1:72 F9F-2B Panther, USN Blue Angels R.E. Dusty Rhodes 1949

1:72 F9F-2B Panther of the US Navy aerobatic team, 1949

A finished collector model in 1:72 scale. It is not a kit: the model is supplied assembled, painted and with the markings applied, so nothing has to be done with it and it goes straight into the display case. The model carries the markings of a machine of the US Navy aerobatic team, the Blue Angels, from 1949, that is, from the time when the team was converting to jet aircraft.

The real subject

The Panther was the first successful carrier-based jet fighter of the US Navy. It had a straight wing, a single turbojet with a centrifugal compressor and tanks on the wingtips. The straight wing was deliberate: it gave better behavior at low speeds, which a carrier aircraft needs when landing on a ship, even though it held the aircraft back in speed. In the Korean War it became the principal carrier fighter and attack type.

How a collector model differs from a kit

With a kit the modeler chooses the colors, the markings and the degree of wear himself and the result is one of a kind. A finished model, by contrast, offers certainty: the exactly specified version of a particular machine, a uniform look across the whole collection and the immediate option of standing it in a display case. That is precisely why collections of finished models are built in series, where one piece complements the next.

How to keep the model

• Display it out of direct sunlight, which fades the colors over time
• Remove dust with a soft brush, not with a cloth, which abrades the markings
• Hold the model by the fuselage, not by the wings and the tail surfaces
• Leave it room in the display case so that neighboring pieces do not touch