kit: Hobby Boss F9F-2 Panther (#87248) Scale: 1/72 Paints: Vallejo Model Color, Model Air & Metal Color Weathering: Flory Models Wash Good quality kit from Hobby Boss, really enjoyable build.

Hi, You probably know this, you don't complete anything for months then two in two days. I finally finished the second aircraft in 1/48 for my Korean War collection a Grumman F9F-2 of VF111 Sundowners, operating from the USS Valley Forge in 1952. My first was a Corsair F4U-4 flown by Thomas Hudner who won the Congressional Medal of Honour whilst flying with VF32 from USS Leyte. Great simple kit to build, enhanced only by Eduard's PE set. The wing fold mechanism is represented well in this set, however I chose not use it. The decals were from Victory Productions' F9F-2 Panthers sheet (VPD48008) which offers markings for 12 aircraft. As I stated on my F-100C post yesterday, the next kit in line is a F7F N3 in 1/48 by Italeri in Korean War markings. See the pattern that is developing here?

Grumman F9F Cougar Detail and Scale Digital Publications I very much doubt that there is a modeller on here that does not own at least one Detail and Scale book. They have been providing us modellers with 114 different books between 1978 & 2004. Although they have stopped with traditional print books it seems they have fully embraced the digital era. This is now Detail and Scale's second book in their new digital range (The first was the F3H Demon). Despite some views on the web, the sky has not fallen in; neither has the the traditional print publication industry been pronounced dead! The new book is packed full of the usual facts and figures, with a good narrative we all expect from D&S. There is the addition of a lot more photographs, including colour ones which were to expensive to include in the traditional paper copy. One good feature is that you are able to enlarge the photographs on the page to show as much detail as they will allow. Another new addition is new artwork created by Rock Roszak. Features of Detail & Scales second digital publication, F9F Cougar in Detail & Scale include: A complete developmental history of the Cougar, including how it grew out of the Grumman F9F Panther straight-wing fighter when the United States was confronted with the swept-wing MiG-15 in the skies over Korea. A chapter on Cougar variants that covers the XF9F-6 prototypes and every production version of the Cougar that followed, explaining the differences in configuration for each, including two photo-recon versions and the two-seat F9F-8T. A chapter called Flying the Cougar that features pilot reports from five Cougar pilots who flew every variant of the aircraft, including the drone configuration. A Cougar Details chapter with over 190 detail photographs of every aspect of the Cougar, including the cockpit, windscreen and canopy, internal armament, fuselage, wings, pylons & external armament, landing gear, tail, and engine. An entire chapter dedicated to documenting the various paint schemes seen on the Cougar, including the Gloss Sea Blue, Non-Specular Light Gull Gray over Gloss Insignia White, various training paint schemes, and the colors featured on F9F drone and drone controller aircraft. A chapter on Cougar Squadrons, featuring over 175 photographs and pieces of artwork showcasing which units flew the Cougar and how the aircraft were coded and marked. Units covered include Navy fighter, attack, photo-recon, training and fleet air service squadrons, plus Marine, Reserve, miscellaneous, test and evaluation squadrons, and the Blue Angels. Detail & Scales usual Modelers Section that discusses, reviews, and illustrates the scale models of the Cougar, ranging from those over 30 years old to those being released today. Other features of the book include line drawings of every Cougar variant, two dozen illustrations of ejection seats, internal gun configurations, photo nose cutaways and more, and 34 full color aircraft profiles plus unit logos which adorned various F9F aircraftall created as original art and specifically for this publication. The following are some views from the new book (they have been cropped); The new digital publications do offer a lot of improvements over the print publications. The books are available from the iStore and through Amazon. You do not need a tablet/digital book reader to view them, the Amazon kindle app is available for computers to use, although I have found this does not have as much functionality as my iPad (other tablets are available!) when viewing the book. The books are $9.99 from the US Kindle store, and £5.99 from the UK one. Conclusion Detail and Scale seem to have taken up all the new age of digital publications have to offer, and seem to have actually improved what they can offer to the modeller via this new medium. My only worry is that of my wallet if they continue in this vein! Highly recommended. Information and screen shots thanks to Detail and Scale, though my wallet is responsible for my copy of the book. For further information visit

I am trying to learn how to use an airbrush. So, to further the experience, I selected this old AMT 1/48 F9F Panther. The kit is quite inexpensive, not very detailed, easy to build, and if I totally screw it up, I won’t regret it too much. The cabin is quite barren of detail. There is basically a seat, control stick, a crappy instrument panel and that’s it. The model comes with a pilot figure so I thought I would use it to hide the lack of detail in the cockpit. Problem is my experience and skill with figure painting rivals that of using an airbrush. The contest in this kit will be see which is more rubbish, the figure painting or the airbrushing. Here is the pilot figure painted up. I know it is pathetic and deplorable. The good news, the canopy is quite thick and even with a coating of clear, lets you view the detail if you were looking through the bottom of an old coke bottle. Here is my sad, little pilot; have pity. The lesson with this kit is a can I make a glossy finish. My first attempt revealed how little effort I had made in making sure the surfaces of the kit were sanded and smoothed down. So, after the first coat revealed rough sanding marks, seams, etc., re-sanded places that needed it and polished the surface with 1500 grit sandpaper to get it smooth. The second coat pebbled. Back to sanding it back down, polishing the surface with 1800 grit sandpaper now and recoating; this time a bit more thinner was added. I was using Model Master Dark Sea Blue. Again pebbling. Sand, recoat, pebbling and bubbles. This is getting frustrating. So, decided to do a test. Is it me or is it the paint? Same set up, same amount of thinner used, same pressure, only Model Master Blue Angel Blue. Glossy coat, no pebbling, smooth as a baby’s behind. The only other thing I can think of that differed between spraying the Dark Sea Blue and Blue Angel Blue was that it was just a tad warmer outside on the day I sprayed Blue Angel Blue. However, the paints had both been inside prior to spraying at the same temperature. I was only outside for about 4 minutes to spray each coat. So either it was the difference in temperature (about 10 degrees F) or the actual paint itself. Here is the finished product. Luckily my frankenpilot is not visible and only a hint of him can be seen through the canopy. The decals for this kit were not the best. Do not know if it was their age or they never were good. I have no idea if this is an accurate kit. Seems a bit toy like. However, it helped with my airbrush learning curve. Will tackle a couple of more inexpensive kits before my first real test, either the 1/24 Airfix Mosquito or the 1/32 ZM Raiden. Comments welcome.

F9F Cougar Walk Around Book Squadron Signal The Grumman F9F Cougar was the US Navys first swept wing aircraft. The aircraft was in fact a Grumman Panther with the straight wing replaced with a swept one. The USN considered the Cougar an updated version of the Panther hence why they are both designated F9F with the Cougar starting at F9F-6. The aircraft was developed by Grumman in a fairly short span of time, first flying on 20th September 1951. Deliveries commenced in mid 1952 and ran to 1954 with 646 being built. In addition a further 377 two seat trainers were delivered between 1956 and 1960. The type was too late to see combat in Korea but did have a fairly short combat career with the TF-9J trainer being used as a fast FAC in Vietnam between 1966 and 1968. Cougars were withdrawn from front line service in 1958/59 to be replaced by F11F Tigers and F8U Crusaders. Trainer versions lasted until 1974. The book is on the standard Squadron Signal format of landscape A4. The author is Ken Neubeck and most of the photographs in the book are his as well. The pages are glossy and most are in full colour (except where Black & White pictures are used), there is some great artwork from Don Greer on both the front and back covers. The book starts with a one page introduction to the Cougar, and then follows with specification pages for the different designations. Following this there is a page showing all the different nose and canopy variations of the aircraft. The book has photos mainly of aircraft preserved in museums so the modeller needs to bear this in mind. All photos are captioned so you are in doubt what you are looking at. The cockpit photos are very clear and some are from the Grumman archive so there can be doubt if they are authentic. Conclusion I had not seen one of these books for a while and this one was very good. I like the layout and the quality of the photos (Well done Ken!). With all the details, internal and external; you are presented with an overall comprehensive look at the Cougar. This will be of great help to the modeller, interest to the US Navy fan, or general aviation buff. These books are the next best thing to having access to an actual aircraft. Highly recommended Available in the UK from Hannants. Review sample courtesy of

Pics taken by Darwin at the Combat Air Museum Kansas