Douglas A-4F Skyhawk Model

1. Introduction
1.1. Aircraft
Douglas A-4F Skyhawk

Carrier-based attack aircraft (information in Wikipedia)
U.S. Navy. BuNo 154975 / NP307. VA-212 squadron.
USS Hancock (CV-19), Gulf of Tonkin, 1972.

1.2. Story
An A-4F Skyhawk jet of Attack Squadron 212 aboard the USS Hancock sits fully armed and chained to the flight deck, waiting for the next routine mission of the Vietnam War. The Skyhawk's pilot is having his photograph taken by an obliging flight deck crewman.

 

1.3. Model Kit
A-4E/F Skyhawk from Fujimi (kit # 25024), 1:72 scale.

2. Kit Overview
The Skyhawk kit by Fujimi is well-known and has been reviewed many times. Although quite old (tooled in the late 1980s), the kit is, in my view, exceptionally good for its age. The accuracy and the quality of moulds are just excellent, and the fine surface details are better than on many newer kits released in the 2000s. The following features of the Fujimi's kit are, for me, especially commendable:
 1) Fujimi has correctly modelled one of the most noticeable features of the tiny Skyhawk: the extended leading edge slats. Those leading edge slats are a curious feature of the Skyhawk design. They are entirely automatic and are controlled solely by aerodynamic forces. There are no provisions for the pilot to control these slats in any way; he can neither extend them no retract them. The slats automatically extend (fall down due to gravity) when the airplane slows down for landing, they remain extended on the ground and throughout the takeoff, and then they automatically retract when the airplane reaches a certain airspeed (and the windage overpowers the gravity). Ground crews may manually retract the slats when a particular Skyhawk is undergoing some maintenance, is slotted for a long-time storage or for receiving a paint job. Any scale model that is intended to represent an operational Skyhawk ready for take-off must have the leading edge slats extended.
 2) Engine intake interior is included (while many new-tooled kits are still being released without anything in the way of intake trunk interior).
 3) Very decent landing gear well interior is included.

Yet, the kit is not perfect: the cockpit interior and the main wheels need replacement, and a number of small details (some of them, in all fairness, being next to impossible to mold in plastic) are lacking which should be scratch-built if your aim is to have an accurately looking Vietnam War era A-4E or F.

3. Construction
3.1. Building

This is the list of enhancements that I have added to what was in the box:

 1) Various fuselage inlets and vents were cut out (otherwise they have insufficient depth, in my view). An incorrect vent on the fuselage port side was filled.
 2) Amazingly detailed resin cockpit by Aires was installed (set # 7158).
 3) Scratch-built actuators added for ailerons and aileron trim tab.
 4) The kit's upper wings lack the channels for leading edge slat actuators. I scribed these and also added details to the inner surfaces of wing slats.
 5) Wing flaps are positioned as extended, which is very common for operational Skyhawks.
 6) The Skyhawk possesses quite a collection of various external lights, and all of those lights had to be scratch-built, including: clusters consisting of three lights on each of the wing tips; approach light in the port wing root; dorsal navigation light; ventral navigation light under the port wing; landing light on the starboard main landing gear door; in-flight refuelling probe illumination light on the starboard air intake lip.
 7) Nose and main landing gear well interior enhanced with scratch-built details.
 8) Nose landing gear leg enhanced with real metal oleos.
 9) Correct main wheels added (Aires set # 7242), as well as some minor details to the main gear legs, e.g. brake lines and tie-down rings.
 10) Scratch-built catapult bridle hooks added to main landing gear wells.
 11) The small fuel dump pylon under the starboard wing re-positioned (it should stand closer to the flap hinge line than it is on the Fujimi's kit) and enhanced with scratch-built detail.
 12) The Pitot tube, angle of attack vane and various blade antennae scratch-built from thin plastic and metal wire.
 13) Two AN/ALQ-126 ECM antennae fairings added above the jet exhaust. These antennae were fitted to many Skyhawks deployed to SEA in the later years of the conflict, and historical photographs confirm their presence on the particular aircraft that I am modelling.
 14) Flare & chaff dispenser added to the lower port fuselage. Such dispensers were fitted to many Skyhawks deployed to SEA in the later years of the conflict.
 15) Gun barrels were scratch-built from thin metal tubes; the kit's plastic ones are hopeless.
 16) TER ordnance racks were taken from the Hasegawa's old but decent plastic weapon set # X72-001.
 17) Ordnance was added in the form of 9 resin Mk.82 Snakeye bombs manufactured by North Star Models. Such load is confirmed by historical photographs (link).
See my review of Snakeye bomb sets available in 1:72, and avoid the dreadful Snakeye products manufactured by Kora Models. 

3.2. Painting & Markings
The painting is relatively straightforward, as the aircraft carriers the standard Light Gull Grey over Insignia White camouflage scheme of the period. Wing flaps interior and undersides, wing leading edge slats interior and landing gear door edges are Insignia Red.

