1/72 Revell F-89J

by Bill Retoff

Photos by Don Rosser

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        This is the Revell F-89 Scorpion, 1/72 scale.  I built the it stock, straight out of the box.
       Revell has a nice little kit here.  It features well-done recessed exterior panel lines.  Cockpit detail is reasonable, tho the instruments are represented by decals. You can build either the "D" or a "J" version of the '89...and if you can track down the relevant photos, you could also build a "D" model with "J" fuel tanks.
        The model goes together pretty well, with only  the 3-piece fuselage being  particularly fiddly.  Kit decals allow for 2 options: a Maine-based 75th FIS F-89D done in the Arctic scheme, and a North Dakota ANG  "J"-bird .  I believe the latter is depicted
 somewhat incorrectly.  The instructions call for the Arctic scheme, but the photos I have indicate a conventional NMF, with day-glo outer tip tanks.  In either scheme, the anti-glare panel decal is too big, but can be easily trimmed to the right size.
        It took me about 3 years of on-and-ff work to finish this kit!   At one time, I'd  pitched the whole thing--unfinished model, its still-unattached parts, the instructions and box--in the kitchen wastebasket, I was so ticked off at how poorly I was doing on it.  But the next morning, I got everything back out and proceeded to work on it at irregular intervals.
        My F-89 was  painted and buffed with SNJ, then accented with Testors Metalizer paints, plus metal-finished bits of decal.  I  painted the plane while it was still in  pieces--the fuselage, wings, tailplane, horizontal stab top, underwing pylons, tip tanks.  With careful sanding and some strategic "metal" decal placement, these sections fitted
 together pretty well afterwards.  This was my 7th attempt at a natural metal finish, and my first successfully completed effort.
        Markings came via Skylancer Decals, a company which makes an absolutely cool sheet for F-89Js--Sheet CW-7203.  They offer 3 schemes with this sheet, and all are tastefully sharp-looking.  One is for a "J"-bird from the 321st FIS in 1958, featuring a sky blue vertical tail section with yellow stars.  Another is a 58th FIS aircraft, circa 1957,
 tricked out with mint green-and-dark blue tip tanks, along with a streamlined speed bird.  The third option--the one I  chose--is for the 54th FIS, stationed at Ellsworth AFB, South Dakota in June of 1958.  Besides the snazzy lightning bolts adorning the tip tanks, there's a colorful squadron device on the tail.
        Skylancer Decals are well printed, sturdy and complete.  If you're a '50s Jet Age or Big Bomber fan, check them out on the Web.

Bill

Photos and text © by  Bill Retoff