Attack Squadron 1/48 F2F-1 -- Finished!

[dnl42]

This is my Grumman GB year, so I'll build Attack Squadron's 1/48 F2F-1.  The F2F was Grumman's second aircraft, after their FF-1. It first flew in 1933, serving in USN and USMC squadrons from 1935 through 1939, when they were replaced by the F3F. The F2F were then relegated to training; the last was stricken in 1943. The F2F inherited its manually cranked retractable landing gear from the FF-1; it was subsequently used in the F3F and F4F.

 

Attack Squadron had outstanding resin kits.They became Arma Hobby and then went to the Injected Side. Some of their subjects, like their wonderful 1/48 RQ-7B and MQ-8B, are now produced by Brengun.

 

And here are the starting pix. Resin, PE, and a vac canopy. Markings are included for USN squadrons VF-2, VF-3B, VF-5, VF-7, as well as USMC squadrons VF-4M and VMF-2.

 

 

The cockpit looks nearly ready to prime

 

I'm happy the MLG have metal reinforcement

 

The upper wing will be aligned

 

I hope I remember to properly orient the stick

 

PE looks good.

 

[zebra]

Looks like a very nice kit - not just anything but injection, better than injection!

[dnl42]

Attack Squadron's kits were wonderful. I still have their PZL P.1 in the stash. I don't know who, if anybody, has the molds for these kits. 

[dnl42]

In researching the markings, I only found a photograph supporting the VMF-2 aircraft (9663). My first choice was identified as 9624 in VF-3 markings. The problem is the squadron insignia, an eagle atop a star, is cited by Naval History and Heritage Command as VF-5's insignia.

Also, the decal's colors don't match. Photos of a VF-5 aircraft (9672) are also consistent with the above.

 

The other problem is 9624 is reasonably well documented online and in Grumman F2F/F3F and Civilian Variants in VF-2 markings. As such, I'm going with this, which I think I can do without needing to print decals.

[trickyrich]

gee that's some fine looking resin you have there!!!  

 

The moulding and detail looks to be very nice indeed.

 

Great subject, good luck with her.

[dnl42]

Here are all the parts on their pour blocks

 

And removed from their pour blocks. Turns out I won't need to remember to position the control stick to match the ailerons. Some parts look to fit perfectly, other will do so when properly filed.

 

There was quite a lot of scrap resin.

 

Onward ho!

[gingerbob]

Groovy!  This is one of those kits I meant to secure.  Come to think of it, it may be my only gap in the F_F lineup.

 

 

[dnl42]

Thanks @gingerbob! IIRC, this completed out my FxF lineup, for certain definitions of "completed." I have the Lindberg F11F-1 kit, but my thought was to build it as the XF9F-9 prototype. I do have the Planet Models XF12F, which could make an appearance in the high-wing GB. I've thought about the Fonderie Miniature F11F-1, but I keep hoping for an alternative. Pending good progress on this, I'll build AM's 1/48 Gulfhawk II for the upcoming Unarmed GB.

 

The only 1/48 FF-1 I'm aware of is from RVHP Models; last time I looked it was going for stupid money.

 

No progress pix this morning, but I spent last night drilling out tubing ends, carving out the carburetor inlet duct, and filing parts for fit.

[dnl42]

Here's the current state of the resin. I started drilling out the exhausts by twisting a round router bit by hand followed by increasingly large drill bits to get some depth. Finally, a 45deg router bit thinned the tube end. I used a chisel on the carb inlet.

 

 

The wing struts just needed some filing and fitting. Hm, that's a hair from one of my GSDs. The stuff gets everywhere!

 

Both fuselage sides were warped at the tail. A few moments in near boiling water and hand clamping got them straight enough

 

The fuselage sides needed a small amount of filing and scraping to close tight. The cockpit tub needed quite a bit more filing and scraping to fit--but that's par for the course, isn't it?

 

Finally, there's what appears to be a rolled seam on the bottom. Comparing this to photos in NF112 suggest this is too large

 

And here's that characteristic barrel shape...

 

 

 

 

[dnl42]

The kit includes a detail plate for the rear of the firewall/engine mount casting. Attaching it would be easy enough, but then the fuselage sides need to fit into those notches on the side. I decide getting that to fit cleanly was likely to be quite a problem for not a lot of visible detail. With that, I cut a disk to fit the large hollow on the rear of the casting and then cut the keyhole. Some CA attached the disk and filled in the gaps.

 

The cockpit is painted.

[dnl42]

Some fussing on the IP and cockpit. Here's the kit's IP

 

And here it is after I added T-handles, levers, and some other colors.

The T-handles are actually 2 parts, a brass rod and a handle (flattened brass rod).

 

I also added some levers from the Airscale 1/48 Cockpit Components set for the tailwheel lock (rear) and throttle (front).

Hm, I need to tack that belt down...

Thanks for looking! 

[trickyrich]

she's coming along very nicely.

[dnl42]

In trying to fit the upper deck, some knucklehead got rambunctious with a file. I eventually figured out the fuselage mounting surface needed to be rebuilt.

 

With the repair completed, I managed to get the fuselage partially closed. Once the J-B Weld cured on the sides, I realized I needed to get the nose on first. I'll see what the final fit on the upper deck looks like tomorrow.

