Rampage55 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 I had originaly planned on finishing this kit as Lt. Brubakers bird, depicted in the 1954 classic movie "The Bridges at Toko-Ri". Then along came the KWGB and Lt. Brubakers markings were no longer appropriate. I have another Panther in the stash that will receive this honour. Then I remembered seeing a photo of a Korean War era -5 Panther from VA-153 that had been canabalized from two seperate battle damaged airframes. The forward fuselage and wings were in an experimental NMF from one plane, and the tail section from another was in the standard Drk. Sea Blue. When I saw that photo I knew I had to have it, and thanks to Eagle Strike I can. Here are a few pics of my initial assembly. Thanks, Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TF51GREGWISE Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Ohhh Yeah... This is gonna be cool!! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Weasel78 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Thats very nice do you engraved the panel lines ?? greetings Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Col. Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Tidy looking build so far Mark, must admit that's the coolest looking scheme I've seen on the Panther. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Andrew D. the Jolly Rogers guy Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Nice so far! The -5 is my favorite Panther...rebuilding my own (1/72) right now, in fact.... Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Randy Wise Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 Yup! Cool Panther. I used the old MicroScale sheet when I built my Dash 5 "Fly". Nice so far! The -5 is my favorite Panther...rebuilding my own (1/72) right now, in fact.... The "5" has been my fave for some time, only because there hasn't been a "2" in 1/48 scale. I've built the Monogram kit so many times that now I'm craving a "2". I have the info I need to convert the Monogram Panther to a "2", but humors abound that the Hobbycraft (aka - Trumpeter molded) kit will be nice so I'm holding off until then. Randy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Weasel78 Posted October 9, 2006 Share Posted October 9, 2006 (edited) Its incredible that Trumpeter/Hobbycraft a better Kit as the very good Monogram Panther make. Trumpeter is for me die ,the Mig-15 from then is Horror to bulit.....never !!! I make a Conversion from the 5 to the 2 that is correct and better bulit as a Trumpeter or Hobbycrap Model greetings Michael Edit: Look here http://warlords.hobbyvista.com/f9f-2.htm Edited October 9, 2006 by Wild Weasel78 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rampage55 Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Thats very nice do you engraved the panel lines ??greetings Michael Thank you all for the kind words. No Michael I do'nt rescribe panel lines. I'm not skillful enough or patient enough. I greatly admire anyone with the abilty to rescribe an entire model. I simply am not. I try to perserve as much raised detail as posible. As this kit has dark plastic, I spray my top coat and once dry I lightly sand paint of the raised detail to show panel line detail. Besides if you look at the skin of the real thing you'll notice it is not covered with grooves at all the panel lines. It is very smooth. One could even argue that a lack of noticeable panel lines in this scale could be considered a more accurate representation of the real aircraft than one with engraved panel lines. Do'nt get me wrong, I love to see nice finely engraved panel detail. Its just that raised panel lines do not bother me. Simple things for simple folks. Thanks, Mark Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Randy Wise Posted October 13, 2006 Share Posted October 13, 2006 Its incredible that Trumpeter/Hobbycraft a better Kit as the very good Monogram Panther make. Trumpeter is for me die ,the Mig-15 from then is Horror to bulit.....never !!! I make a Conversion from the 5 to the 2 that is correct and better bulit as a Trumpeter or Hobbycrap Model Hey Michael, No seriously, someone posted here that they'd seen a test mold of the new Hobbycraft F9F-2 in Toronto and it is very good. Hobbycraft has put over five years of research into the thing and Trumpter is making the molds. Together they will release their own kits of the model. That may sound hard to believe, I know I had a tough time believing it, but the guys on ARC have always been bang-on with their out-of-box reviews. I'm holding out to see what this new Panther is all about. Randy Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rampage55 Posted November 17, 2006 Author Share Posted November 17, 2006 (edited) I finaly got a chance to log some model building time this weekend. So I decided to finish filling and sanding my Panther. After a bit of sanding I noticed the left wing was slightly warped. The tip tank wich makes this condition even more noticable was pointed up about 5 degrees nose high. I say "was" because after trying everthing I could think of to straighten it I found myself cutting off the offending wing. :) Now What? I am not very good at scratch building. In fact this is one of my first real attempts. My last project required a little bit but this one is a bit more involved for me. Rivet counters please don't look to closely. So now my neext issue is what color to paint the wingfold areas. Normaly on a Panther they would have been painted the same color as the exterior Drk. Sea Blue. However the aircraft I'm modeling was done in an expermential NMF. So I am thinking that the wingfolds were painted the same way. At first I didn't like the look of the folded wings breaking the sleek lines of the Panther. I'm growing to like it. Still not sure what possesed me to do it though. :D PS. I noticed 1/48 Trumpeter F9F-2 and -2P Panthers offered for presell at SprueBros. Due Feb 2007 Edited November 17, 2006 by Rampage55 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bugfan Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Rampage, Looking good so far, I cant wait to see you get some paint on that bird. Good job on the wingfolds, if you like it, to heck with the rivet counters, build for yourself. WELL DONE so far. Jack aka BUGFAN Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Wild Weasel78 Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 Good job for the Wings :D , Blue Tail Fly is a nice Bird i have a color picture from the Jet and he looks cool :) greetings Michael Quote Link to post Share on other sites
TF51GREGWISE Posted November 17, 2006 Share Posted November 17, 2006 wow- that was pretty bold! -_- Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Rampage55 Posted December 9, 2006 Author Share Posted December 9, 2006 (edited) Progress update: (what little there is) This Panther is a great kit, but I have found that a lot of sanding and filling with super glue was necessary to get clean joints. Its been time consuming. But necessary as the scheme I'm doing is an experimental NMF, well half of it is any way and every little blemish will show. So finally I've sprayed a base coat of MM Gloss Black in preparation for the NMF, and to check for any imperfections. I hope to spray the NMF this weekend. Thanks for taking a look, Mark Edited December 9, 2006 by Rampage55 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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