Grumman F9F-2 Panther - Finished!

[Andwil]

Here is what I am going to build for this GB:

 

 

 

 

I will be building it as 209 of VF-112 which was flown by Cmdr Bill Amen of VF-111 when he shot down a MiG 15 for the first ever jet vs jet combat victory.  I intend to have a go at correcting the rear cockpit deck which Hasegawa have got completely wrong and adding some extra detail to go with it.

 

Wish me luck!

 

AW

Edited March 22, 2020 by Andwil

[PeterB]

Hi AW,

 

I built this kit in the recent "Year I was Born" GB together with the Airfix Banshee and it provoked an interesting debate on the colour of the leading edges. You probably know this already but after finding the blue paint stripped off quickly, they were left in natural metal, polished or varnished, and only later was the Corogard (various spellings) finish specified, or so I was advised. Most kit manufacturers say "silver". I also discovered that there were a number of different shades of Dark Sea Blue and that the Post War version was not the same as the wartime versions. These GB can be very informative!

 

Good luck with the build.

 

Pete

[Andwil]

Thanks Peter, I’ll check out your build before I start!

 

AW

[dnl42]

Most excellent choice! 

[PeterB]

Hi AW,

 

Just checked and the info on Corogard etc is on page 2 of the Banshee build though there is quite a bit on things like wheel wells and legs in the Panther build itself.

 

Pete

Edited February 11, 2020 by PeterB

[stevej60]

A great kit Andy despite its age glad to see one here,I did the colourful scheme on the front of the Warpaint book in 1/48 scale.

[rob85]

I still like the old hase kits, I think it was their Tbolt I built, it wasn’t amazingly detailed but went together well and was a fun build.

 

looking forward to this one. 
 

Rob

[Andwil]

Righty o, kicked off my build with a day of destruction.  I attacked the kit with the Dremel clone, grinding down the incorrect humped rear deck of the cockpit and the instrument shroud.  While about it I alas modified the nose to rake the resin replacement nose cone.

 

 

 

Here are the major components dry fitted:

 

Looks like a Panther, which is encouraging!

 

AW

 

 

[Andwil]

Spent today’s session on the cockpit.  Rear bulkhead added to fill the yawning gap behind the seat:

 

 

Seat modified and detail added from rod and strip, face curtain handles are from the spares box, not 100% correct but they’ll do.
 

 

 

Looks a bit rough in close up, will be better with a bit of tidying up.

 

New rear deck made up with the canopy de-fogging piping added from rod and the warhead from a Beaufighter rocket.  Heating and bending the Evergreen rod took several goes before I got one I was happy with, getting two 90 degree bends in opposite directions so close together was challenging.   This piece will sit up inside the sliding portion of the canopy.

 

 

 

AW

[MarkSH]

Good work, nice extra detailing.

[Andwil]

Basic painting of cockpit parts:

 

 

 

Wings glued together, remembering to drill out the location holes for the pylons first.  The shiny blue plastic sure looks horrible with a bit of sanding.

 

 

AW

[Andwil]

Cockpit completed using the kit decals.  The seat dry fitted for now, I’ll fix it in after painting is completed to allow for masking of the cockpit as I intend to have the canopy open.

 

 

 

Cockpit cemented in, weight added and Fuselage closed up.

 

 

 

AW

[Andwil]

After a couple of sessions mucking around doing little bits and pieces not worth photographing, some real progress today, wings and the Scale Resin replacement nose attached:

 

 

The tailplanes I’ll leave off until after painting and decals.  No serious fit issues so should be able to move on to primer and paint shortly.

 

Thanks for looking.

 

AW

[rob85]

This is flying along, really like the extra details you are adding!

 

great work.

 

Rob

[SoftScience]

I like your simple additions to the cockpit. Nice to see how a few strips of styrene can liven things up.

[Col.]

Having built this kit long ago it's a nostalgia trip seeing you work on your example  

[Andwil]

Primer on, which has revealed a few seams needing further work, particularly around the intake/wing joint and under the tail.  I have also cracked the upper wing/fuselage seam which will need re gluing.

 

 

AW

[Andwil]

Today I sprayed a bit of white on the tail (the decals I am using include these bits but I reckon it will be better to paint them), some interior green into the wheel wells and red into the air brake area, and finally some Vallejo white aluminium on the wing leading edges.  These areas will all be masked off for the application of the sea blue.  The windscreen has been attached and masked using the Montex masking set.  While this is designed for the Cougar, it fits the Panther.

 

 

 

 

AW

[Andwil]

Masked up ready for the Sea Blue:

 

 

and first coat of Vallejo Model Air Sea Blue sprayed:

 

 

Looks much bluer in real life, it looks black in the photo because of the light blue background.

 

AW

[Andwil]

Second light coat of sea blue airbrushed on today and masks off:

 

 

 

 

A little bit of seepage under the port intake, but that is all.  I’ve also noticed a slight overspray of the air brake interior red into the nose gear well that will need touching up.  Next job will be the tail leading edges in aluminium.

 

AW

 

[Andwil]

An update on progress with the Panther this week.  A number of short sessions concentrated on some of the small ancillary parts.

 

Nose wheel and gear:

 

 

Main wheels, front on the bottom and rear on the top:

 

Rockets:

 

 

Rear deck detail painted and dry brushed with grey as a highlight:

 

 

Navigation lights painted, Tamiya clear red and green over silver:

 

 

Finally, a coat of acqua gloss in preparation for decals:

 

 

AW

[Alan P]

Great job on such a vintage kit AW👍

 

It'll look the nuts with the decals on. 

[Andwil]

Started the decal long process today and got the port side and wing top sides done.  Started with the nose flash and numbers with the nose band as I thought these would be the most difficult.  I was right.  The Starfighter Decals generally have gone on very well, nice and thin and settling nicely, but the ones for the nose were an absolute pig to do.  Firstly the nose flash, comes in two parts and there is no guidance as to the orientation of the odd shaped decals.  True to form, if there is a choice of two I will pick the wrong one.  First effort I realised I had the upside down.  I was able to take them off and reposition them the right way up, but they don’t fit and would not settle, even with two applications of Mr Mark Softer.  I think they were not designed for the resin nose I used.  I will need to do some trimming around the gun ports and then touch up with paint.  

 

Then the nose numbers and bands.  These are supplied in one piece with the bands to meet on the centreline.  No matter what I did I could not get the bands to conform to the fuselage, even after cutting them away from the numbers.  They could be true when viewed from above or below, but would not be vertical on the sides or vertical but not straight on the top or bottom.  I eventually got them as true as I could but they are still a bit wonky.  
 

Anyway, enough blather here are the pics of progress:

 

 

 

The starboard side and underside should be straightforward in comparison!

 

AW

[Andwil]

Decals completed today.  Starboard side:

 

 

Underside:

 

 

Nose flash patch Ed up with some bits cut from spare white decal:

 

 

The nose flash decals had shrunk down overnight and conformed much better to the nose.  A bit of white paint and all should be good.

 

AW

[rob85]

This is some great work! Really like the scheme and how it’s turned out.

 

Rob