Hobbycraft 1/48 F8F1-B Bearcat

HOBBYCRAFT 1:48 F8F1-B BEARCAT

Reviewer: Stephan Marignac (marignac@worldnet.fr)
Kit Review submitted: October 1999

The plane:
The Bearcat made its maiden flight on 21 August 1944. The plane was supposed to be the successor to the F6F Hellcat, another Grumman plane. Bob Hall, the then Grumman chief engineer went to Britain in 1943, to evaluate a captured German Fw-190. He was so impressed by the performances of that compact fighter that the design of the Hellcat successor was already in his mind.

Weight was saved anywhere it was possible and the use of a Pratt & Whitney R-2800 -W22 engine gave outstanding results. During WWII, the French territories in South East Asia were under Japanese occupation. When the war was over, France regained authority over the territory, but a Nationalist guerrilla force - the Viet-Minh - arose and soon led to an open war. At the beginning, air support was provided by a handful of Spitfires and Mosquitoes, which were not suitable to operations in dense humidity areas due to their wooden construction. Armée de l'Air (French air force) then resorted to use F6F Hellcat and P-63 Kingcobra, along with a few captured Japanese airplanes. By 1951, the potential of both types was down to alarming levels and attrition was high.

Bearcats were then delivered under the Mutual Defense Assistance Programme, equipping 8 fighter squadrons (Groupes de Chasse). This was the only war use of the Bearcat, except a few sorties in the hand of the South Viet-Nam air force.

The kit :
It comes in the usual cardboard box, adorned with a colorful dramatic drawing of a Bearcat dropping napalm on the Indochina jungle. Sprues are in the usual Hobbycraft's light grey plastic, with finely engraved panel lines. This kit is another step above usual Hobbycraft standard, already improved with the previous P-40 and Me 109 kits. This F8F will certainly put aside the old Testors/Italeri kit, the only choice available in this scale before. As usual, the cockpit is a little bit under equipped, but Eduard and Cutting Edge have been releasing some sets to enhance that area of the kit. One thing also apparent is that once the two fuselages halves are glued together, no great deal of the cockpit will be seen.

The two-piece canopy is very thick and will need replacement by a vac formed part. The profile of the nose is incorrect in shape, not dropping enough and the engine cowl ring is shaped too square. This last problem can be fixed with a gentle sanding, but the first is much more hard to fix. Anyway, this kit captures the compact look of that brute of a fighter and Cutting Edge has recently released a correction set for it.

Versions :
The decal sheet allows you to produce one of three planes of the GC 1/22 "Saintonge", all painted overall Gloss Sea Blue. Roundels and tail flags come with two styles of blue, and the tail flag is proposed in two versions. Difference between each plane include serial numbers and ID letters on engine cowling. This decal sheet is the real improvement of this kit, as the quality is very close to Aeromaster or Superscale standards.

The instruction sheet, however is still on the sparse side, with clear drawings, but desperately lacking colour instructions.

Construction :
Straightforward !! This plane is the kind of bird which, once the cockpit is completed, can be totally built the next evening!

Cockpit, as we said, is a bit nude. It was first given a coat of Aeromaster Acryllics US Interior green, dry-brushed with light grey. The seat is in fact a simple backplate added to a base on the cockpit floor (as on the real machine). The Harnesses were added from aluminium foil, painted light grey. Throttle knobs were made out of etched sprue and painted yellow and red. A few wires were added, as well as a gentle aluminium drybrush on the cockpit floor. The instrument panel is painted black, and instruments are dry-brushed in light grey, with glazing suggested by a drop of gloss varnish in each dial. Next, the rear cockpit plate, supporting the anti-roll-over pylon was installed and glued into place. The pylon is a bit too thick and needed a little sanding to match a fair representation. Its rear arm has 5 holes drilled in it.

And that's it, you can affix the two fuselages halves.

Before this was made, the rudders were cut away from the tail, to gave a little more life to the model.

Wings are attached next; the Bearcat has a see-through wheel well, and Hobbycraft hasn't been forgetting to figure the engine additional air scoop tubes that are affixed in the one-piece under wing. Holes are drilled to allow further fixation of the wing and center fuselage pylons. Upper wings are added to the under portion and glued to the fuselage.

The engine's 2 rows of cylinders are glued together and painted Testors burnt metal. The propeller reducer is painted light grey, the interior of the engine cowl is Interior Green. Once dry, ignition harness are added from copper wire. A bit tedious but the engine is a bit nude and a lot of it can be seen from outside. Cowl and horizontal surfaces are then added, and on to the paint shop. The engines exhaust are added in the form of 4 pieces of etched and drilled sprues, cut to size and glued with super glue.

Painting :
First, the plane is totally painted Testors Metalizer Alumium, and allowed to dry overnight. The next day, the plane is polished, and, to allow a better adherence of the Sea Blue Gloss, is given a coat of Metalizer varnish. It is again allowed to dry at least 3 hours.

The Sea Blue Gloss (from the Aeromaster Acrylics range) is then airbrushed in two light layers, at 1 hour intervals. The French Bearcat were not mint condition nor even first hand and were sustaining constant use in war operations. A pilot usually made 4 to 6 sorties a day, the plane just landing for refuelling plus ammunitions and bombs replacement. Tarmacs and runway in Indochina were generally crude, with a red dust covering almost everything, from planes to men. The different panels are airbrushed with an overlay of the same shade darkened or lightened, according to places. Dust of Sienna Brown dry pastel is liberally washed on the model, to get in engraved panels lines.

The landing gear is painted Sea Blue, except the compression leg, which is aluminium. Wheels are black, with sea blue centres.

The plane is given an overcoat of gloss varnish to prepare for the decals.

Decals :
They set as a dream : no adverse reaction to Micro set and Sol, and no silvering at all. Fuselage roundels (of the large type) were installed first; after good drying time, exhaust stains - which can be extending on the whole length of fuselage on the French Bearcats - were airbrushed. With the compressor set at minimal pressure (hardly 1 bar) and the fine nozzle set on the Aztec, a veil of light grey is airbrushed. While still a bit moist, a second wash of Dark Earth is sprayed. When dry, brown shade is reinforced with a wash of black dry pastel powder. The decaling is then completed.

Finishings :
The landing gear and tailwheel are added, as well as the propeller. The plane is given a coat of matt varnish. I usually spray US Naval planes in semi gloss, but, in the case of the Bearcat, tropical humidity and heavy use lead to a very dull aspect. After drying, the Sea Blue is scratched with the back of an X-Acto blade, to unveil the aluminium underlay.

Photo Credit: Stephane Marignac

Photo Credit: Stephane Marignac

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