The marking options available in the Fujimi kit – one Royal Australian Navy A-4G, two aggressor variants and one non-combat VC-1 Skyhawk – were of no interest to me. As a prototype for my model I wanted a Vietnam War variant covered by good historical photographs, preferably in color.
Strangely enough, there seems to be no 1:72 scale aftermarket decals currently in production to cover Vietnam War A-4E/F Skyhawks. There used to be quite a few sheets made by MicroScale, but they are all long out of production (and the MicroScale # 72-828 sheet that I fancied could not be found even on eBay). Thankfully, I had surplus decals from an old Italeri A-4F kit (# 181). These old kit decals are quite accurate, but they represent a post-war VA-212 Skyhawk. Historical photographs show that during the 1970-1971 and 1972 deployments to the war zone aboard the USS Hancock, the VA-212 Skyhawks did not have their unit numbers (modex) trimmed in yellow, and neither did they carry the tail code/modex combination painted on the upper starboard wing. Bearing this and a few other minor issues in mind, I have furnished my model to represent the BuNo 154975 from the VA-212's 1972 deployment (see historical photographs here and here).

3.3. Presentation
 1) My idea was to present this Skyhawk model without consuming either much shelf space or many crew figures, and yet to make the vignette as "alive" as possible. I used this historical photograph as an inspiration. On my vignette a Skyhawk pilot is being photographed by a deck crewman in front of his combat-loaded airplane before a mission, a common enough practice.
 2) A scene like this needed a pilot and a flight deck crewman figure. My figures came from the sets by Italeri (# 1246) and Hasegawa (# X72-7) and underwent some customization. In particular, the crewman's attire and headgear were changed so that they would be historically correct for the period, his arms were re-positioned for holding the camera, and the camera itself was scratch-built.
 3) The deck is sheet plastic, and photo-etched tie-down eyes came from an excellent set # 7209 by White Ensign Models.
 4) Any aircraft parked on the flight deck must be secured to the said deck. This is a very strictly followed rule: if there is no pilot (or crewman) in the cockpit to operate the brakes, the aircraft is always tied down. During the Vietnam War era chains were the means to secure aircraft to the deck (see historical photo), and I used photo-etched chains from the same White Ensign Models set mentioned above.
 5) Conspicuous "Remove Before Flight" tags to mark items like various safety pins have already been in use by the Navy when the SEA conflict began, therefore my model has such tags attached where appropriate in accordance with historical photographs. No fuses are present on my Snakeyes (the fuses are often not inserted until immediately before an aircraft taxies to launch), therefore no RBF flags are present on the bombs.
 6) The Skyhawk was one of the very few Navy airplanes lacking the self-boarding capability. Therefore, external access ladders were always needed for the crew to get to their cockpits. The ladder on my vignette is a small photo-etched item produced by F4Models (# 7014).

4. Reference Data
[1] Basic information on the A-4 Skyhawk in Wikipedia: link
[2] U.S. Navy and Marine Corps A-4 Skyhawk Units of the Vietnam War | Combat Aircraft Series # 69 | Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2007.
[3] Douglas A-4E/F Skyhawk in Navy Service| Naval Fighters Series # 51 | Ginter Books, 2001.
[4] A-4 Skyhawk Walk Around | Walk Around Series # 41 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 2006.
[5] A-4 Skyhawk in Detail & Scale | In Detail & Scale Series # 32 | Airlife Publishing Inc., 1989.
[6] An excellent web site dedicated to the A-4 Skyhawk: link

5. Notes
As I keep saying, for your painting & marking reference always shun the photographs of museum airplanes and ignore the kit manufacturer's instructions. Only historical photographs are your true friend. For example, there have been at least four different variations of applying the red jet intake chevrons on the A-4E/F, and you will never know which is the right one for your particular BuNo and time period unless you have a clear historical photograph. The same is true for the multitude of other markings and stenciling. Compare photographs that show two A-4Fs from the same squadron – BuNo 155019 and BuNo 154973 – and see for yourself.

U.S. Navy Ground Support Equipment Models

In this short article I am presenting my 1/72 models of several miscellaneous ground support equipment items used by the U.S. Navy. This is by no means an exhaustive list of the Navy's GSE. I only model such items that I need for my present and future dioramas, and only those that I could collect sufficient historical information for.

Aircraft Maintenance Crane
During the World War II and the Korean War years the U.S. armed forces, including the USAAC / USAF, the Navy and the Marine Corps, used this type of crane for performing maintenance on their aircraft based in theatre. Having no motors, these cranes were manually operated and employed to handle bulky items such as aircraft engines and propellers. Here is an excellent photograph showing a USMC crane in action in Korea: link.

This entirely photoetched metal model was produced by F4Models (cat. # 7029). The metal frame is very delicate, and assembling it is a rather tricky business. To imitate the crane's rigging I used stretched plastic sprue.

A-3 Aircraft Start Unit
This unit was designed to provide electric power necessary to start early jet engines. It saw service with the U.S. Air Force throughout the 1950s. There is also sufficient photographical evidence (link, link) to know that the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps used this aircraft start unit too, in particular on in-theatre air bases during the Korean War (whether these units were officially acquired by the Navy or simply borrowed by the servicemen in the field is, I think, beside the point).

A resin model of this aircraft start unit is produced by F4Models (cat. # 7028). It is a simple kit with few parts (but it includes parts to build two complete start units). My example is a nearly out-of-the-box build, the only extra is the power cable made of thin copper wire. My model is finished in the prescribed Orange Yellow, but historical photographs show that A-3 start units were also occasionally seen in Olive Drab.

