Airfix F-80C Shooting Star (A02043V) 1:72 Airfix "Vintage Classics"

[Julien]

F-80C Shooting Star (A02043V)

1:72 Airfix "Vintage Classics"

 

 

The Lockheed P-80 was the US's first operational Jet fighter aircraft. Designed and built in only 143 days with two pre-production aircraft seeing limited service in Italy before the end of WWII. The aircraft like its British contemporary the Meteor was a conventional straight wing design which would limit its speed and manoeuvrability compared to later swept wing types which would be developed from captured German research data. The F-80C following re-designation on the formation of the USAF were P-80A aircraft with a J-33-A-35 engine and and ejection seat, also fitted were wing tip fuel tanks. 128 P-80A aircraft were modified to the F-80C standard. These aircraft would see front line service in Korea where the aircraft were outclassed by the swept wing MiG-15. Despite this USAF F-80 pilots would account for 6 Migs. With the introduction of the F-86 Sabre the Shooting Star would be transferred to a ground attack role. 

 

 

The Kit

This is a re-boxing of Airfix's original kit from 1973 and released under their Vintage Classics Series, as such its a tooling of the time. Construction starts in the cockpit. The pilot fits into his seat which in turn slots into a simplified cockpit tub, An instrument panel is fitted along with the pilots control column. Into the fuselage is fitted the completed tub, the single part nose wheel, and a roof for the nose wheel bay. The fuselage can then be closed up not forgetting the advised 5 grams nose weight.  Next up we move to the wings, these are a conventional single part lower with left/right uppers. Holes must be drilled for the wing bomb pylons and the tip tanks.  To the main fuselage the intakes and their splitter plates are added, followed by the main wing assembly. At the rear the tail planes and exhaust are added. The main landing gear is then built up and added along with its gear doors. The nose bay door and ventral speed brakes are also added to the underside. The bombs are assembled and added to their pylons which can be fitted under the wings, then the same is done for the tip tanks. The rounder and later Misawa tanks are provided in the kit. To finish off the pitot tube under the nose is added and finally the canopy is as well. 

 

 

 

 

Markings

There are two options on the decal sheet;

 

A.  9650 "Saggin Dragon", 16th FIS, 51st FIW, USAF, Suwon Air Base, South Korea 1951. (Box Art)

B.  9873 36th Bomber Sqn, 8th FBW, USAF, South Korea 1951.

 

 

 

Decals are by Cartograf, which is a guarantee of good registration, sharpness and colour density, with a thin gloss carrier film cut close to the printed areas.

 

 

Conclusion

Recommended bearing in mind its a classic.

 

 

Review sample courtesy of

[viscount806x]

Thanks for a nice review Julien. I built this back in the day (1975 is nearer the mark I think) and it is really a very nice kit as I recall and I thought Airfix were trying hard with their new kits.

 

The only thing I would advise, over and above the remarks from Julien, are the nosegear leg is very scalelike and as such is quite fragile. If I built it again, I might try to get a metal pin into the leg somehow.

 

NigeB

[John_W]

I built mine in 1977. It was a revelation compared to the "see through" Mig 15 I built the week before.

Nice to see it back.

[Hook]

I always found this one of the best and most enjoyable 70s Airfix kits.

 

Cheers,

 

Andte

[Pantherhawk27263]

I am currently building one of these. This is probably my favorite Airfix kit ever. It's just an all around good kit, especially for it's time.

Edited January 17, 2023 by Pantherhawk27263
Corrected text

[The Rat]

Nice kit, my only real quibble is that nosewheel. Why did Airfix design it so that it had to be installed before joining the fuselage halves? It's like they wanted retractable gear, but only the nosewheel. And without a semicircular mounting peg to ensure orientation, it's easy to make the mistake (looks in mirror) of installing it with the oleo scissor pointed to the rear (wrong) instead of the front (correct). 

[daldroflas]

I remember building mine 'wheels up' when it first came out and the fit of the landing gear doors was amazing.

A gem of a kit.

[Black Knight]

@Julien  Is that a fairly faithful rendering of the decals/transfers?

I always found that the decals/transfers in my old issues of this kit have the dragon and stripe very dark

 

[Troy Smith]

50 minutes ago, Black Knight said:

I always found that the decals/transfers in my old issues of this kit have the dragon and stripe very dark

 

Which, AFAIK, is correct.  I'd suggest Insignia Blue.  Which IIRC, the USAF titles should be as well, not black. 

 

Profiles, and Microscale show it as quite a bright blue, 

the youtube review also shows a bright blue

 

but note the colour on this 

F-80C of the 51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing taking off from Suwon AB with a JATO bottle

There are other colour pics of the 51st FIW showing this as well,  in this

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Shooting-Units-Korean-Combat-Aircraft/dp/1472829050

 

which is a stunning reference of period colour 

 

while on a dig through some old Airfix mags I found this, as photos  of Saggin' Dragon don't seem to appear elsewhere, this maybe of use to builders  of  Saggin' Dragon 

 

50620834 by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

50620835 by losethekibble, on Flickr

 

 

I have fond memories of this kit,  I think I also got this is in late 75,  and I still have a chunk of fuselage  nose about somewhere,  the specified Airfix Dark Blue M27,  was a very good match for the kit decals.

 

HTH