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Rodney J. Williams
171 articles

F8F-2 RACING BEARCAT MODEL

February 29, 2020 · in Aviation · · 14 · 2.4K

The black and white photo was in one of my many airplane books and one day I went searching on the web for a model kit that had these beautiful decals. I found the blue cast resin model by "Hi Planes" which was located in Australia and bought it.

The next few photos showed me experimenting on how to make better parts. Then I bought the grey looking model and used parts from both kits to build this racer.

I joined the "Society of AirRace Historians" in 1984 and one of the member's sent me over 500 3'x5" prints of air racers dating from about 1964 to 1990. I scanned the photos and put them on a digital CD disk, and this racer was one of them. The was donated to a museum and that is how I got a print of it.

I have several racing models, but this one is special to me.

Enjoy
Rodney!

Reader reactions:
13  Awesome

25 additional images. Click to enlarge.


14 responses

  1. Why the brown paint on the prop? I thought a lot of these Bear cats where fitted with Sky Raider props and painted black.

    Great build Rodney.

  2. Where do you see BROWN PAINT? THIS IS A "RACING" BEARCAT!

  3. Another reply.

    The paint on the prop is "ORANGE & YELLOW."

  4. Simply gorgeous, Rodney. Your tutorials are always a treat.

  5. Hi Marvin: What's up in Fresno these days? I just sit around and watch models on the web, including lots of TV. I'm 3-1/2 years into not building models now and it's been 5 years since I have been to any contest local/national contest. I have posted 86 models here on iModeler, then I got an email from "Eric Berg" telling me to get "off" imodeler and let other's post their model's. So that's why I quit posting on 1-11-20.

    I have another 150 models, but I'm reluctant to post very many more.

    Cheers! Rodney

  6. Rodney, Great looking racer (I also enjoyed the little history lesson). I always enjoy seeing an old war bird given new and extended life as a racer. Kind of like fixing up Dads old car into a hot
    rod !. Well done !

  7. The racing book that I have...(forgot its' name) was full of different air racer photo's like the one of this Bearcat.

    Thanks for your words!

  8. Wow Rodney ! @f2g1d
    I somehow missed this one until just now. It's another beauty my friend. I always enjoy reading your articles and looking at the pictures you post. I have learned a lot from you and hope that you continue to post your articles. Please don't let the many suffer because of the one who didn't want you to post. These Air Racers are simply some amazing planes. Your model is just as amazing.

    Thanks for posting these articles and I hope that you continue to do so.

  9. I met Ron at the 1986 IPMSUSA National Convention that was held in Sacramento, CA. He was from Cleveland,Ohio and a member of the Society of Airrace Historians, (SARH). I joined that year. Ron said; Rodney, if you want your model to stand out among all the "Olive Drab" and/or "Navy Blue" models, then build a WW-II fighter and paint it in air racing colors. I followed his suggestion, and I went off the chart by winning awards year after year for my air race models. I have over 30 air racer's here at home. RJW

  10. Hello Rodney! @f2g1d
    I'm with Louis, having missed it earlier. Your racing 'Cat is outstanding! Great work combining the kits and further kudos & thanks for including the parts comparison shots. It's fun to learn about these things (aircraft, air racing, etc.) and your narrative really makes it all interesting.
    Shame on Eric Berg, anyway and PLEASE ignore his terrible advice and feel free to post any and everything you wish! Maybe he was kidding, but he simply shouldn't have made that kind of comment on this iModeler forum ... or any other, for that matter.
    I have a few books but nothing about the racers, so this is a new topic for me. Your models are always first class & I always enjoy seeing and reading whatever you post!

    Again ... your Bearcat looks great and thanks for posting about it!

  11. A cat of a different color, nicely done. keep 'em coming.

  12. 🙂 … Greetings … 🙂 :
    A totally different aspect to the Bearcat in every way it can be seen, lovely work and paint job on this one Rodney.

  13. Thanks to all you guys. I watched the F2G Corsairs race in Cleveland, Ohio, (1947-1949). I went to one air race at Reno, Nevada in the mid to late 1980's and took some photos. This race made me go get some F8F-2 Bearcat plastic models. The rest is history. Without looking at my model list I think I have at least 3 more beautiful Bearcat racers. Do you think I should post them here on this website? RJW...again thanks to all your comments.

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