U.S. Navy Air-Transportable Aircraft Start Unit
The purpose of this item of ground support equipment is to provide compressed air for starting aircraft jet engines. Specially designed by Douglas Aircraft Company for the U.S. Navy as an air-transportable unit, it was intended to be carried by fighter or attack aircraft on a standard ordnance pylon thus allowing them to self-deploy. Inside the teardrop-shaped pod was a small gas turbine, and everything needed for operating it – air hose, wheels and a handle to pull it around – was stowed in internal compartments. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s this start unit was frequently seen on Naval Air Stations and Marine Corps Air Stations around such aircraft as the A3D Skywarrior, A4D Skyhawk, F4D Skyray, F3H Demon and F11F Tiger (see a couple of historical photographs: link, link). It remained in active service, albeit in very small numbers, into the 1970s, with the Blue Angels team using such items even in the 1980s until it phased out its Skyhawks (photo).
The standard color for this start unit was Insignia White overall, but available photographic evidence shows that some examples were Orange Yellow, yet others were Sea Blue.

My model is built from the kit produced by F4Models (cat. # 7019). 

U.S. Navy Aircraft Start Unit
The purpose of this item of ground support equipment is to provide compressed air for starting aircraft jet engines. Conceivably, this unit (its designation is not known to me, alas) was designed somewhere around 1960 to be installed on the U.S. Navy's MD-1 flight deck tractor, hence its peculiar shape. When the MD-1 tractors have been retired from active duty around 1965, a considerable number of these start units were, apparently, still fit for service. Therefore they have been installed onto light custom-made trailers and employed on Naval Air Stations and Marine Corps Air Stations as land-based, non self-propelled aircraft start units (see a couple of historical photographs: link, link). Frequently seen around such aircraft as A-3 Skywarrior, A-4 Skyhawk, F-8 Crusader, A-6 Intruder, A-7 Corsair, EA-6 Prowler and F-14 Tomcat, this type of ground support equipment remained in active service until the early 1990s.
Available photographic evidence suggests that all examples were finished in the customary Orange Yellow.

A resin model of this aircraft start unit is produced by F4Models (cat. # 7027). My example is a nearly out-of-the-box build, the only extra is the air hose made of two types of metal wire.

NF-2 Lighting Unit
This is a self-contained trailer unit designed to provide lighting for an aircraft service and maintenance area of an air base. It saw service with all branches of the U.S. military since the 1960s, and some examples could still be in service today. Here is a photographic evidence of an NF-2 lighting unit on an USMC facility: link.

A model of this unit is included in the "U.S. Aerospace Ground Equipment" set (cat. # X72-6) produced by Hasegawa. For a kit released in the mid-1980s it is very good. However, most of the small items are way too thick to look realistically in the scale, and thus I replaced them with scratch-built ones. The two floodlights have received metal foil reflectors and clear plastic lenses. My model is finished in Orange Yellow to represent a U.S. Navy item from the 1970s, but historical photographs show that NF-2 lighting units were also occasionally seen in Olive Drab.

U.S. Navy Nitrogen Servicing Unit
The purpose of this item of support equipment is to fill relevant aircraft systems with nitrogen. This type of nitrogen servicing unit is used by the U.S. Navy and the Marine Corps on land bases and on aircraft carrier decks. It first entered service in the mid-1960s (various sub-variants bearing designations NAN-2, -3 and -4), and an updated variant designated as A/M26U-4 is still in use today, its main external difference being the instrument panel. Here are some photographs that show this trailer in use: early variant, late variant.

A model of this interesting item has been recently released by Brengun (cat. # 72004), although Brengun erroneously labels it as "Oxygen cart". It is an excellent kit, accurate and well detailed. Comprising resin parts, photoetched items, film and decal, the kit allows you to build either an early or a late variant of the nitrogen servicing unit. My model is a nearly out-of-the-box build, the only extra being some tubing and valves for the nitrogen tanks. It is finished in Orange Yellow to represent a U.S. Navy item from the 1970s. It should be noted that the late variant of the nitrogen servicing unit, in use since the 2000s, is always painted Insignia White.

Grumman F9F-2 Panther Model

1. Introduction
1.1. Aircraft
Grumman F9F-2 Panther

Carrier-based fighter / fighter-bomber (information in Wikipedia)
U.S. Navy. BuNo 123704 / S110. VF-51 squadron.
USS Essex (CV-9), East China Sea, 1951.

1.2. Story

An F9F-2 Panther jet of Fighter Squadron 51 aboard the USS Essex is being refueled before a routine ground attack mission of the Korean War. An NC-1A electrical starter is standing by to start the Panther's engine and a Ford tractor is driving by on its way to tow and spot other aircraft.

1.3. Model Kit
F9F-2 Panther from Hasegawa (kit # 00242 / B12), 1:72 scale.

2. Kit Overview
The Hasegawa's kit is very old (tooled somewhere in the 1970s) but surprisingly accurate for its age. They quality of moulds is excellent. The overall geometry is good, and there are only the following issues, all of them correctable:
 - Main landing gear openings are placed a bit too far back (they should be moved ~2mm forward; see my comparison picture).
 - Gun barrels are too long (they protrude too far out from the nose cone).
 - Weapon pylons are shaped inaccurately.
 - Main wheel hubs are inaccurate; the shape of the real ones is immensely more sophisticated and is very well represented by an aftermarket wheel set from Aires.
 - Speed brake panels are inaccurate in all respects (perforation; length to width ratio).
As it is typical with Hasegawa, the cockpit interior and wheel well detail are austere. Furthermore, a fair number of small details found on a real F9F-2 are missing on the kit, but this is entirely normal for a kit this old.

