1/48 Trumpeter F9F2 Panther

Gallery Article by Max Tollens Jr. on Jan 12 2010

 

This is the Trumpeter F9F2 Panther, built with the flaps and slats down courtesy of the resin update set purchased from the now defunct Meteor Productions.  The set included a resin lower wing and outer wings with corrected tip tanks and fuel dump vents.  I also used the corrected resin nose.  The decals also came from Meteor, Yellowhammer Hot Cats on Parade #2 with VMF 311 jets as well as a 1949 Blue Angels scheme.  This kit needs nose weight as it is likely to be a tail sitter otherwise!  Use caution attaching gear to the the resin lower wing bay as the resin is thin here and easy to break.

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The build was fairly straight forward, up to the time it came to attach the outer wings.  I contemplated raising the wings but could not find any photographic evidence of raised wings with the flaps and slats dropped at the same time; therefore I went with the lowered wings.  As it turns out, the resin outer wing parts were not very compatible with the kit's attachments that connect Trumpeter's outer wings and inner wings; the resin outer wing holes aren't deep enough and I was also concerned with the weight of the resin eventually breaking the attaching points.  I decided on using superglue and with a bit of sanding and refilling was satisfied with the outer to inner wing attachment.  I didn't install the wing fences as the plane I was doing didn't have them installed according to my reference materials.  The kit was primed and wet sanded a few times in order to reduce the effects of the "Trumpeter mad riveter"; I also filled in the NACA vent near the base of the tail as I have no evidence that these were present on -2 Panthers. 

I used Model Master enamel Sea Blue FS15042 and painted the leading edge slats with Alclad II aluminum; for the thin aluminum edges of the tail and control surfaces (and the tip tank front) I used Sharpie silver marker with a steady hand and patience.  The instructions for the paint called for a blue tail top and thus used Testors' square bottle Bright Blue.  In my reference material it appears that the gear and doors are all painted the same Sea Blue as the fuselage and so I didn't follow the kit's recommendations of white inner doors and bay.  I decided to break up the monotony by painting the inside of the lower wing flaps interior green.  The decals went on without any issues using just a bit of Decal Solvent; they're very thin and I had a bit of tearing here and there with the bigger decals.  The canopy was dipped in Future and came out clear and shiny.  The windscreen was attached with a bit of Future, it creates a strong enough bond to hold a clear part; I learned this the hard way when I had a bottle tip over on a table and when the Future dried it had attached a paint brush to my metal table!  It took some work to remove.

Some of the reference material I used includes the Panther on static display in Willow Grove, PA; it helped for positioning of the tail hook.  Don't stick it out as far as the Trumpeter instructions would have you do it!  I also used Wings of Fame, Vol. 1 and 4 as well as Squadron/Signal's Navy Air Colors Vol. 2 1945-1985. 

The final product builds up into an attractive Korean War Panther; now all I need is an acrylic case to display the Panther and protect it from dust and fly poo!

Max Tollens Jr.

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Photos and text © by Max Tollens Jr.