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BEARCAT FRANCHISE (Trumpeter F8F1+ Berna Decals)


Guest Martinnfb

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Dear Friends,

 

shall I tell you something personal?

Well...I've been neglecting Mig-17 build for a while now. And secretly sniffing around nicer pile of plastic, presumably trouble free. Let us see.

First ...MOTIVATIONAL PICTURE OF THIS FINE MACHINE :)

bearcat.jpg?w=584

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A bit of work on the office. The headrest in the kit has Le strange  conical shape, so I made a new one. And as you can see I manage to broke off the base for the dashboard, no biggie, for now. I am still missing microphone wire and canopy closing mechanism with a small crank on the right side and canopy rails and seals, but again, there will be time for that later on

03_44_F8F_a_hanoi_Collision_entre_S_et_T

beercat007-vert_zpsebc942ef.jpgbeercat010_zpsdf38d2df.jpgbeercat005_zps5175798f.jpg

Edited by Martinnfb
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The engine cowling on the real plane has quite an intricate shape. Trumpeter made it look like Wildcat, with it's perfectly circular  front ring. The diameter of the opening was also slightly smaller.

The top should be slightly curved towards the front of the plane and the lower part slightly flatter, that gives to Bearcat this very unique nose-in look. I am not saying my version is 100%, but I  am getting closer. Just need to finish the lip at the inner edge.

mig17_zps5182535b.jpg

beercat011_zpsedf25865.jpg

FrenchBearcat.jpg

04_21_IMAGE0435_Nez_de_Bearcat_Lebrun.jp

03_79_IMAGE0145_Bearcat_P_95105_Auvergne

 

And the Trumpet's one, Ouch!

7-100R3100331167.jpg

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Since this is going to be  A French plane, I had to be very specific which one. I know it sounds silly, but here is the thing. After a several nights that I spend studying a bunch of pictures I have realized that French made whole bunch of custom work to their cats. Drilling lots of holes adding position lights and vents, antennas , stencils and all kinds of another useful shiatsu..

There was also a need to modified the exhaust fairing and panels ahead of the cockpit. As well as few small doors that need to be scribed are left on the to do list.

CapPilote_liedet__96ph.jpg

 

As you can see, the original (now filled) size of the cover plate behind the cooling flap, is wrong. The yellow line shows the correct size.

 

beercat006_zpsb431cabc.jpg

Bearcat_Coll_paquett.jpg12679143985_e44a83e35f_b.jpg

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Bearcat was a marvel of an aviation development, at least in my eyes. Spot riveted heavy gauge aluminum, so why trumpeter riddled the surface with the sea of holes. We talking about several hours in the bathroom sanding down the superglue :)

beercat009_zpsf4a95b6f.jpg

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Another  issue to be corrected is lower side. According the picture below, the empty shell ejector openings are too small and the little square holes for chain link (I guess) and the ammo boxes covers are not present either.

Not mentioning the very odd looking size and shape of the cooling duct covers by the center hard point.

barriercrashofaNavyGrummanF8FBearcatBuNo

 

And the access door on the fuselage has to be redone, once again, later on in the show. :)

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Dear Generalissimo

 

   I understand that you my think that the Capitalist have perfected the  propeller driven machine, But as you have seen they have poor design and engineering

 

and will be  NO match for the Modern Soviet Jet Fighter.   Come back to where you belong, Amongst your Dedicated Comrades

 

POWER TO THE WORKER!!

 

Comrade Jack

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Shhhh, this is a covert operation. :ninja:

Yours truly

 

Generalissimo

 

always-you-with-that-conspiracy-stuff.jp

OK Martin, the Bearcat is out of the bag!   Very cool project and I have added it to the list at the top of the page.  I like the new nose and cowling profiles and the two slinky's in the cockpit from the side panels to the floor must have been fun for hours of entertainment.. those Frenchmen aviators think of everything!  :)

 All the best to you and your build,

 Paul 

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Thank You Paul, yeah Slinky's supposed to provide a load of fresh air to the vents at the front of the side boards. Nobody's gonna see them once covered with a bunch of hydraulics and after the cockpit is closed. And do not underestimate  french aviators, it is not true that they crashed everything they touched, especially captured stuff :). all lies, I meant to say allies, our allies they are, were or else :)

BEARCAT%20tableau%20de%20bord-Photo.2003

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Great stuff Martin!

 

I was TOTALLY lazy when I built my Thai -2.  :( I correct none of the problems of the kit, most glaring to me being the cowling (which EVERY manufacturer has screwed up on including Testors on their 48th version........landing gear a disaster there too) as well as the exhaust being 100% same on their -1 as the -2.............very wrong looking. 

 

I just wanted to concentrate on the foil finish on mine, but your execution of the build, is quite superior to my lazy OOB effort.

 

Youve done a WONDERFUL job correcting the cowl! 

hat "knife edge" look is much more realistic than the transition Trumpy provides, which ends up damn near vertical at the opening, which is quite wrong.

 

Ill dive into my -1 documentation and see what I have for the lower cowl. Im not sure I have anything better than you have, but Ill check things out and let you know.

 

I have a few extra F8F kits, and one is destined for the set of Red Pegasus "Gulfhawk 4" decals I have

 

75577_16975.jpg

 

 

 

 

Very hard now to make Gulfhawk 4 OOB now looking at your wonderful project!   :lol:

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Oh forgot to mention..........................

 

Im sure you are already aware, or already have a plan to address, but make sure you fill the oil cooler intake vent partitions/air deflectors, or use FOD covers if your going to take it to shows:

 

 

 

beercat011_zpsedf25865_mod.jpg

 

 

 

 

 

I forgot to fill mine on my lazy OOB build and got burned on it.

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Thank You for the advise Brian, This is still a work in progress, and there was no time to play with the landing gear bay or the oil cooler intakes. I would most likely  have to reshape them completely. Please keep on commenting and criticizing. This is such a marvelous machine and I wish to make best of my efforts. There is so much to learn.

M.

I am tempted to build racer as well, one day :)

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It  really is going to be a great build Martin. Cant wait to see some French DSB on her!

 

I really do love the Bearcat, as well as my favorite airframe of all time, its kissin cousin the F7F.  The Gulfhawks (in this case Gulfhawk 4 for the Bearcat version) were the brain child of retired naval aviator and air show pilot Al Williams. As head of the Gulf Oil Company's aviation department, Williams flew in military and civilian air shows around the country, performing precision aerobatics and dive-bombing maneuvers to promote military aviation during the interwar years in his Curtiss Gulfhawk (Gulfhawk 1) , later to be replaced by Gulfhawk 2 (an F3F) and later still, taking this to new heights replacing the F3F Gulfhawk 2 with a G-32A as Gulfhawk 3, and finally to its final iteration, an F8F-1 for Gulfhawk 4.

 

Quite a historical and renowned set of air-frames.

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Martin,

 

Very very nice build, and your attention to detail is inspiring. I really like your riveting work. A fix for the intake vents that worked well for me was to replicate them with sheet styrene using the kit halves as a pattern to create the whole piece, then cut out the kit parts and attach the replacements to the lower wing.

 

Cheers, Tom

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