3. Construction
3.1. Building
This is the list of enhancements that I have added to what was in the box:

 1) Cockpit interior detailed with the help of the Eduard photoetched set.
 2) Scratch-built details added to the area beneath the canopy – in particular, the canopy defrosting air hose system and the transparent antenna panel.
 3) Gun barrels scratch-built from thin metal tubes.
 4) Various fuselage vents cut out (they would not be discernable otherwise, as they are too shallow in the kit).
 5) Scratch-built air scoops and vents added to the nose area.
 6) Cabin step added (Eduard's PE part).
 7) Scratch-built nose landing gear well interior added.
 8) Nose gear leg scratch-built, correct resin wheel (manufactured by Aires) added.
 9) Main landing gear openings moved ~2mm forward.
 10) Main landing gear well interior added; parts of the Eduard photoetched set were used for this, but they are barely seen anyway since the Panther's main landing gear doors are closed at all times except when the gear is in the process of raising or lowering.
 11) Correct main wheels added (manufactured by Aires) as well as some minor details to the main gear legs (scissor links, brake lines, tie-down rings).
 12) Scratch-built speed brake panels added; neither the respective kit parts nor the photoetched items from Eduard are accurate (see my comparison picture). Speed brakes are of course closed, as it should be on an operational Panther in normal conditions.
 13) Scratch-built catapult bridle hook and catapult holdback ring.
 14) Small gun camera opening added to the starboard air intake lip.
 15) Scratch-built clear approach light added to the port air intake lip.
 16) Unfortunately, the resin wing fold set from Aires that I have obtained was of no use: first, the main landing gear opening is in the wrong place (see my comparison picture); then, the wing segments of the Aires set are shorter and thicker (in profile) than the kit's wing. Thus it was easier to scratch-built the whole wing fold mechanism in the end.
 17) Clear navigation and position lights added to wingtip tanks, fuselage spine and vertical stabilizer.
 18) Scratch-built clear landing light added to the starboard wing.
 19) Nose openings in the wingtip tanks made smaller (they are too wide in the kit).
 20) Tailcones of the wingtip tanks modified to imitate the fuel dump system.
 21) Underwing weapon pylons scratch-guilt; the ones provided in the kit are inaccurate. Note that at least two variants of the underwing pylons were used on the F9F-2, and historical photographs indicate that "my" BuNo 123704 had the early pylons installed.
 22) Scratch-built tail bumper added. Note that it is normally extended on a stationary Panther.
 23) Miscellaneous details added to the area beneath the exhaust pipe.
 24) Horizontal stabilizer trim tab actuators scratch-built.
 25) Open fuel tank filler caps imitated on the fuselage and the port side wingtip tank.
 26) Scratch-built Pitot tube and T-shaped devices beneath the air intakes added (never seen on museum photos but invariably present on historical photographs of Panthers with folded wings).
 27) Weapons added in the form of 250 lbs and 100 lbs bombs (manufactured by Eduard). Such mixed load is confirmed by historical photographs.

3.2. Painting & Markings

I can't say that there are many Panther models that are painted with adherence to historical accuracy in all respects. However, historical photographs do exist, and they, with due care, allow to solve nearly all of the mysteries. Here are some results of my research in the form of guidelines applicable to the Sea Blue-camouflaged F9F-2 Panthers:
 - Wing, air intake, horizontal stabilizer and vertical stabilizer leading edges: natural metal (width of natural metal stripes on air intakes and wing varies).
 - Wingtip tanks front section: natural metal (width of natural metal section on wingtip tanks varies).
 - Air intake trunk interior: natural metal.
 - Wingfold interior: Interior Green.
 - Inner flaps interior: Interior Green or Sea Blue (not red as seen on some of the museum exhibits).
 - Wheel bay door inner sides: Interior Green (not white as seen on some of the museum exhibits).
 - Wheel bay interior: Interior Green.
 - Landing gear legs: Sea Blue, except for oleo strut pistons which are polished steel.
 - Wheel hubs: natural metal or Sea Blue (less common).
 - Speed brake aft edges: Insignia White on some (but not all) Panthers.
 - Speed brakes must be closed, therefore the color of their interior should be irrelevant. I couldn't find color historical photographs where the speed brake well interior is seen, but the Navy's standard practice of the time was to paint it Insignia Red.
 - Tailhook tip: natural metal.
 - Exhaust pipe interior: natural metal.
 - Dashboard, side consoles and cockpit sidewalls: flat black.
 - Cockpit interior and area beneath the canopy: Interior Green is the base color. However, a number of small items there have their own colors (e.g., canopy defrosting system is dull brown and red).
 - Ejection seat: Interior Green is the base color, with black headrest and tan seat belts.
 - I have seen no evidence of external fuel tank filler caps being painted red (as seen on some of the museum exhibits).

Please note that I do not make any guesses regarding those Panthers that have received the experimental natural metal finish (as there are too few period color photographs available), and the later Light Gull Grey + Insignia White color scheme is a different story altogether.

Thus my model was painted in accordance with the guidelines I list above. Decals are custom-made, with some stenciling from the Microscale # 72343 sheet.

