john53 Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 I've built a few Hasegawa Panthers in the past 2 years and the last came out with a less than stellar finish. The Future didn't dry right and I never got the nice smooth finish I wanted so I have decided to strip it and totally rebuild it as a different scheme. I have some Blackbird decals left with an all yellow F9F-2KD bird that looks interesting. I tried stripping it in Simple Green for 24 hours, nada. I then was told to soak a paper or regular towel in Mr Color Leveling Thinner and place that over the plane. I had some Mr Color Thinner 110 so I tried that, voila it worked like a charm! Or at least better than Simple Green. I have started cleaning up parts and re gluing and painting some small parts. Luckily I only lost the pitot tube and control stick, easy to scratch them up. I found a 1/72 plan in my Detail and Scale book tat shows the wing tip shape without the tip tanks so I made a template. I cut multiple pieces slightly oversize and stacked them to get the rough thickness of the wing. So here I am ready to sand and fill till it looks good enough. Does anyone know if there are any other pictures of this "canary" Panther I can use for reference? Thanks---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 5, 2018 Author Share Posted April 5, 2018 I did some micro paint detailing and sanded the wing tips to shape the filled the top and bottom surfaces to blend them in.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 Question for the U.S.Navy guys out there. I have been going batty trying to figure out what the letters on this plane's fuselage mean. I came upon a patch on E Bay, NAEL is Naval Air Engineering Laboratory, in Philadelphia. The (SI) is Shipboard Installations. In layman's terms what does this mean? Why would a drone controller be part of Shipboard Installations? I found my answer but am even more confused.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tailspin Turtle Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 11 hours ago, john53 said: Question for the U.S.Navy guys out there. I have been going batty trying to figure out what the letters on this plane's fuselage mean. I came upon a patch on E Bay, NAEL is Naval Air Engineering Laboratory, in Philadelphia. The (SI) is Shipboard Installations. In layman's terms what does this mean? Why would a drone controller be part of Shipboard Installations? I found my answer but am even more confused.---John Shipboard installations here refer to the catapult and arresting gear (including the barriers/barricades) systems although there were other odds and ends. This sort of testing is where obsolescent or otherwise unwanted Navy airplanes like this F9F went to be useful before being scrapped. In this case, it was used to test the new nose-tow catapult system introduced with the E-2 and the A-6. A stricken AJ Savage was also involved in the test program. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 (edited) Thank you again Tommy. I went to the NAEL site and found some old documents all about corrosion and corrosion resistance and stress. A lot of mumbo jumbo about zinc chromate paint, sounds like the military version of the "watching the paint dry" lab at most paint manufacturers. BTW are there any other images I can use for my build? I am guessing the plane was piloted for these tests? I put a pilot figure in anyways. Thanks again---John Edited April 8, 2018 by john53 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 I have the stabs added, pilot installed and canopy on. I plan to do a primer coat of either white or very light gray then the Tamiya Camel yellow. I just need a bit of sanding on the nose and bottom fuselage to wing join area.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tailspin Turtle Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 As you wish: http://tailhooktopics.blogspot.com/2018/04/nael-f9f-2kd.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 (edited) Thanks for the EXCELLENT information. My project is now on hold until I figure out how to scratch a new under nose radar lump and I guess I am seeing pylons and rocket stubs under the wings? Most interesting.---John OOOOppppps I think I need to remove the gun barrels also, and remove the faired wing tips? Edited April 8, 2018 by john53 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 (edited) I think I found a solution. I am not wanting to cut off my hard work on the faired wingtips. I found a picture from Tommy's site showing a Blue Angels F9F-2 with no tip tanks. I also found a picture in my Detail and Scale book of 2 early F9F-2s with no tip tanks and there is always the XF9F-2. Did the Blues fly the Panther without the tip tanks at all? Must have at least to ferry it.---John Edited April 8, 2018 by john53 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Tailspin Turtle Posted April 8, 2018 Share Posted April 8, 2018 (edited) 2 hours ago, john53 said: I think I found a solution. I am not wanting to cut off my hard work on the faired wingtips. I found a picture from Tommy's site showing a Blue Angels F9F-2 with no tip tanks. I also found a picture in my Detail and Scale book of 2 early F9F-2s with no tip tanks and there is always the XF9F-2. Did the Blues fly the Panther without the tip tanks at all? Must have at least to ferry it.---John The tanks were removable and replaced with wingtip fairings but not jettisonable (the fuel in them could be dumped - the motive force to do so was provided by the hole in the nose of the tank). The Blues originally intended to fly displays without the tanks and only install them to fly longer distances between venues. The time required to remove/replace them and lack of notable performance improvement without them quickly disabused the team leader of that concept. Plus at some point it was realized that you could put colored water in the tanks for a cool visual effect. Edited April 8, 2018 by Tailspin Turtle Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 8, 2018 Author Share Posted April 8, 2018 (edited) Thanks again Tommy. I am going with an early F9F-2 with no wing tip tanks .....yet. Either Bu 122563, 122567 or I can go with the second F9F-3 Bu 122561. I have pictures of these and all that's needed is the stars and bars and a few stencils. I should have known better than to trust a decal maker, especially when yesterday I told another modeler his decal sheet was incorrect, told him NOT to trust decal makers, DUH! Maybe I should practice what I preach!---John Edited April 8, 2018 by john53 grammar Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 20, 2018 Author Share Posted April 20, 2018 It's blue again.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 Wheels and gear doors on, leading edges of wings painted. Ready to Future and decal.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 21, 2018 Author Share Posted April 21, 2018 The markings are very easy. Factory fresh so all I need is stars and bars and a few stencils. I have more than enough in my spares box.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
dnl42 Posted April 22, 2018 Share Posted April 22, 2018 Looking good! I must say though, I was looking forward to seeing the yellow NAEL bird! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
john53 Posted April 22, 2018 Author Share Posted April 22, 2018 Sorry, actually me too until Tommy set me straight and showed the pictures of the real "yellow bird" with no wing tips faired, just wing tip tanks removed and the structre of the wing visible, I spent all that time fairing the wing tips in only to find the decal company didn't do their homework and I followed suit! My problem for making a "rookie" problem and trusting a decal maker, I should have known better.---John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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