History

The Grumman FF-1 biplane two-seat fighter was the first complete airplane design from the Grumman Corporation, located in Bethpage, New York. Prior to this, LeRoy Grumman had separated from the Loening Company, and had manufactured amphibious floats for the Vought O2U and O3U observation biplanes, using landing gear designs he had developed for various Loening types.

The XFF-1 two-seat biplane fighter first flew in 1931 and featured a Wright R-1820E radial engine and retractable landing gear. Grumman sold 27 FF-1’s to the Navy, which after replacement, were modified as dual-control fighter trainers. Later, a reconnaissance version was developed, the SF-1, of which 33 were built during 1934. Later, a dive bomber, the XSBF-1, was developed, but this lost out to monoplane contenders. About 1936, Canadian Car and Foundry obtained a production license for the type, their intent being to sell the plane to the Spanish Republicans through a Turkish intermediary firm to avoid the arms embargo. Only a few got through to Spain, where they didn’t last long against Franco’s German and Italian pilots flying more up-to-date airplanes, with the few survivors used by Franco’s air force until the late forties.

The C.C.F. G-23 was built in Ft. Williams, Ont., Canada, and when World War II began, the type was still being manufactured, with contracts being extended by the RCAF mainly to retain the skilled work force until Hawker Hurricane production could begin at the plant. The RCAF received 15 of these planes and designated them Goblin Mk. 1. They were operated briefly by Nos. 118 and 123 Squadrons, RCAF, although by this time they clearly were obsolete. Single examples were exported to Mexico, Nicaragua, and Japan. In 1962, one example was discovered in Managua, Nicaragua, and it was returned to Grumman for restoration. It flew briefly with a U.S. civil registration, and is currently on display in the U.S. Navy Aviation Museum in Pensacola, Florida, as an FF-1.

References

The kit and instructions provide a pretty good account of the airplane’s origins and operational history. In addition, Peter Bowers’ U.S. Navy Aircraft has a good history of the U.S. Navy versions, while Mitch Mayborn’s Grumman Guidebook Vol. 1 covers all of the variants of the type. There are probably other sources on line.

The Kit

About 15 years ago, MPM issued an injection molded kit of the FF-1 fighter, and although this kit may be related, looking at the old kit gives me the impression that the Special Hobby kit is a new issue. The new kit contains many detail features not found in the old one, and it would probably be easier to build an FF-1 from this kit than it would be to update the MPM kit. I built the MPM kit back around 2000, and I recall it being rather crude by standards of the time.

The Special Hobby kit is molded in light grey styrene and consists of 33 grey parts, one clear injection-molded plastic canopy, 2 clear film instrument groups, 7 resin parts (including an incredibly detailed engine and exhaust system), and about 20 photo etched metal parts. The moldings are crisp with only a little flash, which is to be expected in short run kits. There are a few “do not use” parts, indicating that there may be a reissue of the FF-1 or another variant, as there certainly are not many differences between the variants. One problem is that the sprue attachment points are sometimes pretty heavy, requiring careful trimming. Some of the struts have attachment points in the middle of the strut rather than at the end, requiring some very dicey trimming to hide the attachment points. Some of the resin parts are extremely small, and I needed my big magnifying glass to trim and paint them properly. The interior is very nicely done, and actually fits in between the fuselage halves, although I did have to use a pretty heavy clamp to get the fuselage halves to line up properly. The seats all have detailed seat belts, and there is a lot of sidewall detail; the nice thing is that all of this is very visible under a nicely molded clear plastic canopy. One option is to leave the canopy off and just use the windshield, as some of these were operated as open cockpit planes, not an appealing thought when operating in the Canadian winter.

The resin engine is very nicely detailed, with part of the exhaust system molded to the rear. The rest of the exhaust system is cast resin, and attached to the firewall to create a very realistic labyrinth of exhaust stacks behind the engine and very visible on the finished product. The prop is the correct shape and size, although it appears to be in very coarse pitch, which would give it lousy takeoff performance but a high cruising speed. I would assume that the plane had at least a two-position ground-adjustable prop, and that on the ground, at least, it would be in fine pitch. In addition, the carburetor air intake scoop above the cowling is the wrong shape and should be replaced. This is a minor problem and should be easy to correct.

Assembly

The kit goes together very nicely, and except for the fuselage halves requiring clamping, there were no problems. However, with a biplane, you need to paint the model before attaching the struts and upper wing, and this was a problem because there were no strut attachment holes or tabs – the struts just butt-fitting onto the wings and fuselage. There are small ring markings showing where the “N” struts are to be located, but on the cabanes you are on your own. These are fortunately the correct length, but I would suggest attaching the “N” struts to the lower wing and then attaching the upper wing. These are the load bearing struts. Then attach the cabane struts with superglue and it will look pretty good. The landing gear is fairly intricate, consisting of four parts and a wheel for each side, and the instructions aren’t too clear on exactly what goes where. It does come out OK, however, and the plane sits at a convincing angle on the ground, although I think the tailwheel slants a little too far to the rear.

There are a couple of small parts that will probably present some difficulty. There are two small ridges along the belly, and these are provided by six small sections of plastic, of which two are resin. They are easily lost. In addition, the photo etch parts include three small radio antenna posts and a set of aileron balances which go on the upper surfaces of the ailerons. These are also very fiddly, but the overall effect is probably worth it as long as you don’t inadvertently set the airplane upside down on the upper wing, thus breaking everything off.

Painting and Finishing

As previously mentioned, this model should be painted before final assembly. The undersides are to be painted in the black/white/aluminum scheme used by the RAF in the late thirties, while the upper surfaces are dark green and dark earth. It is a very attractive color scheme and the only option you’ll have if you do the CCF version, although you could go off on a tangent and do a Spanish or Latin American plane if you can find a reference. The kit decals provide three options, all No. 118 Sqdn. aircraft operating from RCAF Dartmouth during 1940 through 1942. The decals are in perfect register and require no trimming. Use a coat of Dullcote after you apply the decals and the effect will be very realistic.

Recommendation

This is a very good kit, but certainly not one for beginners. It is fairly labor-intensive, but the airplane is unusual enough to be worth the effort, and it will certainly fill a gap in your collection of 1/72 scale Canadian aircraft. Get at least one of these while you can. It will provide many hours of enjoyable modeling, and you’ll be the only kid on your block to have one. Highly recommended.

Thanks to IPMS, Special Hobby, and their distributors for the review sample.