Guest Peterpools Posted May 8, 2011 Share Posted May 8, 2011 NAVY BLUE Fisher F9F-5 Panther Part 1 The Big Cat (Trumpeter F8F-1 Bearcat) was my first completed model in over 30 years and my goals for it were very simple: finish the kit, learn to paint with acrylics and at the same time, figure out how to do a deep, reflective gloss finish. Happy with the results, I decided to tackle my first resin kit; Paul Fishers beautiful F9F-5 Panther. My goals for this build are to push the envelope a bit further and learn how to build a resin kit. I grew up on Long Island in the 50’s and 60’s and still live there. I have a deep fondness for all birds of prey from Bethpage and Farmingdale, which were only miles from my house. Ready to dig in, I read the instructions, washed all the parts in warm soapy water, cleared the workbench and dove in. Following the instruction sequence, I tackled the front office assembly, the front gear and dive brake wells as they are all on the same resin part. Just a bit of flash here and there to deal with but nothing major. First up was the front office, built as per instructions, with no problems at all. The ejection seat still needs to be finished, as well as some details and parts need to be added to the cockpit. I was a bit disappointed in the instrument faces themselves, as they are cut as a block, right out of the instruction book. Surprising, once glued behind the PE panel and Gallery Glass added, they looked pretty good. It didn’t take long to drop and lose half the PE seatbelts and then having to wing-it, to finish them up. Nothing special with either the main gear well or dive brakes. I added a hydraulic cylinder to the nose gear and it helped ‘busy up’ the look a bit more. I've always felt that a model should have some weathering and my personal philosophy is simple: Used but not Abused. a little here and some there and that's all. See what happens. Suggestions and comments are very welcome. Thank you for looking. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ron Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Nice start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big matt Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Cool Cat Peter! I really want to do one of these someday, Golden Dragons maybe... Keep the pics coming and I might just be out a few more dollars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 9, 2011 Share Posted May 9, 2011 Matt Of course, only way to go! Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Out2gtcha Posted May 10, 2011 Share Posted May 10, 2011 Nice! Pauls stuff is great....cant wait to see more. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 15, 2011 Share Posted May 15, 2011 (edited) NAVY BLUE PT 2 BREAKING NEW GROUND Time to face the music and work began on the fuselage, wings and tip tanks. Never having built a resin kit before, I wasnt quite sure what to expect, set a steady course and decided to see where it would lead me. The four side walls were added to the cockpit assembly and after making sure the front office would fit as Paul said it should, it was put aside for a bit, as the next order of business was to clean up the fuselage. A few sink holes, some wavy molding marks needed attention and then the exhaust area needed quite a bit of clean, removing the excess chunks of resin. Once cleaned up, the entire fuselage was wet sanded, starting with 320, 400, 600, 1500, and 2000 and finishing with 3200 polishing grit. Once done, a second wash in warm, soapy water to remove the sanding residue. The same process was carried out on the wing molding, with all traces of flash and molding marks were removed. 16 1/16th in holes were open up on the bottom of the wings, for the weapon pylons. Wet sanding and washing followed and things were rolling, or so I thought. The tip tanks were another story all together. There were quite a few mold marks on each tank and the filler caps were not well defined and had a crunched in appearance. Im assuming my Panther was one of the last models to come out of the molds, as this work wasnt mentioned in any of the numerous reviews I read. An hour or so of work and all was well, including adding the two fuel drain holes on the underside of the tanks. Of course, I screwed up and sanded off the weld lines between tank halfs and now I had to figure a way to restore them. I decided to glue on individual strips of Evergreen strip styrene (.010) as the replacement for them. Egads, I had to use Gorilla Glue to glue them on and then sand off the excess CCA when dry. They didnt come out perfect but for the first go at this type of work, I was happy with the results. Now came the first real test of using CCA Glue for assembly. The tip tanks slots were cleaned out, squared up and the tanks glued into place. I followed the rule of a little is more, when it comes to using CCA glue. My fingers are still crossed and slightly glued together! With the cockpit tub glued and epoxied in place, the wing assembly was glued into position with Epoxy and then CCA was flowed into the seam. I used a thinner CCA glue this time so it would flow better, which