Model Forum / General / Models / December 2005

Hi Troops:

    I found the promised 1/48 scale FM kit for the Grumman F11F on the
shelves of my local hobby shop today. This fills a gap in the line of
Grumman fighters and I bought one. Not cheap by any means- $75.99 list.
    So what do you get?  Two large sprues of a cream colored plastic with
the main fuselage and wings and drop tanks and underwing pylons; two
small sprues of the cream colored plastic giving you 4 X sidewinder
missiles and some fuselage bulkheads. The plastic has a smooth finish,
not the rough finish we have come to expect from short run molds and the
panel lines and control surfaces are engraved, albeit very shallow
engraving. Some of this will benefit from attention with an engraving
tool or an Olfa P-Cutter.
    There is an envelope of gray resin wheel well parts and another of
cream colored resin with cockpit parts and wheels and a burner can. Also
one envelope of cast metal parts with the landing gear legs and some
small detail parts. There is one fret of etched brass with cockpit
details and wing fences. Two vac-u-form canopies are supplied in case
you screw the first one up.
    Decal sheet looks to be in register and with good color density. Decals
cover VF-21 (with the shark's teeth), VA-156 and a Blue Angels
aircraft.  This isn't a kit for a beginner but it looks like the FM
crowd are getting better with each release. I think we can now do about
all the Grumman fighters in 1/48 except the F2F.

                            Bill Shuey