F4D-1 Skyray Part 1

Published on
November 24, 2012
Review Author(s)
Scale
1/32
MSRP
$259.95
Product / Stock #
3211
Photo of Assembled Model

Being a fan of large scale planes (1/32 and above), I was excited when Paul Fisher from Fisher Model and Pattern announced an impending 1/32 F4D-1 Skyray. No one else would have the tenacity and devotion to make one, and as a fan of US Navy planes, this was a dream come true for me. The plane itself has not been made in 1/32 before and is a welcome addition. This is going to be a multi-part build. In this part, we'll take a look at what you get in the box and then dive right into a full build in subsequent parts.

For those not having built a Fisher kit, they are cast in resin with photoetch detail added, and this kit is no different. The parts are cast in a light gray resin that holds detail well. There are approximately 157 parts to the kit. The windscreen and the canopy are molded in clear resin, as are the seeker heads for the missiles.

The major components of the kit are the top and bottom of the fuselage, as well as the forward nose/cockpit. Casting is excellent on these and the fit OOB is great. The panel lines are nice and subtle without being uneven. The rest of the resin parts include drop tanks, landing gear doors and legs, and a myriad of detail parts.. There is some flash on these, which is to be expected, but the mold seam lines are very small and should be no trouble to clean up.

Included in the kit is a photoetch sheet which has parts for detailing the canopy and the engine intakes, as well as mirrors for the canopy. There is also a set of Ad Astra masks for the inside and outside of the canopy and great instructions for using them.

The decal sheets give markings for four planes, as well as all the needed stencils. A separate sheet of instruments is also included for the main panel. A thorough set of instructions rounds out the contents of the box.

I included a shot of the main parts sitting next to Tamiya's nice 1/48th scale kit. It dwarfs it in size. In part 2, we'll work on buttoning up the fuselage and getting the cockpit finished.

My thanks to Paul Fisher and Fisher Model and Pattern, and to IPMS/USA, for the chance to review this great kit. Recommended and eager to get started.

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