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1/48 French Bearcat


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Hi all,

The Academy and Hobby Boss kits appear to be the two best options on the market. Ideally I'd like to avoid buying any replacement parts like cockpit, cowling or decals, I'd just like to build a representative aircraft as seen during the First Indochina War, maybe a Dien Bien Phu veteran.

 

So. Which should I get? The Hobby Boss looks good and is only $1 or so more expensive.

 

Advice greatly appreciated and welcomed!

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Check out these reviews Zac.

http://www.ipmsusa.org/reviews/Archive/Kits/Aircraft/Academy_48_F8F/Academy_48_F8F.htm

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/aca/kit_aca_12313.shtml

https://modelingmadness.com/scott/korean/us/usn/f8f.htm

http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/grumman-f8f-12-bearcat

http://www.finescale.com/product-info/kit-reviews/2012/02/hobbyboss-148-f8f-1-bearcat

 

While I do not have the Trumpeter kit and probably never will, I've built several of the Academy/Hobbycraft kits.   If you fix the error with the front of the cowling, they turn into really nice little kits. 

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If you can find the Hobbycraft variant (this kit was originally a HC kit) cheaper than the Academy and you don't want to go the Hobbyboss route, that would probably be the way to go. The decals were much improved over earlier HC kits.

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15 hours ago, Drifterdon said:

Check out these reviews Zac.

http://www.ipmsusa.org/reviews/Archive/Kits/Aircraft/Academy_48_F8F/Academy_48_F8F.htm

https://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/aca/kit_aca_12313.shtml

https://modelingmadness.com/scott/korean/us/usn/f8f.htm

http://web.ipmsusa3.org/content/grumman-f8f-12-bearcat

http://www.finescale.com/product-info/kit-reviews/2012/02/hobbyboss-148-f8f-1-bearcat

 

While I do not have the Trumpeter kit and probably never will, I've built several of the Academy/Hobbycraft kits.   If you fix the error with the front of the cowling, they turn into really nice little kits. 

None of the quoted references mention the fact that the Hobbycraft kit provides the wrong engine: all Bearcats had either the R2800-34W or -30W, both of which were the later "C" type with two-part bolted crankcase (lots of bolts). If that level of accuracy matters to you, Quickboost makes one, although you've got to add your own pushrods (I used .017 steel guitar string). You also have to do a little improvising to install it, but it's not hard using the kit's firewall to mount it.

 

FWIW, I think the Hobbycraft/Academy kit is a better choice than the Hobby Boss because its main shape issue -- the contour of the cowling front -- is much easier to correct than those of the Hobby Boss -- the too-thick wings and misplaced main landing gear struts. OTOH, the Hobby Boss kit has better detail in some of the parts. When I built mine in 2016, I used mainly a Hobbycraft kit with main gear struts, gun sight and roll-over frame from a Hobby Boss kit. Besides the Quickboost engine, I also used an Eduard PE set, an Obscureco engine cowling and resin wheels from Barracuda. I think of those parts, besides the engine, the wheels are the most worth considering because they're big improvements over the kit parts. The cowling can be reshaped without too much difficulty.

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Hi,

 

I have write an article about the French Bearcat for Scale Aircraft Modeling with the list of the aircraft and variant received by French Air Force, pics included inside the article.

 

For me, used the Hobbycraft/Academy kit with Berna Decals and resin parts.

 

SPang

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17 hours ago, K5054NZ said:

Hi all,

The Academy and Hobby Boss kits appear to be the two best options on the market. Ideally I'd like to avoid buying any replacement parts like cockpit, cowling or decals, I'd just like to build a representative aircraft as seen during the First Indochina War, maybe a Dien Bien Phu veteran.

 

So. Which should I get? The Hobby Boss looks good and is only $1 or so more expensive.

 

Advice greatly appreciated and welcomed!

If you are wanting to do up an early French Bearcat you'll need to get the F8F-1 kit.  It's got the short tail and .50 cal machine guns.   There were some -1B's that had the 20mm cannon but you'd have to verify pics of the time frame and the specific plane you were wanting to build.  I think some of the later Academy kits gave you the options to build either as well as French markings.   Hope we've been able to help.

Don

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Thanks Don, you've all certainly given me plenty of food for thought as well as some good resources to check out kit-wise. I'm quite uninformed as far as Bearcats go - for example, I'm so used to Rare Bear and other racers I was surprised the in-service engine was an R-2800, and I didn't know some versions had cannon instead of MGs.

 

Academy kits have always been good to me but, as I mentioned, the HB kit is surprisingly affordable. I'm on a tight budget so I'm looking to avoid any aftermarket engines or cockpits.

 

Thank you all for your prompt replies!

Edited by K5054NZ
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