North American FJ-3 Redux

One of the topics of conversation at the excellent IPMS National (U.S.) Convention this year, at least among the folks I talk with, was the ongoing lack of a good injection-molded 1/72 (or any scale, for that matter) FJ-3. Note: I have provided material on it whenever asked and a previous post, http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/04/fj23-fury-redux.html, illustrates a lot of the detail differences in its configuration over time.

Since there is a pretty good 1/72 F-86H kit available and it has a bigger inlet like the FJ-3 (it had a more powerful engine), there has recently been a discussion as to whether it would be a suitable basis for conversion. Suitable, of course, varies by individual, ranging from minor alterations to, as the late, great Bondo said, "practice bleeding".

Herewith an illustration of the basic differences (the F-86H has the wing-tip extension and many detail differences but that's no hill for a stepper; the basic empennage is pretty close):

So far, so good. A comparison of the North American drawings illustrates some of the shape and size differences in profile. The FJ-3 lines are in general less dark; I didn't bother to determine if either drawing needed to be resized vertically for accuracy. However, it's pretty clear that the F-86H has a deeper fuselage in addition to being longer.

Vertical fin overlay:

Wing root overlay:

Windscreen overlay:

The consensus was that if you just had to have an FJ-3 now, the Falcon conversion (which is still available) is the better bet; it consists of fuselage halves and a pretty good canopy but no decals. This R.J. Tucker's build combining it with an Academy F-86. Note that the F-86 horizontal tail might be too small. See more photos and a summary of the build here:http://www.arcair.com/Gal1/101-200/gal142-FJ3M-Fury-Tucker/00.shtm

Print Scale put a couple of FJ-3 schemes on an FJ-4 sheet: http://www.internetmodeler.com/scalemodels/nraviation/Print-Scale-1-72-FJ-Fury-Decals.php

As of this writing, the Falcon conversion is available from Hannants and Falcon (click HERE). I couldn't find it on the Squadron or Sprue Brothers website.

The best single reference is Ginter's monograph Naval Fighters Number Eight-Eight:

Draft Tailhook Topics

In addition to this blog and one on Naval Aviation History (http://thanlont.blogspot.com/), I also occasionally post articles on my Draft Tailhook Topics blog (http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/). My original intention was to create articles there and then when they were ready for prime time, post them here. It didn't work out that way. For one thing, copying and pasting into Blogger using a Mac sometimes (often?) resulted in a string of format instructions, visible only in HTML, that caused Windows operating systems to hang at that point, a condition that I would be unaware of until one of my more diligent readers brought it to my attention. As a result, I usually just link to a post there when it provides more information about the subject of a post here.

So if you find interesting things here, you might find more there. In some cases, it was just a convenient place to post answers to questions that were raised on modeling websites, like F9F Panther and Cougar ejection seats, http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2014/07/grumman-f9ff-9-panther-and-cougar.html.

Things Under Wings - Training Wheels

A question was raised about the unusual store under the wing of a distressed F8F Bearcat in the prior post.

It is a Mk 47 practice bomb dispenser. For more on it and other U.S. Navy armament training devices circa World War II, see http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2014/07/things-under-wings-training-wheels.html

F8F Bearcat Wheels and Wheel Wells

 28 August 2025: Added tail wheel information

I've seen a couple of questions on the modeling blogs recently about F8F Bearcat wheel well color, which suggested a post on the subject. Since what I have is not all that conclusive, I thought I'd add wheel hub configuration to the discussion.

It appears that the F8F wheel wells were painted the same color as the exterior with the exception of some hardware located in the well (there was apparently no specific requirement as to wheel well color until they were to be painted white in the mid 1950s).

Although these are grey-scale pictures (the second one has been lightened considerably) and the color pictures I have aren't conclusive because the wells are in shadow, that's the way to bet.

However, some of the very early F8Fs had the accessory section (viewed from the inboard wheel well) painted with either a metallic color or zinc chromate.

And there are pictures of F8Fs at Grumman with non-blue wheel wells so it may be that the wheel wells became blue at the first Navy overhaul.

The two different wheel hubs are distinctive. The early ones had "spokes" and might be either blue, "black" (cosmoline?) or metallic (in this case, on the drop test article, probably unpainted).

The brake pucks were initially located on the lower forward area of the brake disc.

These were subsequently relocated to be at right angles to the strut.

The later wheel hubs were forged, possibly introduced with the F8F-2 and similar to the hubs on the F9F Panther.

 

They were usually a metallic color.

