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Grumman S2F Tracker - 1/24 Scratchbuild


Jim Barry

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Some might remember a scratch project from 2018 that never quite took flight, the Grumman XP-50.  I got as far as engines and cowlings and some fuselage but then lost steam. It's an interesting airplane, but I really did not have enough love for it. Gotta be careful with flings!

 

So, fast forward to now: The 3D engines I drafted and had printed in 3D (at some $50-$60) were sitting on a shelf I was organizing the other day and it dawned on me to repurpose them. But how? In 2018 I was touring the USS Yorktown in Charleston, SC and as I wandered by the S-2 Tracker on the deck and it sort of captured my heart somehow, especially noting it had Wright R-1820 powering it (and I had just complete a 3D project on that engine). Maybe then I was thinking how I could do that plane? Hard to say, but for the last few weeks the S-2 has been in my mind. I'm thinking it might have been a spark visiting a static display of a PV2 Neptune in Brunswick, ME (where I live).  50's tech and all. It dovetails into the Bearcat as well.  I've been going back and forth whether to launch this project here but figure it is officially WIP since it has engines and I'm thinking a lot of how it will be done. The other controversy is I really want to a) Finish the Bearcat and b) Build Dan's Vigilante I bought last month. It's possible I can do it all in parallel production. Let's give it a a go. Here are some images to kick things off.  

 

And yes, It's huge! But it also has folding wings so the display issues for a 36" (90cm) wingspan are manageable. 

 

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I knew you two would like this Brian and Ben! Long road ahead but the engines are largely behind me. I thought it would make a great plane to "peek inside". Will probably carve wooden masters of the fuselage and nacelles and vacuuform some shells. Maybe the wings too. We'll see. 

 

Anyone have a good rendering or picture of what the crew entrance looks like inside? 

 

Also, I'm thinking this is the last combat plane that served with a radial engine in US service, but I'm not 100% on that. 

 

 

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Yeah, me too. I grew up in Brunswick, ME. P-3s were my everyday and we could almost taste the Cold War with the number of friends and neighbors that conducted ASW.  (while my Dad helped build guided missile frigates in Bath).  

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