The Aircraft
The
F9F-5 was numerically the most important of the Panther variants. It had the
longer fuselage and revised tail surfaces of the F9F-4, but was powered by the
Pratt & Whitney J48 turbojet, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Tay.
The
XF9F-5 prototype was the 100th production airframe (F9F-2 BuNo 123085), modified
and re-engined. It flew for the first time on December 21, 1949. It actually
preceded the XF9F-4 into the air by almost half a year.
616
F9F-5s were delivered to the Navy and Marine Corps between November 1950 and
January 1953. They were all powered by the Pratt & Whitney J48-P-6 or P-6A,
rated at 7000 lb.s.t. wet.
The
F9F-5 had four external store pylons underneath each wing, with the three
outboard pylons being stressed to carry bombs of up to 500 pounds in weight.
Maximum external load was 3465 pounds.
During
the course of production, an anti-stall fence was added just outboard of the
wing roots to control the airflow and reduce landing speed. Many of the F9F-4s
were retrofitted with J48 engines and thus became indistinguishable from F9F-5s.
The
first F9F-5 deliveries took place on November 5, 1950. Most squadrons which had
been equipped with F9F-2s were re-equipped with the later F9F-5.
In
November 1951, the F9F-5 replaced the F9F-2s of the Blue Angels flight
demonstration team. This team began to convert to the swept-wing F9F-6 Cougar in
1953, but it turned out that these Cougars were urgently needed by the fleet for
duty in Korea and the team had to be hastily re-equipped with overhauled F9F-5s.
The F9F-5s served with the Blue Angels until 1954, when they were finally
replaced by F9F-8 Cougars.
The
first F9F-5s entered combat in Korea in October of 1952, serving aboard the USS Oriskany
(CVA-34) with the reserve squadrons VF-781 and VF-783. They were also flown by
VF-51, VF-52, VF-53, VF-111, VF-153, and VF-154 during the latter stages of the
Korean War. They provided the backbone of the Navy's carrier-based jet-powered
ground attack capability during the last year of the Korean War.
As
the Panther began to be replaced in active service by more advanced types,
surviving F9F-5s were modified as F9F-5K remotely-controlled drones or as
F9F-5KD drone directors. In the F9F-5KD, the nose guns were removed and were
replaced by radio control equipment. In 1962, the Defense Department introduced
the new Tri-Service designation scheme under which the separate USAF/Navy
designations were replaced by a new unified designation system. This required
that all existing Navy aircraft be redesignated. By this time, the only Panthers
remaining in Navy service were the F9F-5KD drone directors, which were
redesignated DF-9E. The last DF-9Es were struck off charge in the mid-1960s.
Specification
of the Grumman F9F-5 Panther:
Engine:
One Pratt & Whitney J48-P-4/P-6A turbojet rated at 2834kg (6250 lbs)
thrust.
Performance:
Maximum
speed:
932kph (604mph)
Cruising
speed:
774kmh (481 mph)
Initial
climb rate:
1551m/min (5090 feet per minute)
Service
ceiling:
13,045m (42,800 feet)
Range: 2093km
(1300 miles)
Dimensions:
Wingspan:
11.5m (38 feet 0 inches)
Length: 11.8m
(38 feet 10 1/2 inches)
Height: 3.7m
(12 feet 4 inches)
Wing
area: 23.2
sq m (250 square feet.)
Weights:
Empty:
4,601kg (10,147 pounds
Gross:
8,057kg (17,766 pounds
Maximum
takeoff: 8,490kg (18,721 pounds).
Internal
fuel capacity:
1003 US gallons.
Armament:
Four 20-mm cannon in the nose. Eight underwing hard points which could
accommodate a total underwing load of up to 3465 pounds of bombs and rockets.
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Preamble
This
was a “must purchase” ebay auction that I stumbled across one Sunday
afternoon. With only a few minutes to close, I immediately bid on it and picked
up a Gem. When the kit arrived, I could tell it had lived in a shed cupboard for
a few years. Plastic inside was good, instructions likewise, but the decals were
very poor and unusable.
I
decided to build this kit as a partner to my Matchbox Westland Wessex build,
leaving the better detailed Hasegawa 1:72 F9F-2 and Eduard PE set for a later
date.
An
old Microscale sheet 72-212 “F9F-5 Panthers” brought forth from the decal
dungeon was an ideal replacement for the kits imploded decals.
The
Kit
A
typical Matchbox side opening box, with dramatic artwork of a Panther over a
Korean War battlefield. The box proclaims “1:72 in three colours” with the
two finishing options printed on the rear of the box.
So
what is in the box? There are four sprues within the typical box, one azure
blue, one dark blue, one black and a clear sprue for the canopy. The one piece
canopy is rather thickly moulded but with nicely defined framing. The
kit allows for the construction of an F9F-4 Panther and a later F9F-5 “Blue
Angels” Panther with the inclusion of the wing fences that constitute the main
difference between the two versions.
Two
decal options are provided, along with an instruction sheet with painting
instructions for two aircraft printed on the back of the kit box in typical
Matchbox style.
The
kit is typical of Matchbox late issues, with fine raised panel lines and heavy
moulding to smaller detail parts. Well I was not after a contest winner here at
all, so I could safely ignore all the shortcomings built into the kit or
otherwise.
