Collect-Aire 1/48 F9F-8

So, years ago I invested in a Collect-Aire 1/48 F9F-8... At the time, the only 1/48 kits around of the F9F-8 were the Lodella/Revell kit (1/50) and the FM kit. I actually got both (then sold the Lodella/Revell), but later I learned about the Collect-Aire kit. I wanted to build a history of the Blue Angels display aircraft in 1/48, and wanted to splurge- back in the day when I was young and single! Opened the Collect-Aire kit, and was bothered to see that the tail section of each fuselage half had a nasty warp. I have heard that it seems to be the case with the single seat Collect-Aire kit- but not the F9F-8T -yeah I got that too!

Flash forward about 20 years, and Kittyhawk put out their 1/48 F9F-8 Cougar, with options of splitter plates or not, 8P camera nose or gun nose! So, I bought one of those, to finally build my Blue Angels Cougar.

Post Pandemic lockdown, and I decided I would build the other Cougar kits, firstly the Collect-Aire as it was a very nice kit, and cost me a lot of money back in the day! After trying hot/cold water on the resin to straighten the tail (which did not work at all), I figured out how to glue the tail together in stages to straighten the warp. Sadly, I did not take photos, as that would help others who have the kit, I will do some drawings and will insert them here at some point. I glued the fuselage halves from the rear of the cockpit towards the tail, a bit at a time and it actually straightened the tail.

I chose to do the decal option found in the Kittyhawk kit for VF121- couldn't resist the large "D" on the tail for obvious reasons!

The reference clarified that the airframe featured in the Kittyhawk kit did not have a nose refueling probe, or splitter plates on the intakes.

I used the Kittyhawk early seat, and the spare canopy. The Kittyhawk kit comes with two single seat canopies- my guess is they were going to release the single seat fighter -8, and the Photo recon -8T as two separate kits, but then decided to put it all together. I made use of the 8P parts... which you will see soon.

The rear canopy decking is not represented properly by any of the 1/48 kits, so I mastered a part and cast it for the other single seat cougars I have. Its not perfect, but I am happy with it!

After starting to apply decals, I looked at the reference photo, and found the Kittyhawk decal placement diagrams were wrong, as well as the size of the D on the tail! I could not pull off the incorrectly placed rear fuselage markings, so, I did what we modellers do- I found an online build that did not use the decals I needed, and sent an email! Marvin Reyes was a big help- and now you see my completed Collect-Aire F9F-8 Cougar! Thanks again Marvin! I also was able to adjust the proportions of the "D" on the tail, although I wish I had cut a mask and sprayed it on!

coming soon...1/48 FM F9F-8P!

7 additional images. Click to enlarge.