F7F-3 Tigercat - BuNo 80405 - VMF 312 MCAS - El Toro, CA 1946

[Out2gtcha]

Ive waited a long LONG time to see this...................a 1/32nd F7F Tigercat on my bench!!!!!  
 

 
 
 
 
 
I almost thought it may never come true, but HpH sure put those fears to rest. [/size]Anyone here who knows me, knows this is my all time favorite air frame, and ever since the first time I laid eyes on my big brothers 1/72nd Tigercat I was hooked.[/size]
 
This is the newly released 1/32nd F7F Tigercat from HpH models. Its all resin, and the kit itself is very detailed with a ton of parts. 
I wont go into a ton of intense details about the kit itself upfront, as I have already done a full review of the kit. See here:
 
HpH F7F-3P Tigercat LSP IBR
 
This is going to be a long journey if I'm honest. I have resin experience and experience with HpH kits, and both of these lead me to believe that is will be an exceptionally intense and complex build.  But since I have more passion for this air frame than pretty much any other out there, so it will be brought to fruition, of that you can be certain. 
 
Lets see what we have shall we?
 
Standard fare here, Ill show some pics of the kit itself pulled from my IBR.
The HpH F7F comes hollow molded in resin, and really is the bees knees when it comes to detail. The box is quite sturdy, and comes compartmentalized with all parts bagged and wrapped in bubble wrap:
 

 
 
 
 
 
This will NOT be a small model when done either!
 

 

 
 
 
 
 
The details and overall surface detail that HpH includes are really phenomenal:
 

 

 
 
 
 
Engine parts and some fuselage internal detail:
 

 

 

 
 
 
 
 
Its going to take a heck of a lot of weight to keep this big girl on her nose:
 

 
 
 
 
 
MORE....................

[Out2gtcha]

Being a guy who normally builds only 1 example of any 1 plane, I was in a bit of a quandary as to what scheme to use on the HpH kit. I also have a CM vac kit that I plan on doing a What-If Reno Unlimited racer, so wanted this one to be more military based, but the operational history of the Tigercat is not super long, but still wanted something at least a bit colorful, beyond the standard fare DSB scheme that came in box.

 

The schemes that came in the box are good, but didnt want to do that same thing everyone else was doing, so I went a different route, and am going to do a fully loaded training bird BuNo 80405 from VMF 312 - MCAS based in El Tory CA in 1946:

 

 

Some portrayals of the scheme present it as a F7F-3N with the radar operators cockpit, but it was in fact (as far as I could tell) an F7F-3P -  

 

 

 

 

 

 

I will be making my own masks out of Oramask 810 and cutting them on my Portrait cutter/plotter when I get to that step. There will also (believe it or not) be some AM involved in this build as well. The kit decals actually include the Marines symbol present on the side of the fuse of 80405, so this was the only stopping point to this scheme for me as I couldnt make that decal on my cutter, so that part worked out well.

I still have to take some pictures and do some measuring, but I have wheels and tires from Harold, as well as a seat and drop tank, although the OOB tank and Harold's tank are vastly different in size, so will do some checking on this as well.

 

 

I just last night got my modeling room thoroughly cleaned with the addition of putting away all my new MRP paints as well, so Im ready and raring to get starting on this big girl!!

 

 

Cheers, and thanks for joining me on my next adventure!   

[mark31]

Looking forward to your build

Enjoy it

 

Mark

[Martinnfb]

NIce!

[Kagemusha]

[Zero77]

Nice !

El Toro, i love those green stripes ! That's the scheme i'll choose, too. There is a very nice Panther that looks lovely with the green stripes, too. The bright green on the glossy dark blue looks just great.

[crobinsonh]

http://www.hsgalleries.com/gallery04/f9f5ek_1.htm

 

Nice !

El Toro, i love those green stripes ! That's the scheme i'll choose, too. There is a very nice Panther that looks lovely with the green stripes, too. The bright green on the glossy dark blue looks just great.

[AlexM]

Makes me jealous
 

[Out2gtcha]

Thanks guys! Soaking some parts in mold release agent removal liquid, and will start separating parts from stuns and pools tonight

[Jack]

Brian.....have terrific fun building your dream, you deserve it..

 

Jack.

[Out2gtcha]

Brian.....have terrific fun building your dream, you deserve it..

 

Jack.

 

 

Thanks Jack!   Ive been waiting a long time to be able to see what you see on your shelf every day!!        haha

[Durangokid]

Oh right on!  I was hoping to see you do a build thread on this kit.  Call me excited!

 

Bryan

[Jack]

Thanks Jack!   Ive been waiting a long time to be able to see what you see on your shelf every day!!         haha

 

thanks my friend, but i'm sure that once i've done the HPH Cat as well, it will ofcourse turn out to  be superior to the vac, no doubt!!!

Edited November 7, 2017 by Jack

[Guest Smitty44]

Ah good ole' MCAS El Toro! Many many good memories at and around that base. A little after 1946 though!

[BloorwestSiR]

Must be great to have your dream realized Brian.

 

Knowing the passion you have for the Tigercat, I can't wait to see you dive into your build.

 

Carl