It has to be noted that according to available historical photographs the BuNo 123704 / S110, unlike some of its squadron mates, had neither the squadron badge nor the red trim prescribed for the 1st squadron of the carrier group.

3.3. Presentation
 1) My idea was to showcase the awkward refueling process peculiar to the Panther (confirmed by many historical photographs such as this: link). When a Panther was spotted on the flight deck, the wings were always folded to save space. Thus specially designed ladders had to be used by flight deck crewmen to reach the wingtip fuel tanks and fill them. Also note that the wings were folded with ordnance already in place: photo.
 2) A scene like this needed flight deck crew figures. As I mentioned in my earlier articles, there are no U.S. Navy flight deck crew figures with historically accurate attire for the 1940s and 1950s. So my figures came from a number of sets (Italeri, Fujimi, Hasegawa) and underwent much customization (actually, the first step was to make resin copies, since the original Italeri figures, for instance, are made from polyethylene which is totally unworkable from the modelling perspective).
 3) Any aircraft parked on the flight deck must be secured to the said deck. This is a very strictly followed rule: if there is no pilot (or crewman) in the cockpit to operate the brakes, the aircraft is always tied down (many modellers overlook this and just place an empty-cockpit aircraft model on a piece of flight deck). During the 1940s and 1950s the flight deck crews used ropes to secure aircraft (see historical photo: link, link); later, ropes gave way to much sturdier chains.
 4) It should be noted that during the Korean War the practice of having conspicuous "Remove Before Flight" tags to mark items like Pitot tube or ordnance safety pins was not yet in place (see historical photo: link). Therefore my model has no such flags.
 5) The Panther's jet engine required external electrical power to be started. To provide this, the U.S. Navy used a specially designed vehicle, the NC-1A flight deck aircraft starter (see historical photo: link). My NC-1A (F4Models kit # 7006) is shown awaiting orders to start the jet engine.
 6) Ford tractors were used on the flight decks of all U.S. Navy aircraft carriers during the Korean War (see historical photo: link). My tractor (F4Models kit # 7007) is shown driving by, on its way to spot other aircraft.

4. Reference Data
[1] F9F Panther Units of the Korean War | Combat Aircraft Series #103 | Osprey Publishing Ltd., 2014.
[2] F9F Panther, Cougar in Action | Aircraft in Action Series # 51 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 1982.
[3] F9F Panther in Detail & Scale | In Detail & Scale Series # 15 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 1983.
[4] Basic information on the F9F Panther in Wikipedia: link.
[5] Colour footage of the actual "live" Panthers in "The Bridges at Toko-Ri", a 1954 Hollywood film.

5. Notes
I am amazed to see how the model kit manufacturers are always offering us separate speedbrakes, at least for the U.S. Navy aircraft, and also how the modellers are invariably taking the plunge and presenting the said speedbrakes extended. You will be hard-pressed to find a model of the F9F-2 sans extended brakes on the Internet.
Speedbrakes (or air brakes) are designed to be used when an aircraft is airborne so as to facilitate weapon delivery, combat air maneuvering or landing. When the aircraft is on the ground, no pilot will extend air brakes just for fun and then leave them extended. On certain aircraft types, after the pressure bleeds away from the hydraulic system, the air brakes will "fall down" due to gravity. But this is entirely dependent on the construction of the aircraft in question: for example, air brakes normally fall down on a Sabre or a Fury, but never on a Skyraider nor on a Hornet, whose air brake is physically unable to fall down. Yet, apparently, the modellers in general are not interested much in such things as historical or technical accuracy: these considerations generally go overboard to make room for "showability". And thus on various shows and contests one can regularly see people swoon over those models where the maximum possible number of access panels and other items are presented open or extended (people assume that this is not easy to model, which is true). But where is the glory in awing the laymen, I wonder?

F2H-2P Banshee - Sword Model Kit Review

1. Introduction
Aircraft: McDonnell F2H-2P Banshee
Model kit manufacturer / country: Sword / Czech Republic
Scale: 1:72
Catalogue number: 72078
Release time: 2014

Basic information on the F2H Banshee is available in Wikipedia (link) and will not be repeated here.

2. Kit
2.1. Box
The box is a typical side-opener, of moderate size (25 x 17.5 x 4 cm) and of soft cardboard (therefore, not particularly sturdy).

2.2. Instruction
Instruction is printed in on three black & white A4 sheets. Guidance on building and painting is clear enough. A typical review writer will lament the lack of references to model paint numbers and corresponding FS codes, but I believe that this is a type of information that modellers ought to obtain from a reliable source beforehand.

2.3. Plastic, Resin and Photoetched Parts
This is a true multimedia kit. In addition to plastic parts you get a number of resin items and a set of pre-painted photoetched parts.

The quality of molding is very good, all exterior surfaces are smooth with thin panel lines. Resin items are very nicely cast. The quality of etching is superb.