 The tail-wheel fairing was two piece, an upper/forward fairing that was attached to the strut and a lower/aft one that was attached to the full-swiveling tail-wheel fork that kept a pendant from hanging up on the tail wheel.

 

 

The tail wheel retracted into an opening in the bottom of the fuselage so the wheel was barely visible if at all from the side.

 Note the strakes on the bottom of the fuselage ahead of and behind the wheel well.

For some other of my posts on the F8F, see

http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2011/02/conception-of-f8f-bearcat.html

http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2012/10/f8f-safety-tipsit-seemed-like-good-idea.html
(also includes a plug for the excellent Meyer/Ginter monograph on the F8F)

http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2010/12/f8f-bearcat-1-vs-2.html

http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2013/02/f8f-formation-lights.html

Grumman F9F-8T/TF-9J

Chinese plastic kit manufacturer Kitty Hawk has just released a 1/48th scale kit of the Grumman F9F-8T/TF-9J. (For my earlier notes on this airplane, see http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2011/02/f8f-8t-cougar.html)

This is very welcome since it is one of a handful of U.S. Navy airplanes that have gone unrepresented as an injection molded kit. A built model looks pretty good:

 

It's clear that the length of the nose-gear strut on this model is representative of the TF-9J on display at the Pima Air&Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona rather than a flyable airplane. (It may have been fixed in the kits as produced.) The "sit" should be more like this:

There are few other detail discrepancies notable in the model built. See http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2014/06/grumman-f8f-8ttf-9j-notes.html for some notes and illustrations. Darren Roberts is providing a excellent and informative progressive build review here: http://www.arcforums.com/forums/air/index.php?showtopic=277195&st=0 and a summary of the build here: http://www.zone-five.net/showthread.php?p=286534#post286534 Before you buy it and for sure before you build one, you should take a look at his posts.

Another very helpful and illustrated build review: http://www.themodellingnews.com/2014/07/review-build-nic-cougar-tamer-takes-on.html. Note that the builder did not encounter the problem with gluing the plastic that the kit is made from but did note a couple of detail errors. (Others have noted the "Marines" marking on the upper right wing is incorrect; it should be the aircraft number and the tail code.)

One configuration option provided in the kit is the ejection seat. The first two-seat Cougars were delivered with Grumman ejection seats. These were soon replaced with Martin-Baker seats. See http://thanlont.blogspot.com/2011/02/transition-to-martin-baker-ejection.html. The Grumman seats were used in the model above, but Martin-Baker seats had been standard long before the Marines began to use the TF-9J as a Fast FAC (Forward Air Control) as the model is marked.

As usual, the single best reference on a Navy airplane is available from Steve Ginter. See http://www.ginterbooks.com/NAVAL/NF68.htm

Darren Tamanaha put some excellent detail pictures of the Pima TF-9J HERE. Note that the shock struts are bottomed instead of being inflated as it was for a flyable airplane.

More Modeling Notes on the 1/72nd Airfix A-4B Kit

The Douglas Skyhawk is one of my favorite airplanes. I even wrote a book about it, Scooter!. When Airfix released a new 1/72nd scale kit of it two year ago, I devoted several posts to it. See http://tailspintopics.blogspot.com/2012/07/new-airfix-172-4b4p-modeling-notes.html

For an excellent built article of it by "Speedman" on Britmodeler, click HERE. This is a picture from that build:

Airfix had used the A4D-2 displayed on Intrepid as a basis for the kit, including the decals. Speedman decided to replicate that display, even to the point of adding red aileron-control-surface locks.

Neil Lowe posted a question about the Airfix kit on my post on A4D-1 vortex generators (HERE). He noted that there was a detail on the top of the fuselage between the canopy and the red anticollision beacon that is suggestive of the vent that is only present on the J52-powered A4D. I hadn't noticed it before. He also asked about the access panels in this area.

As far as I know, there is no vent in this area on the J65-powered A4Ds (I haven't seen any pictures of the top of the Intrepid A4D but I doubt that it has the vent). This is a picture of an early A4D-1 that depicts this area and the two access panels.

So for J65-powered A4Ds in general, this detail should be removed from Airfix kit. Whether or not you add the access panels is up to you.

27 Charlie

Hancock Deploying, 2 August 1969:

William T. Larkins

Steve Govus was on the flight deck of Hancock during its 1969/1970 deployment to the waters off Vietnam. Not only that, but he took pictures. For his first-hand description of the experience,  I recommend that you take a look at http://twentyseven-charlie.blogspot.com/.