F9F-8 Cougar

[Silver Fox]

After the sheer enjoyment of building the old Monogram F9f-5 Panther I thought I'd attempt its younger cousin, the F9F-8 Cougar. The drawback was it was a Kittyhawk kit, which I picked up for half price at Telford last year. After last years tussle with the F-101A, I wasn't expecting an easy ride and I wasn't wrong.

 

The kit can be build as a pure fighter or as a reconnaissance machine. It comes with two types of ejector seat and two instrument panel and no instructions which to use on which option. The panel is pretty straightforward to work out but the seats need a bit of investigation as they changed mid production and then were retro fitted. Also intake splitter plates are provided but the machine I was building didn't have them fitted, again not mentioned and the kit is obviously designed  to have them.

 

 

The kit does need a lot of dry fitting and then a lot of sanding and filling, especially if you want  the wings in the flying position. The fuselage is  moulded to allow for alternative noses and it took a lot of fettling to get a reasonable fit.

 

 

I used the kit decals as the only other ones I found were too pricey and had 11 options, n bad thing but if you are only building one......

 

Finally it needs a heck of a lot of weight in the nose and tip tanks to get it to sit on all three wheels. The decals are actually not bad at all but getting them to conform around the tail was an interesting time. I reckon any decals would have been just as much of a trial.

 

I want to do a Twogar later but I'll go and have a lie down in a darkened room before attempting it.

 

Thanks as always for looking

 

 

[depressed lemur]

Very nice looking. You have done a great job with the multi part fuselage. Also well done with the wings, I am building mine with wings up as it is the easier option. Now I have to catch up for the weekend.

 

I am a bit worried about the weight comment as I didn't see anything in the instructions during my current build, might be a tail sitter yet.

[Silver Fox]

Cheers, I was inspired by your build to finish her. The sweep of the wings  put the CoG way back and frankly I didn't  put any of the nose interior in, so I could fill it with weight. That still didn't work so I had to open up the wing tanks and added  weight right at the front. I don't know if the longer nose of the -8P and all of the internals will compensate but Kitttyhawk  should have put  notification about the weight. Maybe the folded wings will help?

[Mark Joyce]

Great looking build, especially considering the obstacles you had to overcome, although your comments make me want to steer clear of any Kittyhawk kits!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[camper1]

Made a nice job of that Andy,I have the Twogar so will pay attention to your comments.

 

Ian

[Silver Fox]

Cheers Ian, I still want to do a Twogar as a Marine FAC in Vietnam, I remember reading about them many, many years ago and it has always stayed with me.

 

 

Mark, I've only built three of them, the F-101A, the Cougar and the F-94C I'm no expert on the brand. The latter was the easiest build.

 

If you really want the subject they are  worth building especially if there is no alternative. I have high hopes of the Fury which is due out soon, but I had high hopes of the Banshee and that is a mess.

[russ c]

Really nice Cougar, great job on a challenging kit. I had a battle getting glue to stick on my `Twougar` a real problem on a kit made from so many sub-assemblies but yours came out really well.

[Alan P]

That is such an attractive aircraft and equally striking model. Great shape and scheme, you've really done it justice.

 

Alan

[F-32]

Love that, very tasty indeed

[Silver Fox]

Thanks for the kind comments

[CJP]

Sounds like it was work intensive build but the end result looks great

CJP