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Tony Prince
95 articles

Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat in 1/48.

March 10, 2017 · in Aviation · · 31 · 3.5K

Long a favourite of mine, I waited for a better kit than the Academy offering but have not found one. Unfortunately the HB kit seems to suffer from a number of issues which made me stick to what I had in the stash. This one has a resin cowling of the correct shape & the forward fuselage has been modified somewhat as well. I drew heavily on the articles in 'Tailhook Topics' for details which proved invaluable. Decals were from the Italieri kit as the Academy set broke up when applied. Paint is Model Master Dark Sea Blue which sprays beautifully but makes photography very difficult because it is so dark & hides the detail (probably for the best!). Anyway, hope you like it.

Reader reactions:
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31 responses

  1. Looks very smartly turned out, Tony, and I like the deck as well.

  2. Whoa! That looks great! Always loved the Bearcat and you did it proud!
    Recently bought this Academy kit and thinking about starting it ,,,,, soon.
    You done good!

  3. Tony, I like it, looks really nice, your modeling skills have done well taking care of the kits short comings.
    The Bearcat is also on my favorites list , as is the Tigercat. Two airplanes that need a nice kit produced.

  4. Very nicely done Tony. Looks great as does the photography.

  5. Good-lookin' build, Tony (I like that deck, too).

  6. Tony,
    What can I add but to agree that is is a beautiful rendition of a beautiful airplane. I love it.

  7. Tony, great looking cat! Seeing one of these beast fly in person is really a treat. I recall that it left the P-51's it was flying with in the dust on climb.

  8. Cool 'Cat ! Beautiful work.

  9. Profile Photo
    said on March 10, 2017

    Nice job .

  10. Tony, great work on a favorite of mine. Whose resin cowling did you use?

    • Hi Bernard. Thanks...The cowling was a gift from a friend & I think it is Cutting edge if so, the part No. is CEC48130. They also have a set for the -2 #48134 & this includes a replacement front fuselage. There are also sets from Lone Star Models for cowling, wheels, cockpit & wheel bay. Don't know about availability at the moment. Reviews seem to be excellent. I've also reshaped the kit cowl very successfully on an earlier Bearcat as there's a lot of plastic & it's easy to file down to the right profile. The hard bit is the washout behind the cowling which I probably overdid, but there don't seem to be any good photos showing the top of this area that I could find.

  11. Great job Tony - looks very good!

  12. Yeah, with a resin cowling, this kit still beats the socks off the aaawwwwfullllll HB d***k.

    Nice work here.

  13. great work

  14. Terrific work, Tony! I may be wrong, but always thought the cowling from the old Testers Bearcat looked more accurate that the Hobby Boss, Hobbycraft or Academy kit cowlings.

    • Hi Drew. Thanks for the comments. I built the Testors' kit many years ago & my recollection is that it was OK, if very basic. Shape was good but I can't recall details of the cowling but it was certainly better than the Academy kit version. I was quite happy with it at the time & it had the right 'sit' on the shelf.

  15. Tony,
    I love this airplane and you have done an outstanding job with it. Fantastic

  16. Thanks Frank. Glad you like it.

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