 

Thanks for looking! 

[dnl42]

Not my best work, but the fuselage is closed and the IP is in.

 

As you can see, I have a relatively good fit by the cockpit opening, but forward is rather gappy. While it is mostly fair at this point, some polishing is still in order. Most importantly, the wing struts and fuselage are aligned.

[dnl42]

And the wings and empennage are on. The horizontal stabilizers were difficult as the forward ends of the stabilizer roots on the fuselage were vertically misaligned by 0.5mm. Of course, I only found that out after I attached them and found them misaligned. I had to remove them and reattached focusing on the stabilizer alignment than aligning the stabilizers to the root. A crossing file faired the right upper stabilizer root; some putty is still needed on the bottom.

 

The struts are off due to ham-fisted handling while I was dry-fitting the wings. I spent some time to get the proper dihedral in the lower wings. While dihedral is clearly present in the photos of the prototype, the kit doesn't provide a front-view drawing and the kit's side-views suggest they're flat. I may need to redo the outer struts.

 

Thanks for looking. 

[dnl42]

And the major bits are primed. As might be visible, I attached the cabane struts to the wing; hopefully they'll stay there. Not quite visible--as was exactly my hope--are Archer Fine Transfers rivets to repair some obliterated detail. They're a tad oversize, but I'm certain the lack of any detail would have been more visible.

 

Thanks for looking! 

[dnl42]

Yellows are on! Mr Color FS13538 (C329) for Orange Yellow and Mr Color Yellow (C4) for Lemon Yellow.

 

Next is Mr Color LGG (C308) for Naval Aircraft Gray and Mr Color Red FS11136 (C327) for ID stripes and fuselage band.

 

BTW, for anybody else doing this, the photos show a gray cockpit, not the Alum. lacquer claimed by Attack Squadron.

[dnl42]

And the gray is on!

Next is red on the fuselage, cowl, and wings.

[dnl42]

And the red is on. The edges of the wing chevron are embarrassing--fortunately the chevron edge-stripe decals should hide my slapdash masking. I used Parafilm "M" strips around the fuselage. My first concern was to avoid lifting those AFT rivet decals; Parafilm is also excellent on compound curves.

 

Thanks for looking! 

[dnl42]

Prop is assembled and painted. The prop is provided as a hub and blades. I made an alignment jig on a craft stick and glued it all up.

 

The prop was primed with Mr Surfacer 1200 and then sprayed Mr Color FS13538 (C329) for the yellow band. The yellow band was masked and sprayed with Mr Color FS1136 (C327) for the red tip. The yellow/red tips were masked and Mr Color Blue (C4) was sprayed for the inner blue band. The red/yellow/blue tips were masked and Mr Color Flat Black (C33) was sprayed on the rest of the blades and the hub. The front blade faces and hub were then sprayed with Mr Color SIlver (C8). Finally, the blades were wrapped with Parafilm "M" and back of the hub was sprayed with silver. 

 

I'm so glad the USN gave up on these 3-color prop tips! 

 

[AdrianMF]

Looks nice and colourful! Immaculate masking round those tail bits.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[dnl42]

Thanks @AdrianMF! Mr Color really makes this as easy as possible. The entire paint application was completed in about 2 hours.

 

Next up is rigging. That would have been so very much easier if I hadn't broken the cabane struts off the fuselage.

In any event, I need to look carefully at the prototype's rigging to see if I use my typical 6 mil ceramic fibre or perhaps try the Radub streamline wire. A quick glance suggests the streamline wire for inter-wing and ceramic fibre for cabane-tuselage.

[AdrianMF]

4 hours ago, dnl42 said:

6 mil ceramic fibre or perhaps try the Radub streamline wire

All sounds very tech to an “invisible thread, EZLine or stretched sprue” guy! Looking forward to seeing what they are.

 

Regards,

Adrian

[dnl42]

4 hours ago, AdrianMF said:

All sounds very tech to an “invisible thread, EZLine or stretched sprue” guy! Looking forward to seeing what they are.

 

Regards,

Adrian

The ceramic fiber is above and the streamline wire is the PE below. Both are stiff, so you can only use them for point-to-point rigging without turnbuckles. As I noted above, I need the round ceramic for the cabane rigging and the streamline wire for inter-wing.

In my first use of the ceramic fiber, I cut it to the exact length to fit between two points. The cutting was tedious because the fiber bowed if it was too long and wouldn't stay in place if too short. Now, I drill holes at both ends and snap a slightly longer piece into place and glue with PVA. It's best if one or both are through-hole. I measure the required length with a pair of dividers. As the ceramic is brittle, I hold it under a six-inch-rool and snap the free end with a single-edge razor blade.

The Accurate Miniatures Gulfhawk II (as well as its F3F basis) that I'm building in the Unarmed GB includes PE rigging like Radub's streamline wire.

 

I've tried to stretch sprue, but I never quite got it to work, particularly not for anything like rigging. 

[ColonelKrypton]

Ceramic fiber - interesting. Where does one get such thing?

 

Google searches found lots of ceramic fiber insulation but I did not stumble across anything resembling anything like discribed.

 

cheers, Graham