Tamiya 1/72 F4D-1

[jeaton01]

Here's the next victim, I don't know why I haven't built this already. I hope it will be as much fun as I have imagined.

[tempestjohnny]

I've got two in the stash. I'll be watching this one

[Stikpusher]

Very nice! Looks quite a bit more complex and detailed than the old Hawk 1/72 kit of the Ford

[jeaton01]

N9ot sure I've ever seen the Hawk kit, Carlos.

[Gary Brantley]

It seems to be a shrunken version of their 1/48 Ford. They were beautiful aircraft. And perhaps could've been a game-changer in Korea?

From: http://www.airvectors.net/avskyray.html


"(test pilot Bob)Rahn called the machine a "fighter pilot's dream", the best machine he had taken into the sky since flying the Spitfire. Its instability made it supremely agile for a skilled pilot, and Rahn claimed that he out-flew every Air Force chase plane sent up with him. Marine Major Marion Carl, one of the top test pilots of the era, flew the Skyray and claimed: "If we had this airplane now in Korea, I could just pop off the MiGs -- one, two, three."

[Stuart]

Great subject. I had the Airfix kit years ago but never got around to building it.

[Medicman71]

Yeah it's not that nice. I've started one and I got to the decal stage before a decal ruined things. I had problems with the fit of the gear bays and intakes. Here's where I'm at with mine.

[jeaton01]

MIke, if that is 1/72 I will have decals left over. I will be doing a Marine scheme.

After building the Tamiya Lancaster I have learned to temper my expectations for the "older" Tamiya kits. They can't all fit like the first boxing of a Monogram kit....

[Medicman71]

Ahh I didn't see that it was the 1/72 kit. Mine is the 1/48 kit.