Fonderie 1/48 scale Grumman F11F-1 Tiger

Kit: No. 6045
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: Fonderie Miniature, from Squadron Mail Order, 972-242- 8663, www.squadron.com
Price: $75.95
Comments: Mixed media, 92 parts (43 injection-molded plastic, 14 resin, 19 white metal, 14 photoetched, 2 vacuum- formed plastic), decals
Pros: Needed subject, good metal and photoetched parts, accurately detailed masters, well-printed decals
Cons: Poor fit, poor plastic and resin castings, no instrument faces, no throttle quadrant

Grumman's supersonic Tiger is best known as the mount of the Blue Angels from 1958 to 1969. The aesthetically pleasing layout and colorful markings of the fleet jets belie its most serious flaw: lack of range. Its short career on carriers ended with the advent of the better Crusader and Phantom II fighters.

FM's kit is the result of good research and fine master-making, diminished by poor injection molding and below-average resin casting. You can tell there was plenty of attention given to the detail in the cockpit and wheel wells, but the resin castings are plagued with tiny air bubbles and uneven pour stubs. The injection-molded plastic parts show finely recessed panel lines, but the surfaces are rough. The sprues for the wing halves attach at the trailing edges, and as a result, the edges are ragged and incomplete. The inside faces of the fuselage halves are uneven, and there are no locator pockets for the cockpit tub or wheel-wells. The landing gear and other small details are well-cast in white metal, and the photoetched brass parts exhibit good detail. However, there are no gauge faces for the instrument panel. I found generic instrument decals in my spares box that would fit.

Options include area-ruled supersonic drop tanks (never used in service), and four poorly shaped Sidewinder missiles with well-shaped pylons. The nicely-printed decals provide markings for the colorful shark-mouthed VF-21, the red-tailed VA-156, and (of course) the Blue Angels. The blue of the national insignias was too light, so I substituted from my decal collection.

Building the kit was a struggle. The separate resin main wheel-wells have a pair of injection-molded spacers that hold them in position. However, the backs of the wells were too thick, with the spacers holding them so far apart the fuselage halves couldn't close around them. My solution was to pitch the spacers and superglue each well into its respective fuselage half.

The nose-wheel well attached to the cockpit tub, but there were no positive locaters inside the fuselage for the assembly. Mine ended up about 1/8" too far aft even though the well properly spans the nose-gear opening. The cockpit detail is OK, but the missing gauges and throttle quadrant call for extra work.

After cleaning all the plastic parts, I worked on the wings. I used gap-filling super glue to fill the voids on the trailing edges, then sanded them sharp and smooth. The landing-gear details look great except for the all the tiny bubbles in the resin main-gear wells. FM correctly shows the seemingly backward installation of the tail hook: It's stowed upside down with the hook forward.

I painted the model with Model Master gloss enamels, then decaled. The spiffy sharkmouth markings needed some persuasion to fit on the nose. Some of the decal ID numbers didn't match those on the instructions.

The last hurdle was the canopy. The vacuum-formed plastic parts are a bit too large and look funny if posed closed. There seems to be too many parts for the canopy's rear deck and the area underneath it. Perhaps FM made resin and plastic alternatives but didn't show everything in the instructions?

I added the missile pylons but left off the poorly formed Sidewinders. The finished model looks good (if you don't get too close). With more time, I would have dressed up the cockpit and worked on the canopy some more. As it was, I spent nearly 50 hours on the Tiger. I don't mind, it's such a pretty jet!

- Paul Boyer