But quality is one thing, while accuracy is quite another. And in this area the kit leaves much to be desired:
1) Unfortunately, the distinctive shape of the camera nose is not accurate in the kit. On a real F2H-2P there are pronounced "eyebrows" above the camera apertures, the tip of the nose is slightly more pointed and more rectangular (rather than roundish) in cross-section.
2) Engine exhaust shroud shape is inaccurate in the kit. Refer to my comparison pictures. The round bulge of the engine shroud must stand more proud above the wing surface.
3) The wing root fairing between the engine exhaust shroud and the fuselage is less than accurate in the kit. On a real Banshee the fairing is longer.
4) The camera bay interior on a real F2H-2P is much more intricate than the plastic parts offered in the kit. Furthermore, those parts give the appearance that no less than 9 cameras are present, whereas a real photo-Banshee was not designed to carry more than 6 cameras.
5) The proportions of the nose wheel in relation to its tyre are slightly off in the kit. There is no imitation of the ribbed rim. The tyre lacks tread pattern.
6) Resin main wheels provided in the kit are not exactly accurate, as the central part of the hub should be flat and not bulged inwards (see my comparison pictures) Furthermore, the tyres lack tread pattern.
7) The F2H has a rather distinctive tail bumper. Respective part is present in the kit; however, the instruction manual tells you to glue it onto the entirely wrong place on the fuselage. As always, historical photographs are the only thing to trust.
8) The fuel dump tube on a real Banshee is rather prominent. It is omitted in the kit.
9) Alas, as it is customary with practically all kits in the 1:72 scale, there are no clear parts to imitate navigation lights, landing light and position lights. Incidentally, the Sword guys themselves have already broken this trend with their F9F-8P Cougar and T-28C Trojan kits where clear navigation lights are present.

 

To be objective, a number of high points of the kit must also be noted, in particular:
10) The kit includes resin cast seamless intake channels. This is a most welcome part, and sadly absent in many other good kits.
11)  Resin items to detail engine nozzles are provided (turbine blades and center body).
12) The cockpit has excellent detail straight out of the box. A nicely detailed resin ejection seat, finely painted photo-etched dashboard, side consoles and seatbelts are especially worth mentioning
13) Some items are provided to detail the space below the sliding canopy, and that is an extremely rare occurrence in this scale.
14) The kit's canopy is given as two separate parts and thus can be positioned open, which is excellent.
15) The whole nose section is provided in clear plastic. This is a very clever idea, as masking is much easier than gluing 9 small clear pieces into small holes.
16) Very good out-of-the-box detail is provided for the landing gear legs and landing gear wells (modellers should note that main landing gear doors are always closed on a stationary Banhsee).

The instruction manual suggests to install a pair of outer wing pylons. Indeed, specifications state that the F2H-2P had provisions for a pair of underwing flash cartridge pods for night photography. However, among all available historical photographs of the recce Banshees I was unable to find any to confirm that either of the machines covered by the decal options has in fact carried the pylons.

3. Decal
There are 2 decal options provided:
A) USMC. BuNo 125687 / MW3. VMJ-1, Pohang (K-3), Korea, 1952.
B) U.S. Navy. BuNo 128863 / PP28. VC-61, USS Yorktown (CV-10), 1953-54.

Unfortunately, as it is often the case with out of the box decals, there are many inaccuracies.

Variant A:
1) The branch of service name above the BuNo lettering is inaccurate on the decal. It must read "MARINES", not "NAVY". Proportions are also wrong: the branch of service letters must be 50% as tall as the BuNo.
2) Font for the "MW" tail code is inaccurate on the decal. Observe the difference in "M" on the decal and on historical photographs.
3) Font for the "MARINES" lettering is inaccurate on the decal. Observe the difference in "M", "A", "R", "S" on the decal and on historical photographs.

Variant B:
4) Font for the wing "NAVY" lettering is inaccurate on the decal. Observe the difference in "A" on the decal and on historical photographs.
5) Font for the fuselage "NAVY" lettering is inaccurate on the decal. Observe the difference in "A" and in spacing on the decal and on historical photographs.
6) Font for the "PP" tail code is inaccurate on the decal. Note how thick the P's are on historical photographs in relation to what we see on the decal sheet.
7) Proportions of lettering of the BuNo block are wrong on the decal: the branch of service letters must be 50% as tall as the BuNo.
8) Most of the VC-61 Banshees, including BuNo 128863, had their modex repeated on the rudder. Respective item is missing on the decal sheet.
9) Some of the VC-61 Banshees, including BuNo 128863, had their BuNo repeated on the wingtip tanks. Respective item is missing on the decal sheet.

4. Alternatives & Aftermarket
For a very long time there was only one F2H-2P Banshee model in the 1:72 scale available on the market, the one from Airfix. For a kit released in 1980, it was very good; from today's viewpoint it is rather obsolete. Somewhere around 2010 the Banshee was tackled by Olimp Pro Resin who released full resin kits of the F2H-2 and F2H-2N variants. At some point they have announced the recce variant as well, but then have seemingly backed off.

There aren't many aftermarket items applicable for either variant of the F2H-2. As far as I can see there is only this:
1) Vacu-formed canopy that comes inside the set # 4 manufactured by Falcon.
2) Vacu-formed canopy from Squadron Products (# 9111).

5. Conclusion
Pro:
 - Very good quality of molding, smooth surface, fine panel lines.
 - Very good out-of-the box detail, including cockpit, landing gear, intake channels and exhaust detail.
 - Fair price (~$17 at Hannants).
Contra:
 - Significant inaccuracies in shape and geometry, including: camera nose shape; engine exhaust shroud shape; main and nose wheel hub shape.
 - Inaccurate decal.

