Kit: No. 8843
Scale: 1/48
Manufacturer: AMT/Ertl, Highways 136 and 20, Dyersville, IA 52040, 319-875-2000
Price: $18.50
Comments: Injection molded, 100 parts (2 vinyl), decals.
IMAGINE TWO BEARCAT engines flying in tight formation — that’s a Grumman Tigercat twin. Designed for carrier use, this heavy fighter saw only limited use afloat. Too late for action in World War II, two-seat nightfighter variants saw combat in Korea, and some later became “borate bombers” — firefighters in the Pacific Northwest.
AMT’s Tigercat features beautiful recessed panel lines, a good cockpit, wheel-well details, and excellent landing gear with black vinyl tires. A few parts that aren’t used suggest a two-seat version is coming.
The fine R-2800 engines include separate cylinder banks, crankcases, and cowl-flap rings that have the exhaust ports molded inside. Underwing goodies include a center-line tank, two 1,000-pound bombs with realistic sway braces, and eight five-inch rockets. The 20mm cannon barrels that mount in the wing roots are too thin for the scale. AMT’s two-piece canopy is clear and nearly distortion free.
The fit of the parts was outstanding. My sample’s wing-to-fuselage joint was so good that I attached the wings after painting — each joint looks like another recessed panel line. Be careful with the landing-gear struts; they are accurately thin, but fragile. You’d need a lot of weight in the nose to keep the model on its three wheels, but the undercarriage probably wouldn’t stand the strain. Use the convenient tail prop (a 55-gallon drum and an ammo box) included in the kit. Unloaded Tigercats were notorious tail-sitters, and crews often propped the tails up with just such an arrangement.
Some of the painting instructions are questionable. AMT suggests painting the landing-gear struts and wheels aluminum and the gear bays interior green, but late-war and postwar naval fighters had gloss sea blue gear and bays. This is confirmed in photos in W.E. Scarborough’s F7F Tigercat in Action (Squadron/Signal).
The decals provide markings for three aircraft: a delivery scheme and two Marine Tigercats, including one of the green-and-white-banded birds from VMF-312, the scheme I chose. The decals were thick and the propeller blade labels were too small and printed mostly black, so they disappeared when applied. Green bands are provided to fit on the cowls, wings, and fuselage, but the decals wouldn’t snuggle down with either Micro Sol or Solvaset. I had lots of silvering even over the glossy paint. The yellow codes are translucent and allow the wing bands to show through where they overlap.
Aside from the decals, I think the Tigercat is the best aircraft kit AMT has produced. It’s big, spanning 13″ with an 11″-long fuselage, right on the money for 1/48 scale. It’s a breeze to build, too. I spent only 10 hours, and I’m looking forward to more of the Tigercat family.
Steve Davis