Miniwing 1/144 Grumman XF-10F-1 "Jaguar"
By Matt Bittner
The Kit
The Miniwing 1/144 Grumman XF-10F "Jaguar" consists of 22 pieces of resin, one piece of round plastic rod for the nose pitot, and two vacuform canopies (one being a spare, thankfully). There are decals for the one major prototype, the very colorful one finished in all-over Glossy Sea Blue with the leaping Jaguar on the side. These decals are ALPS-printed so care must be taken during handling and applying.
You have an option in this kit. Miniwing provides two wings - one swept and one unswept. Which I think is awesome because it not only gives you the option, but it's also an easy to install option. Some creative person will figure out how to use both wings on the same model without having any gaps. I would like to see that!
There is a nice ejection seat/cockpit tub that is fit into the cockpit opening, to which you put on the "seat fabric/seatbelt" decal to give it some sort of interest. From there you add the rest of the parts, the wing (your choice), the upper part of the tail, the engine exhaust, nose-cone, inlets and landing gear (although I would leave those off until after painting).
Conclusion
This is an awesome kit and will build into quite the conversation piece once painted and decaled. I give huge cudos to Miniwing for bringing out this lesser-known prototype aircraft. Although the wing operated by air currents, there will no doubt be people who use the swept wing while on the ground, just because it looks more sinister. I still want to see someone figure out how to use both wings with the same kit. That will be cool. This XF-10F is highly recommended.
Huge thanks to Miniwing for letting me review this kit.