Sword 1/72 Grumman F8F Bearcat
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History
Grumman had a long line of piston-engined naval fighters, starting
with the FF in 1931 and ending with the F8F Bearcat. Designed to replace
the F6F Hellcat, the Bearcat went a different route than other fighters
of the time. While other planes were becoming heavier, Grumman designed
the F8F to be as light as possible. The light weight, coupled with the
reliable and powerful R-2800 radial engine resulted in a very hot fighter
with outstanding acceleration and climbing ability. Another new feature
for a naval fighter was the bubble canopy, providing the pilot with excellent
all-around visibility.
The Bearcat entered service in May of 1945 and two squadrons, VP-18
and VP-19, were en route to Japan when the war ended. Bearcats continued
to serve with the Navy, filling 24 squadrons throughout its career. The
F8F-2 added a more powerful R-2800 engine, resulting in a taller tail,
the most visible difference between the F8F-1 and F8F-2. Two foreign
countries flew the Bearcat as well, with France receiving a few F8F-1Ds
for service in Indochina. Thailand also received some Bearcats, also
F8F-1Ds.
The Bearcat's era was limited, though, as the jet engine made its
appearance in naval aviation. By 1956 all US Navy Bearcats were taken
out of service and either stored or scrapped, having been replaced by
another Grumman design, the F9F Panther.
The Kit
 For those who have been anxiously awaiting the re-release of Sword’s
nice little Bearcat, well, I have good news and bad (maybe) news. First
the good: it has been re-released. It should now be readily available
to fill your Bearcat habit. The maybe bad news, though, is that this
is not the same kit they released the first time through. It has undergone
some changes, as can be seen from the scans of this kit and those of
the original. The most noticeable change is the lack of
resin parts. There are just two of those in this kit, compared to the
large handful in the original release. Other differences are more subtle.
Overall, though, the quality of the plastic is the same, being in a hard
and shiny gray plastic, with recessed panel lines throughout. The decals
are nearly the same, too, with the only difference being the omission
of the French option this time around.
Starting with the interior, here is one big area that is different
with this kit. Instead of a beautifully detailed resin cockpit, this
release has the entire interior done in injection plastic. While the
detail may not be as crisp as resin, the instrument panel seems to be
more accurate in shape and detail. Besides, speaking from experience,
most of this detail will not be seen anyway, so the extra expense of
having a resin cockpit really is not much of a bonus. Still on the ‘inside,’ next
up is the engine. This is the only resin detail in this kit, and it is
much better than the original resin engine. While the original was molded
as a single piece, this one comes in two pieces, one for each row. The
detail on the cylinders and the crankcase is excellent, and even though
the cowling is tight-fitting on the Bearcat, much of this will be seen.
 With the cockpit done and the engine painted up, the fuselage is ready
for assembly. Here is another carryover from the first kit. Sword has
included two complete fuselages, one for the F8F-1 and one for the F8F-2
(or F8F-1B, if that is what you want to build). The most noticeable difference
between the two is with the vertical fin, as the F8F-1 has a shorter
tail. Other differences include panel line locations, exhaust arrangements,
and cowling details. Sword has accurately captured all of these differences.
Rounding out the fuselage assembly is a separate front cowl ring, a nice
touch as now you will not have to try to fill a seam on the inside of
the cowling.
Moving to the wings, these on first glance appear to be the same as
the original. However, a closer inspection reveals a few changes. First,
and this also goes for the tailplanes, the ailerons have much more realistic
rib detail. While the original release merely had lines, this new release
has actual representation of the rib structure. There is no fabric texture,
thankfully, so once painted this will look much better than the original.
While on the subject of the wings, the wheelwells, that were originally
done in resin, are now done in injection plastic. While this detailing
is not perhaps as good as the resin, it is more than passable, and once
it is all painted sea blue there most likely will not be much of a visible
difference between the two anyway. The other big change with the wings
are the gun bulges on the upper wings. To do a proper F8F-1, these bulges
need to be removed from the wing. For the F8F-1B and F8F-2, these bulges
are present. On the original, the instructions directed the modeler to
remove those bulges if one wished to build an F8F-1. With this release,
those bulges are separate. Interestingly, though, there is no mention
of them in the instructions, for either variant. Check your references
for locations, and apply these parts to the wing for the F8F-2.
The rest of the kit is what you would expect. The landing gear is pretty
much the same, and should be sturdy enough. The wheels are injection
molded, rather than resin, which is a shame as the resin wheels were
quite good, far better than the plastic ones. For underwing stores the
kit comes with a centerline fuel tank and four rockets. Throw the propeller
on the model and this guy is finished.
 Moving on to the decals, this kit comes with two USN options, the same
two USN options in the original release. These are an F8F-2 of VF-151
off of the USS Boxer in 1950, and an F8F-1 of VF-3, flown by Lt. A. M.
Granat in 1946. Both are finished in overall glossy sea blue, with white
codes throughout. The decals look to be nicely printed, and should present
no difficulties in application. However, I did have some opacity issues
with the original release, with the white not being quite opaque enough
going over the dark blue. I do not know if these will have that problem,
but be aware of the potential issue.
Conclusion
Although this kit is minus much of the resin of the original, it still
is the best 1/72 Bearcat kit out there. The updates Sword has made to
the molds are commendable, and this should end up being a nice little
kit to assemble.
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