The Sword's kit is surely an improvement over the old one from Airfix. However, Sword must do something about accuracy on the corporate level. I have bought their Banshee, Skyknight and Seastar kits, and each turned out to have a whole cluster of avoidable inaccuracies. These kits are new tools released in the 2010s, and they all represent subjects for which a lot of information is available (including historical photographs, detailed books and preserved aircraft accessible for measurements). This information must be used rather than ignored.

6. Reference Data
[1] FH Phantom / F2H Banshee in Action | Aircraft in Action Series # 182 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 2002
[2] Early Banshees | Naval Fighters Series # 73 | Ginter Books, 2006
[3] McDonnell Banshee | Naval Fighters Series # 2 | Ginter Books, 1980
[4] Basic information on the F2H Banshee in Wikipedia: link
[5] An excellent photo walk-around: link
As usual, one has to be careful when looking at photo walk-arounds of museum exhibits. Frequently, painting and markings on such exhibits are historically inaccurate.

F3D-2 Skyknight - Sword Model Kit Review

1. Introduction
Aircraft: Douglas F3D-2 Skyknight
Model kit manufacturer / country: Sword / Czech Republic
Scale: 1:72
Catalogue number: 72074
Release time: 2013

Basic information on the F3D-2 Skyknight is available in Wikipedia (link) and will not be repeated here.

2. Kit
2.1. Box
The box is a typical awkward side-opener, of moderate size (30 x 20 x 4 cm) and of soft cardboard (therefore, not particularly sturdy).

2.2. Instruction
Instruction is printed in on three black & white A4 sheets. Guidance on building and painting is clear enough. A typical review writer will lament the lack of references to model paint numbers and corresponding FS codes, but I believe that he who lacks this type of information should first obtain it from a reliable source and only then start thinking about building an accurate model kit.

2.3. Plastic Parts

There is no way around it. What we get in this box is NOT a model of the U.S. Navy / U.S. Marine Corps F3D-2 operational night fighter. It is a model of a one-of-kind testbed operated by Raytheon for the U.S. Army to conduct some electronics tests (several airframes were passed to Raytheon, including BuNo 124598, 124630, 125807, 127043 and 127074).

This scale model kit was released in 2013. The Internet is here, with options to search for information and to order books at your fingertips. How on Earth Sword came to ignore more than a hundred historical photographs and at least two good books (Squadron Signal's and Steve Ginter's) that clearly explain the very few variations that the Skyknight has actually came in?... How blind one should be to close one's eyes on hundreds of historical photographs and instead pick a one-of-kind testbed as a basis for manufacturing a scale model kit?

Coming to the point. The Sword kit's port and starboard fuselage halves possess prominent bulges that should not be there at all. Those bulges are instrumentation fairings; they belong to the Raytheon's test airframes and must not be present on operational Skyknights. Sure, a modeller can (and must) sand those fairings off. But this will take time and effort (no, this is not "very easy", as some of the reviewers suggest), and would ruin the delicate panel lines. The fact in itself is extremely disappointing.

Here are some historical photographs that show the "clean" fuselage valid for all operational Skyknights (including EF-10B): link, link, link.
And here is a photograph of a preserved ex-Raytheon BuNo 124630 with fake markings and the offending fairing in place: link.

A number of other issues should be listed:
1) The shape of engine air intakes on a real Skyknight is very intricate. It is simplified in the kit, and sanding will be required in some very awkward places. Fences that run between the fuselage and intake channels on a real aircraft have to be scratch-built as they are not present in the kit.
2) On a real Skyknight, the way the forward part of the canopy is integrated with the fuselage is very intricate. This area is inaccurate in the kit, as the clearly seen arched joint lines between the fuselage and the canopy of the real aircraft are not discernible in the kit.
3) Troughs for port and starboard pairs of guns are too close together in the kit.
4) The kit's cockpit interior is austere. This is unfortunate, as on a real Skyknight quite a lot of the cockpit is clearly seen through the bulbous canopy, including dashboard, pilots seats and canopy structure beams. On the one hand, some well-respected manufacturers (Hasegawa, for instance) continue producing model kits with practically no interior details to speak of. On the other hand, Sword themselves has recently released kits with excellent out-of-the-box interior which includes multiple resin and photoetched parts – these are their F2H-2 Banshee and T2V-1 Seastar products.
5) The wheels are accurate, but the tyres sadly lack tread pattern.
6) Wheel bay interior and landing gear door interior details are present but much simplified – see walk-around, reference [4].
7) Flap hinges are missing, whereas on a real aircraft they are very prominent (two per flap).
8) Small juts on ailerons outboard from trim tabs are missing.
9) Rudder hinge line has no depth at all; it is not so on a real Skyknight.
10) Horizontal stabilizer trim tab actuators are missing.
11) Raised rectangular panels are present on the horizontal stabilizer which are not found on operational Skyknights (another legacy of copying a Raytheon testbed, I presume).
12) The way to glue the wings to the fuselage that the manual suggests is simply unworkable. The resulting joint will no doubt be fragile. It would be advisable to devise and install metal reinforcing rods.

2.4. Clear Items
The kit's canopy is designed to be assembled from three parts, which requires some care. The forward edge of the canopy does not align well with the respective bulges on the fuselage, but it is just as well since the said bulges are themselves not entirely accurate.

Alas, as it is customary with practically all kits in the 1:72 scale, there are no clear parts to imitate wingtip navigation lights and position lights. Incidentally, Sword has already broken this trend with their F9F-8P Cougar and T-28C Trojan kits where clear navigation lights are present.