seemed to work well. Not tempting fate, Ill let the Panther dry for 24 hours and start to work on the pylons and rockets next. Any help, suggestions and comments would surely be appreciated. Enjoy Peter Glued up and drying. The front windscreen was just placed for the photo and hasn't been glued on yet. Intakes were painted flat black before assembly as per Paul's instructions. Lots of filler and sanding coming my way, to clean up the seams The wing tip tanks with the corrections and new weld lines from Evergreen strip Edited May 15, 2011 by Peterpools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian79 Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Looking good Peter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 17, 2011 Share Posted May 17, 2011 Thanks Brian. Still tossing and turning regarding alternate decal availability for Gloss Navy Blue finishes. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
big matt Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Looks cool Peter. Did you remember your nose weight??? I forgot mine in the Phantom, I am sending you a pm for a neat scheme. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Hi Matt Added the nose weight as per Paul's instruction and it literally broke the bank! Thanks for the photos; some great stuff!. I never knew there were such "honors' bestowed on deserving pilots! For an alternate theme, I was thinking of something a bit more traditional and conservative. Peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted May 18, 2011 Share Posted May 18, 2011 Looking great Peter! That Panther sure is a great looking plane, always been one of my favorites! I'll be following along on this for sure! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 NAVY BLUE PT 3 FISHER F9F-5 PANTHER It wasn’t as difficult as I thought it would be, assembling the kit with Gorilla Glue and Loctite Epoxy. Just follow the old adage of ‘Less is More’, follow the instructions and things seem to have a way of working out. Once satisfied that everything was basically glued up and managing to actually stay in place, onto sanding, filler, sanding, filler and more sanding. Fit wasn’t spectacular but about what I had assumed before starting. The front and rear wing area needed a lot of fitting and sanding to clean up and smooth things out. Once done, all the seams and gaps received a liberal treatment of Squadron Green Stuff and were then allowed to dry for a minimum of 48 hours. If memory serves me correctly, it does SHRINK as it dries. Big models just consume huge amounts of everything! In this case, sandpaper and filler; like hot dogs at a BBQ! All the seams were sanded out with 320 wet, followed with a damp Q-Tip to clean out the seams and allowed to dry for an hour. Next up was two careful applications of Mr. Surfacer 500 to take care of any missed seams or imperfections. Everything was allowed to dry for 24 hours. Back to wet sanding to clean up the Mr. Surfacer and then I worked my way through: 400, 600, 1500 and 2000 wet and dry. A wipe down to remove all the sanding film and hopefully, the major filler and clean up was behind me. Next on tap were the flaps and ailerons. Of course, I didn’t read the instructions carefully and glued on the flaps first, followed by the ailerons, exactly OPPOSITE the instructions: not to smart. Good old Gorilla Glue did the honors and so far, everything is still in place. Personally, I would prefer models without movable control surfaces but that’s just my preference. Last up for the week, is stating to test fit and work on the horizontal stabilizers. The locating pocket in the tail was cleaned up and the center piece of thin flash removed, which allows the locating tabs to go over and under each other. Right now, I’m still working on the fit and will epoxy the horizontal stabilizers in place tomorrow and then go through the same clean up procedure as with the wings. Enjoy Peter Liberal use of Squadron Green Stuff and Mr Surfacer 500, did the honors Finally starting to look like Ironworks panther Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeroenpeters Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Man... I love this plane. My first modeling experience started with the father of a girl next door. Her father had some built planes in the living room. Including a shiny Panther. In my recollection it was black, but it must have been dark shiny blue. This takes me back and makes me want to build one too.... Keep rockin'!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Peterpools Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 (edited) Always love the sidebar stories. They're just great Shall do Peter Edited May 22, 2011 by Peterpools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scvrobeson Posted May 22, 2011 Share Posted May 22, 2011 Looks so awesome Peter! The Panther is so cool, can't wait to see her coated in that Glossy Sea Blue. Looks like the kit builds up pretty well, just a bit of putty. Keep up the great work dude! Matt Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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