Tailhook Topics: Obscureco F11F Detail Set

Thursday, March 3, 2016

Obscureco F11F Detail Set

The Grumman F11F was a gorgeous carrier-based day fighter. Like it's propeller-driven equivalent, the F8F Bearcat, the timing was wrong. The F8F couldn't compete with jets (except in rate of climb contests) and the F11F wasn't as fast as the Vought F8U or have the endurance (for a more complete F11F story, see chapter 13 in http://www.amazon.com/dp/1580071104).

Once upon a time, Hasegawa produced a 1/72 scale F11F kit. Paul Boyer did it justice as he has so many other kits, only in this case was presented with one with a relatively low degree of difficulty.

The kit is a little deficient on cockpit interior and wheel well detail. Obscureco has responded to that with one of their excellent detail sets. The parts are very thin and well detailed.

1. Instrument shroud
2. Cockpit tub
3. Ejection seat
4. Rear Cockpit bulkhead
5. Cockpit detail, fuselage under sliding canopy
6. Sliding canopy shear web structure
7. Instrument panel
8. Nose wheel well
9. Left cockpit sidewall
10. Right cockpit sidewall
11. Ejection seat headrest
12. Control column
13. Left main gear well rear wall
14. Right main gear well rear wall
15. Left main gear center wall
16. Right main gear center wall
17. Left main gear front bulkhead
18. Right main gear front bulkhead

I haven't had a chance to dry fit it yet. Generally, cockpit detail sets run up against the fact that the thickness of the plastic forming the side of the kit fuselage is much thicker from a scale standpoint than the skin of the actual aircraft (also see http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2012/09/fitting-in.html). One hint in this case is the kit instruction to "Sand the sidewalls as thin as possible". They are already pretty thin.

The kit does not provide the prominent antenna under the aft part of the canopy on some F11Fs (or maybe the part provided is not a good representation; in any event it should be curved and not flat).

However, this particular antenna wasn't present in many F11Fs.

I am dubious about the accuracy of parts 13 and 14. A good part of the main landing gear wheel well was taken up by structure that resembles a can lying on its side. I don't think this is accurately represented by the large flat parts provided.

Note that the above is one of many, many Don Hinton F11F walkaround pictures that can be found here: http://www.philsaeronauticalstuff.com/f11f/f11f.html

However, the compete F11F he photographed (as opposed to the cockpit section preceding that series) has a black instrument panel. I'm pretty sure that it should be dark gull gray with black instruments like the cockpit section.

Although it's not currently on the Obscureco website (http://www.obscureco.com/products.html), it can be ordered as OBS72026 for $17 plus shipping as shown on the Purchasing Line on the website.

One build note I made on the kit once upon a time was changes necessary to make the main landing gear fit correctly in the well and together: