Revell 1/60 (ish) F7U-3M

[Ron Bell 204]

Here's another "golden oldie", the Revell 1954 kit of the F7U-3M. I used a German re-release, which was good because it had a much nicer decal sheet. The kit was the original molds, however, raised panel lines and decal locators galore. All were sanded off and some amount of putty was used to get a good joint for the vertical tails and the wing to fuselage joint. The canopy, though nicely molded, was too wide for the fuselage, so I had to shim out where it mated to the fuselage. I closed off the jet intakes, but that was pretty much all I did. I tried Tamiya rattle can AS-12 silver as I was told it made a good natural metal. Suffice to say, it doesn't. Looks like silver paint. I took some clear decal paper and painted it several different shades of silver and cut it into various shapes for panels. Doesn't look as good as I had hoped. That new decal sheet was very good and all that stenciling breaks up some pretty large barren flat planes. It was a challenge, but also fun. You really use whatever modeling skills you have to get these old guys into shape. Kind of like me at the gym, a lot of effort but in the end, you're still an old guy and the "newer" ones look better without even trying. This particular a/c was assigned to a missile test squadron. That's why the Sparrows are painted orange and white with the black stripe. 

[ghodges 539]

There's a lot of people who wouldn't recognize your starting point from the result you achieved! The thing that caught my attention was how nice the pilot and interior look with some dedicated painting..entirely unexpected knowing what the molded parts look like. Yet another of your oldies that's no longer moldy! Nice!

 

Gil

[Nick Filippone 114]

This is truly a silk purse out of a sow’s ear! Congratulations. I had never thought of the idea of natural metal panels out of silver decal, but it seems inspired. Thanks for the tip. Nick

[Bradley25mm 39]

Ron,

         You make those old kit look fantastic. Great finish!

Chris 

[TomDougherty 0]

Great job on the F7U  “Gutless Cutlass” model!  I’ be seen a couple of these at museums, and you have captured the unique look of this aircraft.  

[WildBill50 75]

Great job Ron.

Still a cool looking aircraft after all these years.

The Sparrows really set off the natural metal scheme.

Bill 

[aAzZ09 32]

Ron, You’re F7U  came out great! I can remember seeing the -3 Cutlasses at NAS Hensley Field back in 1956. My father worked at Chance Vought aircraft from 1929 to 1971. We went to the NAS swimming pool and movie theatre often where some of them parked on the ramp. Also, were a few surplus F4U-4 Corsairs about to be shipped to Honduras about that time frame. The 1950’s were quite an era for Vought as my family knew a lot of the personnel that worked there, and some were invited for dinner on weekends.

 

Mark