Mark Davies of New Zealand has his
Special Hobbies 1/72 scale F2G model posted on this site. Thanks to
Mark, I was able to locate the kit at Squadron Mail Order here in the U.S.A,
in early 2005. Mark mentioned that there were a few things
wrong with the kit. I prepared myself for the worst, but the good
things outweigh the bad.
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The kit contains excellent cast
resin wheel wells. The cast resin wing air inlets are the right
size and style. The
engine is real bad. The
prop is too small in diameter. All F2G's had a 14' 0" diameter
propeller. The cockpit is A-OK, and contains some photo etched parts and
a nice instrument panel. There is no rear deck. aft of the cockpit, so
it should be built in.
The clear one piece windscreen and
canopy is "EXCELLENT." It fits almost to perfection
on my "bondo" mold I made several years ago for my 1/72 scale
Aviation Usk F2G kits. I have to admit that I am not sure if my
"bondo" mold is 100% accurate.
Last, but not least, Special
Hobbies left out the six exhaust stacks that come out of the engine, just aft
of the cowling on the bottom of the fuselage.
The overall shape of the fuselage,
wings and tail plane seem to be next to perfection, including the
measurements. After I made all the necessary revisions, the kit went
together quit well.
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What will the finished model have
on it for markings? I could use all of the kit markings, but then I
would just duplicate Mark's model. Should I make another racer, "No
'cause I have five of them!" Looking at my F2G photos, I could
finish it with one of more than 15 different paint jobs and markings.
I have one photo in black and
white of a F2G with "C51" applied to the fuselage and to the top of
the right wing. This is the only known published photo of said F2G.
I tried for years to find out if there were other photos of it, and especially
a "B.U." Navy number, but came up short.
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Alas, I got out my left over
decals from my Aviation Usk kits, and used their yellow "C51"decals
for my model. I used the kit insignias, which were very thin, and
laid down on the model really nice.
Here's a few "in
progress" building photos along with the finished model.
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I contacted the company that makes
the model. They are aware of the production mistakes, so I hope they
correct the necessary items, so that someone out there will finally make a
whole accurate F2G.
Rodney
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