Posted 5 years ago
Toyrebel
(215 items)
Picked up this. Monogram F3F-3 plastic model kit# PA70, 1962. Four Star box, first issue kit with silver, red, and yellow parts. I built this kit in the '60s and the later all silver plastic version. A lot of the early issue Monogram in the "Four Star" thick stock boxes had multi colored plastic parts to aid people who didn't paint that much.
This was one of my favorite childhood kits. It has the between war multi color scheme. Ftapache shared a MiniPlane F3F-3 that had that beautiful color scheme also. This also had the retractable landing gear that was challenging.
The F3F-3 was the last carrier based fighter delivered to the USN. Pretty fast for its time but quickly outdated in evolution of aircraft in the '30 S. It layed the foundation for the famous Grumman "Cat" fighters that would follow. You can see the later F4F Wildcat stubby fuselage and hand cranked landing gear on it. The F3F's son the F4F Wildcat would his own against the superior Zero early in WW II due a lot to the ruggedness. The grandson the. F6F-6 Hellcat would go on to wipe out something like 75% of the total Japanese aircraft downed at the "Turkey Shoot" and elsewhere.
I thought that looked familiar. Great box art on that. You can see the Wildcat style landing gear there. I think they have the 1:1 version at the Planes of Fame Museum.
Super Grumman plane. All Grumman aircraft mean alot to me as they built them mostly in plants here on Long Island (Bethpage, a town I used to live in) and between them and Sperry gyroscope we have a lot of local pride in these WW2 fighter planes
Thanks Apache, I understand there are a few surviving examples around. I think the aircraft museum at Pensacola USN has one also.
That's interesting, Newfld. I can well understand the pride in having taken part in the manufacturer of such famous aircraft in that historic era. I worked in avionics at TI, it is rewarding to know what systems you got to work on.
My friend bought his dad a model plane for his birthday and it was an emotional event. He got it because it was the same plane his dad flew in Vietnam. His dad wept when he opened it, and not only was it the same plane but was in fact the exact plane with the same call numbers on the plane and everything.
Trey, great story. A very thoughtful touching gift.