Minicraft 1/48 XF5F

[jeaton01]

Carlos, the Black Chrome goes on with a thin layer and satin finish, so less detail is lost. I used it on the base coat on theXP-72 and liked it. I have a few bottles of it left. When it's gone I'll go back to flat black.

[Stikpusher]

Interesting… Testors makes a Black Metallic and Semi Gloss Black in their 1/4 oz enamel line. If you’re looking for a replacement one day…

[BlackSheep214]

Satin Black might be a good substitute ...

[speedgraflex]

Such a beautiful presentation, John. Thank you so much for documenting your work in such detail. I learn so much from seeing the way plastic is transitioned from sprues to subassemblies. I personally like the usage of slightly unique or perhaps slightly unorthodox colors when building, and the “chrome” or whatever functions as chrome within the paint formula creates a realistic appearance to my liking. There was a gentleman on the Airfix forum who steadfastly refused to paint using bottle references, preferring instead his “Mark I” eyeballs. I respected his point of view and follow it when possible. Bravo.

[Stuart]

Nice choice of build John and a good start. Was the Skyrocket ever actually in service?

[jeaton01]

No, Stuart. There was just the one prototype that got several modifications, and a similar single XP-50 for the USAAF that had an even longer nose and tricycle gear but no production. It did lead to the F7F, though.

[Stuart]

Thanks John, it sounds like an interesting type.

[jeaton01]

Bruce, sorry for the late reply, and thanks for the comments. I have to stick to paint names or someone else's judgement on colors, and mix by myself only at great peril!

Right now the white undercoat is drying on the upper wing panels in preparation for the yellow, but here are some pictures of the construction. I glued the nose section on the wing first, after figuring out where it fit left to right by dry fitting the aft fuselage. I aligned the aft fuselage with the lower wing, it has a shape that drops down to fair to the fuselage there. When the nose was dry enough I glued on the aft fuselage, being careful to get the sides spaced so there was a good match to the nose. There is no positive alignment, just some ridges that fit the short nose, not the long one The engines are nice, though the things they call the ignition harness are more like push rod housings except for being too short. Whatever, they look nice enough and fit well. There is an intake manifold and exhaust collector ring, but once in they will never be seen again by man nor beast. The cowling fronts fit well but I did spend some time eliminating the seams as there is no panel line there. As with the fuselage, there is no positive fit for the long nacelles, just some ridges on the bottom of the wing that are appropriate to the short nacelle/short nose version. The fit was pretty nice but took some care and planning to get all four cowling parts in place.

The Bearcat in the first photo is the original Hawk kit, which I built in 1968 and is still in great shape, a very sturdy model. Obviously the fit was great as filler was unknown to me then, and if set before a fan the propeller spins freely. Same kit that Carlos just built from the later Testors release.

[Stuart]

Excellent progress John, the type is growing on me somewhat - it looks rather cool.

Great looking Bearcat.

[LyleW]

Most excellent work, John! Sure looks good!