Hello, I built this about a month ago using superscales decals. I know the modifications between the F8F -1 and -2 but this decal sheet showed that it was a -2 instead of -1. any way Testors didn’t have a canoy clear branch! one was lost and one was deformed so it found itself in the garbage. I asked testors and they sent me a new one but it just came here yesterday. The markings are from a base in the united states so this one never went into combat. Well thats it. All comments and tips welcome.
Nice work, you got a good gloss on the blue. Maybe a little flat coat on the chromate parts and pictures taken from a bit farther away would be good to reduce the flash from the strobe. Or, put a white cloth in front of the strobe to diffuse it. Gloss finishes will flash back more than a matt finish.
No Bearcat ever saw combat in US service. Only with France in the early days of the Indochina Affairs (Vietnam) did they do wartime duty. We did a swap with the French for a dozen or so -1’s under a joint services deal. These Bearcats were used to move dirt in ground assault tasks against commie insurgents. For those who’ve forgoteen, that region was once called French Indochina, and was one of their last colonies from the old imperial days. Most, if not all, of the Frog Bearcats were destroyed by artillery at their airfield, IIRC. The Bearcat In Action book tells the story.
Thailand also got hold of some -1’s under the same sort of trade deal, but I dont think they ever went into earnest combat in their intended air superiority fighter role.
That Testor kit is a bugger, rather plain and needing a fine touch. You made an admirable job of one of the most difficult types of finishes: clear gloss sea blue. I botched mine when I tried it, some years ago. Getting a fine finish without any graininess is super tough.
"On25 August1946, theBlue Angelstransitioned to the Grumman F8F-1 Bearcat and introduced the famous “diamond” formation.
The F8F prototypes were ordered in November 1943 and first flew on21 August1944, a mere nine months later. The first production aircraft was delivered in February 1945 and the first squadron was operational by21 May, butWorld War IIwas over before the aircraft saw combat service.
Postwar, the F8F became a major US Navy fighter, equipping 24 fighter squadrons. Often mentioned as one of the best (if not the best) handling piston-engine fighters ever built, their performance was such that they even outperformed many early jets. Its capability foraerobaticperformance is borne out by the choice of the Bearcat for the Navy’s eliteBlue Angelsin 1946, who flew it until the team was temporarily disbanded in 1950 (during theKorean War). The GrummanF9F PantherandMcDonnellF2H Bansheelargely replaced the Bearcat in USN service, as their performance and other advantages eclipsed piston-engine fighters.
An unmodified production F8F-1 set a 1946 time-to-climb record (after a run of 115 feet) of 10,000 feet in 94 seconds. The Bearcat held this record for ten years until it was broken by a modern jet fighter (which could still not match the Bearcat’s short takeoff distance).
Other nations that flew the Bearcat included theFrenchandThaiair forces. French aircraft saw combat service in theFirst Indochina Waras fighter-bombers in the early1950s."
wyoroy thank you. Als o thanks dahut for posting that I didn’t know that. Its seems the bearcat was one of the worlds best piston ever I heard they could do everything better than most fighters except for there fuel. Like most radials. Thanks again.
I recall reading something from a post-WWII Navy fighter pilot who flew F8Fs. He mentioned doing some local little airshow together with a USAAF pilot who brought a late-model P-51 (probably an H). He said they kind of competed during their individual performances during the show. When it was time to leave, he let the P-51 take the runway first, then took off behind him, overtook him in the climb-out, and did a barrel roll around the P-51 before accelerating away.
