F9F-2 Panther

Despite being over 30 years old, this kit is a marvel. The fitting was very good, and I needed to use no putty, and very minor sanding. However, like many Hasegawa kits, the decal films are pretty thick, and this made applying the nose decals especially difficult. The decals also tear easily, and the film also extends well beyond the edge of the decal itself, making parts of the clear film not want to conform to various surfaces, thus needing more decal solution. However, to fix this issue, a good coat of gloss spray paint will seal the decals to the surface. I used Testors spray dark sea blue for the color, and the result was beautiful. I didn't use the weight in the nose, because I like a taking-off look to my models. The nose gear must be handled with care, and some extra cement, because it is very weak, and the assembly of the doors on the underside of the model in between the nose and wing landing gear is a bit tricky to assemble as well. With some patience and a little bit of improvising, this kit is an absolute must-have for 1/72 scale collections, especially those of the Korean War.

I have had this kit in my stash at least 25 years. It went together well. The front landing gear is weak. It broke off for me a few times. The landing gear wells had no detail. My decals did not want to come off the paper for anything. I had to slide my xacto blade under neath the decals to get them off. If it was to do this kit again, I would mask things off to add the red accents.

I really, really enjoyed this model build. a very simple kit with few parts. I wasn't sure about the proper shade of blue; settled on testors dark sea blue. I was worried it might be too dark but when the silver trim and decals were added it looked good. the landing gear are weak, especially the nose gear. nose will needs weight added. you will have 2 variations to choose from. I found the nose decals to be difficult so I just free styled. definitely would recommend.