Construction
Assembly
started with the cockpit, with sidewalls and tub painted Aeromaster US interior
green. The supplied seat was only a basic representation of the real ejection
seat, but with the addition of Tamiya tape strips to represent harnesses, was
more than adequate, especially as it was only going to be seen under the thick
canopy. Side consoles and the instrument panel were painted black and dry
brushed with light grey to enhance moulded-in detail.
The
fuselage is broken up into 4 separated parts, with the main fuselage
horizontally split. Dry fitting the completed cockpit tub to the upper fuselage
half revealed fit problems with the instrument panel in place, which needed
trimming to allow the tub to fit in the correct location.
The
kit offers the modeller the choice of lowered or folded wings. I elected to go
with the wings down option and used the correct parts for the wings to slot
into. Wing assembly was quick with all parts fitting very well indeed. Once the
wings had been cleaned up, a quick trip to the paint booth was in order to spray
the forward section of the wing tip fuel tanks Tamiya AS-12 BMF. Once the paint
was dry, the BMF areas were masked off and the wings attached to the fuselage.
The
remainder of assembly proceeded smoothly and rather quickly, with only moderate
amounts of filler required to smooth out ill fitting joints. At this point I
cleaned up, polished and masked the canopy. The masked canopy was offered up to
the fuselage and cemented into place with clear parts cement, reinforced with a
careful application of liquid cement; this filled any gaps between the fuselage
and the canopy. A quick application of white glue, with excess wiped away with a
wet mk1 finger, smoothed out any remaining gaps.
Painting
and Decaling
Now
that construction was finished I could settle down to painting. I decided to use
a spray can of Tamiya USN Sea Blue, .It took 3 coats from the spray can until I
was happy with the overall finish, with areas needed re-sanding and polishing
with fine wet and dry, to eliminate imperfections. In the end I got close to the
result I was after, but not entirely satisfied with!
The
painted and completed airframe was put aside to cure prior to application of
several thin coats of Johnsons “Super Stride” with a wide flat brush kept
especially for this purpose.
While
the fuselage was set aside to cure, I turned my attention to the underwing
stores, consisting of two bombs and 6 HVAR rockets. I used Vallejo Russian Army
Uniform Green as a good match for the Olive drab finished bombs and appropriate
colours for the rockets.
The
decals turned out to be a really big problem.
As
mentioned earlier, the kit decals were useless having been attacked by moisture
during their long tenure in the box so I decided to use an old Microscale sheet
72-212 “F9F-5 Panthers”. I selected one of the four schemes from the sheet,
a Panther from VF-144 serving on USS Boxer during 1955.
I
started off with a small stencil to test the decal; this went on fine so I
proceeded with the large “A” on the tail. This decal promptly shattered upon
hitting the water, which was very annoying as the test decal indicated that all
was well with the sheet. A quick search found replacement “A’s” from a
Superscale Banshee sheet. Upon hitting the water the first “A” from the
Banshee sheet shattered as well. (I never learn!), so Microscale’s Decal Film
came into play and I spent time painting this wonderful product over the
required decals so I could continue using the sheet. Decaling proceeded more or
less trouble free after that.
Everything
was then sealed in with several more coats of Future resulting in a nice shiny
looking Panther, which had the shine taken back with a coat of Pollyscale satin
clear. I was hoping that this was going to give a good “scale”
representation of the Panther’s glossy sea blue scheme but the model looked
very toy like. Research indicated that the gloss sea blue varied from really
glossy to a more weather-beaten appearance, almost flat in finish. Armed with
this knowledge, I resprayed the model with Pollyscale flat clear which gave the
model a more “in-scale” look.
Lessons
learnt from this experience were;
- ALWAYS
use decal film on decals over 5 years old and test any newer sheets as a
matter of course
- Unless
a gloss finish is absolutely critical, eg on trainers like the BAe Hawk,
demonstration/aerobatic aircraft or civilian aircraft, use a flat finish!
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Finishing
Touches
I
added new, stretched tube 20mm cannons to the nose, and touched them over in
appropriate colours. Once these had set, the canopy masking was removed; the
pre-painted undercarriage airbrakes and arrestor hook were added. I left the
model overnight to allow the undercarriage assembly to cure, and then added the
underwing load-out.
Some
light weathering with pastel chalks followed, concentrating on the nose cannons
and undercarriage bays.
Suddenly
the Panther was finished.
Overall
What
a great little kit! The Matchbox F9F-4 Panther is an excellent build between
more complex projects and builds up into a fine replica of a mid production
Panther, the US Navy’s second jet fighter. As the Matchbox kit has been out of
production now for a number of years, the only 1:72 Panther available is the
most excellent F9F-2 version from Hasegawa.
The
big bonus from this Matchbox kit is the ability to model it with wings folded,
without complicated surgery. Squadron/Signal’s “F9F Panther in action” has
a series of wing fold close ups, so one day perhaps if another Matchbox kit is
sourced!
If
you can get hold of this kit, grab it and enjoy the build. Recommended!
References
- World
Aircraft Files
- F9F
Panther in Action
- Internet
Michael
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