3. Decal
There are 5 decal options provided:
A) USMC. BuNo 124620 / WF15. VMF(N)-513, Pyeongtaek (K-6), Korea, 1953.
B) USMC. BuNo unknown / WF23. VMF(N)-513, Korea, 1953.
C) USMC. BuNo 124615 / WF8. VMF(N)-513, Pyeongtaek (K-6), Korea, 1955.
D) U.S. Navy. BuNo 127022 / NA603. VC-4, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42), 1952.
E) U.S. Navy. BuNo 127072 / T402. VF-14, USS Intrepid (CV-11), 1954.

Surprisingly, the accuracy of decals is slightly better than average.

Variant A:
1) Decals for this variant appear to be accurate. There's just one thing: do not heed the instruction manual and do not apply the wing code and modex to the top starboard wing. All available historical photographs of VMF(N)-513 Skynights show that the top starboard wing as well as the bottom port wing are devoid of any markings.
2) A note regarding all VMF(N)-513 Skynights: careful research is required to ensure that the size of the national insignia is appropriate for the BuNo that you are modelling. The stars and bars of at least two different sizes can be seen on the squadron's aircraft.

Variant B:
I could only find one historical photograph of the WF23 in supposedly red markings: it is black & white, grainy, and only a part of the aircraft is actually visible. To me this means that there is simply not enough information to attempt modelling this particular aircraft, regardless of its MiG Killer status. Period.

Variant C:
I could only find one historical photograph of the WF8. Only part of the aircraft is visible, and there is no indication that it's BuNo is 124615. Same verdict as for Variant B.

Variant D:
3) "603" modex for the top starboard wing is too small on the decal. According to a historical photograph of BuNo 127022 the wing modex is as tall as 70% of the wing "NA" code letters, whereas on the decal it is only 58%.
4) Small "603" modex that according to a historical photograph is present on drop tanks is actually included on the decal but not mentioned in the instruction manual.

Variant E:
5) Decal for the wing code reads "ATG", whereas historical photograph shows that only the "T" was actually present on the top starboard wing. Otherwise decals for this variant appear to be accurate.

4. Alternatives & Aftermarket
For a very long time there was only one F3D Skyknight model in the 1:72 scale available on the market, the one from Matchbox (# PK-134). For a kit released in 1988, it was very good; from today's viewpoint it has only nostalgic value. One aftermarket item existed: a vacu-formed canopy that comes inside the set # 4 manufactured by Falcon.

The appearance of the Sword's modern kit has brought us some more aftermarket. As of March 2016, the list is as follows:

1) Resin cockpit from Pavla (# 72124). Note that although this set contains excellent detail for everything that is below the windowsill, no items are provided to detail the canopy structure which is highly visible on real Skyknights.

2) Small photoetched detail set from RES-IM / Eduard (# 72030) that contains very useful pre-painted instrument panels.

3) Resin air brake set from Pavla (# 72166). Modellers should remember that air brakes are designed to be used when an aircraft is airborne. Air brakes were never left open on a stationary operational F3D-2 aircraft. This piece of aftermarket does not remedy any of the kit's shortcomings but will only result in more kits being built in a historically inaccurate configuration.

4) Aftermarket decal from PrintScale (# 72087). Even a very brief glance on this decal shows the U.S. national insignia that are bright blue instead of Insignia Blue, plus a set of absolutely inaccurate letters and digits for the VMCJ-1 variant (just look at how the "5" and the "RM" appear on the Print Scale's decal and then look at historical photographs - like this one - of some real VMCJ-1 EF-10Bs). This is only fit for a waste basket.
It is curios to see how PrintScale, after producing dozens of decals for different U.S. Navy / Marines subjects through several years, makes the same mistakes with every new decal. Their USN / USMC subject decals invariably use historically inaccurate fonts, with letters and digits apparently taken from some standardized ready-made font / typeface, in many cases considerably different from what all of us can see on perfectly available historical photographs.

5. Conclusion
Pro:
 - Very good quality of molding, smooth surface, very fine panel lines.
 - Decal with unusually few inaccuracies.
 - Fair price (~$16 at the manufacturer's site).
Contra:
 - A number of noticeable inaccuracies, including: canopy-to-fuselage joint shape; gun troughs positions; Raytheon's instrumentation fairings inapplicable for operational Skyknights.
 - Simplified air intake shape, wheel bay interior and landing gear door interior details.
 - Lack of detail: cockpit interior; tyre tread; various small items missing (flap hinges, trim tab actuators, rudder hinge); no clear parts to imitate navigation lights.

The Sword's kit is surely an improvement over the old one from Matchbox. However, Sword has raised the bar rather high recently and I have expected them to do better both in terms of accuracy and detail. 

6. Reference Data
[1] Douglas F3D Skyknight in Action | Aircraft in Action Series # 10229 | Squadron/Signal Publications, 2012
[2] Douglas F3D Skyknight | Naval Fighters Series # 4 | Ginter Books, 1982
[3] Basic information on the F3D Skyknight in Wikipedia: link
[4] A good photo walk-around: link
My advice is to be careful when looking at photo walk-arounds of museum exhibits. Those in the USS Intrepid Museum and the Flying Leathernecks Museum are ex-Raytheon airframes. They carry a number of modifications not applicable to operational Skyknights.