Since there are already multiple plans for F9F’s from “The Bridges at Toko Ri” , I’ve decided on going with the lesser known but still well done “Men of the Fighting Lady”. It’s also a 1954 film inspired by James Michener’s article “The Forgotten Heros of Korea” and “The Case of the Blind Pilot” by Cmdr Harry Burns.

The fact that much of the footage was shot on the USS Oriskany during the filming of “TBoTR” and stars VF-192 also might have been a “tiny” factor in my choice.

As you may have guessed I’ll be using the same special release of the Monogram F9F-5 as the “Toko Ri” folks, and I’ll reveal which character’s aircraft I’ve selected later on.

Excellent choice Rick ! I'm going to be watching this one for sure... I just posted up a few in progress photos of my Panther build. It's been pretty easy so far, with not too many parts. The only thing I see as a possible problem is how the instrument panel is situated on the cockpit tub. I'm going to wait and add the IP just before I glue the fuselage halves together.

Hope this helps... and I'm looking forward to seeing your next installment. 🙂

Oooooh, that's a lovely clean desk RIck. I really, really like a clean and organised bench. You really got moving quickly on this one; I like that idea of taking out all the extra stuff - focuses the mind.

A great start to a noble and fitting tribute to the men of VF 192 - as Lou says, I'm looking forward to more of this. Thanks again, and have fun.

@fuzzmann

Interestingly, the Panthers in "Men of the Fighting Lady" are the EXACT SAME AIRPLANES that were in "Bridges at Toko-ri" because all the "Fighting Lady" aerial footage was OUTTAKE FOOTAGE from "Bridges" that were licensed from Paramount.

The original story of LT Howie Thayer saving ENS Ken Shecter was of two Skyraider pilots, with Shecter being blinded by a flak hit. Thayer guided him to an unused forward strip just south of the battle line for a crash landing because they didn't think he could land back aboard ship.

The Skyraiders became Panthers, and Shecter's landing ashore was changed to landing on the carrier. Interestingly, in the fall of 1950, Ensign Jackson of VF-112 landed back aboard "Philippine Sea" after being blinded when he ran into a cable strung across a river to catch low-flying aircraft. It punched through his canopy and ripped up flight controls, but his wingman was able to talk him into a landing where he caught the 3 wire. When "Fighting Lady" came out, Jackson saw it and was convinced they had taken his story. MGM said no of course not, they had adapted two magazine articles, one by James Michener about Thayer and Shecter. But the screenwriter was working with CDR Paul Gray of VF-154 who was the tech advisor - Jackson's story was well known in TF 77, and it's highly likely Gray told it to the writer - who grabbed the more "dramatic tale".

If you ever see "Fighting Lady" next to "Toko-ri" you can see that "Fighting Lady" is a Hollywood ripoff, with MGM opting for the movie where the heroes don't die. Lots of (repetitive) aerial footage to make up for a pretty thin story.

Tom, thanks for the ongoing inside stories on these iModeler at the Movies builds. I appreciate the support and I’d thought (and hoped) you’d take an important role in keeping us informed and true.

You may have no life, Rick, but there’s people from over the globe here watching what you do in your ‘no life’. What does that say about us? The geeks shall inherit the earth, my friend.
Great and important work, Rick. From a life well lived!

Hey Rick.

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger with painting your parts with the wrong colors. I did the same thing !

Curiosly enough, me being the airplane nerd, was also looking at the in flight movie clips that were posted on my Brubaker Panther build journal. I was able to get some very interesting pictures and enlarged some of them.

I knew what to look for because I spent some time talking about this stuff with another fellow Imodeler friend Jaime Carreon. @jetmex

Jaime was kind enough to tell me about several unique things to look for. Here's what I found with his help, and the help of Jeff Bailey. @mikegolf

Check out the odd color of the exhaust.

I zoomed in and to both Jaime and I it looks like they must have had an additive in the JP jet fuel that left this tan color inside the tail pipes.

According to Jaime, the Panther jet engine had a fuel mixture that could be adjusted by the pilot manually to make it burn more rich making it look darker or it could be leaned out leaving it look more tan like this.

This next picture shows a Panther that was running more rich, so the exhaust is a more gray color. You can see this in the next photo.

In the movie TBoTR, it looks like the nose gear and all wheels, (main and nose) are in some metallic shade.

Also on Brubaker's jet, Jaime pointed out that it had a red arrow pointing to the rear of the canopy.

I don't know if the Panthers used in the movie TM o FL had this feature or not.

I also found that the plane numbers were on the underside of the wings. I was able to get a stop frame picture that shows this. The plane number #209 can be seen on the Port side out board flap. This is visible on the lower right hand side of this photo. Sorry it's a little blurry.

The bureau numbers #125598 from the Brubaker Panther can be seen here:

The colors you mentioned for the cockpit were spot on the money. I found two cockpit scenes that show this.


You can see the Interior Green on the rear cockpit bulkhead and the ejection seat.

It also looks like they used the same aircraft for filming, as these cockpits have chips in the exact same places !

I guess great minds think alike. I for one appreciate the research work that you did on these Panther colors.

Thanks again buddy. I'll be painting my gear doors blue too.

That which should be interior green is now corrected.

And in the spirit of “truth in advertising” after David’s compliment on my neat organized work bench, here’s what it really looks like.

As you can see from all the racks and drawers, I’ve tried to get organized but I always revert to form. I think what I really need is a 5 yard dumpster in the driveway, because I clearly have too much stuff...yikes.