F-94C Starfire - 1:48 Kitty Hawk

[Julien]

F-94C Starfire

1:48 Kitty Hawk

The F-94 was originally developed by Lockheed to a USAF Specification to replace the F-61 Black Widow and the F-82 Twin Mustang. It was to be an all weather, day and night interceptor equipped with radar. For this Lockheed used their excellent P-80 / T-33 airframe as the base for the F-94. The initial design was designated F-94A, closely followed by the F-94B and first flew in 1949. The radar in the new F-94 was so secret that flights over enemy territory were prohibited, and the aircraft was pretty much kept back from Korea.

The F-94C was an all rocket armament aircraft and differed so much from the earlier models that it was origianlly given the toally separate designation of F-97. However it was decided to treat it as a new version of the F-94, which frequently happend so that funding could be allocated as a design change rather than a "new" aircraft. In fact Lockheed pushed the F-94C with their own money as USAF interest was only lukewarm. It should be noted that only the F-94C was know as the "Starfire", and the first airframe was delivered in 1951.

Original armament for the Starfire was an all rocket armament mounted in a ring around the nose radome. It was found in practice that firing these rockets in this position caused a considerable volume of rocket exhaust gas to be ingested by the engine, potentially causing a dangerous flame out. Two wing rocket pods were subsequently designed to remedy this, and the nose rockets were very rarely used from there on in. In addition to the rocket problems the Starfires had a less than stellar reputation in the USAF. Early airframes were plagued with engine problems, fuel leaks, and poor weather proofing which lead to the control system short circuiting when rain leaked in through the canopy!

F-94C's were finally retired by the USAF in 1959 (though they had been trying for years), and the national Guard in 1960 as newer more capable aircraft came on stream. Lockheed produced 387 Stafires before production ceased.

The Kit

This is the first kit to be issued by Kitty hawk Models, a new startup in the modelling world. I must say it came a surprise to me that they would issue this kit of an early American Jet as a first kit, rather than something more mainstream. Hopefully this shows more of what may come from Kitty Hawk. While a bit of a surprise, it is very welcome that a company is giving this period in aviation some prominence for us modellers. Prior to this new kit the only F-94C models were the very old Revell Box scale kit and the almost as ancient Emhar kit in 1:72.

The kit arrives in a glossy white box with an in-flight Starfire across the box top. While it's not the strongest model box I have, its certainly not the flimsiest either. The sprues are bagged up as are the clear parts in a separate bag, and another bag contains the Photoetched sheet and 3 ball bearings for nose weight (though these are not mentioned in the instructions or box contents).

There are 4 sprues of a dark grey plastic which fill the box. The arrangement of parts is pretty standard; left & right fuselage, upper and lower wings.

When you start to look at the parts you notice that the moulding quality looks very good indeed, and parts are thin but still strong. Panel lines on the kit are very restrained, in fact so restrained they could probably do with a scriber running along them, especially if you plan on brush-painting. The tailing edges to the flying surfaces are commendably thin, and I have 1:72 kits which are thicker than the trailing edges of this kit's wings! The detail on the parts is very good indeed, and for example, in the wheel well not only are all the stringers moulded but the rivets on them are as well.

In the cockpit all instrument panels and side panels are represented by Photo-Etched (PE) parts. There are no plastic substitutes if you are one of those modellers who does not like PE. Though for some reason the pilots instrument panel is also given as a decal but the radar operators is not? PE seat belts are provided for the ejection seats, though only one shoulder strap is provided for each seat?? The PE sheet is covered both sides with a clear plastic layer, by taking off only the front this should stop parts pinging off to the carpet monster when cutting them off.

You have the option of opening up the airbrakes under the front fuselage and rear side airbrakes, which is a nice touch and adds extra interest if you choose to pose them that way. If doing this then the parts are mix of injected plastic and photoetch which should look great when finished. The flaps can also be displayed in the down position (though the instructions do not show this), there are however, injector pin marks on the inside of the flaps which will be tricky to remove without damaging the detail, as they are inside the moulded in structure. It should be noted though, that when normally on the ground all of these were closed up unless maintenance was underway.

A full engine exhaust and rear fan are provided which should supply enough detail in case anyone peers up there with a torch! Kitty Hawk have moulded in rocket openings into the nose ring, but these will only be visible if the modeller wishes to start cutting the nose rocket panels out (This again is not shown in the instructions).

The wheels supplied in the kit are "weighted" but not overdone to the extent they look flat. Overall I am impressed by the excellent quality of the parts on the sprues.

The canopy is supplied on a clear sprue as the main part & front screen and can be modelled open if you wish. In addition to these parts a weapons sight glass and nav lights are included. The canopy parts seem to be remarkably thin and clear, as evidenced in the photo above. Some real care will be needed when it comes to masking them though, as they are very fragile, and will crack or craze under too much pressure. The main canopy rails are normal injected plastic and need to be attached to the glazing with care, choosing your glue carefully to avoid fogging around the joint. PVA or GS-Hypo cement would be a sensible choice here.

Instructions

The instructions for the kit come in a nice compact A5 sized booklet. There is a colour page to the front with the same printing as the box art, which is accompanied by a colour decal placement diagram on the back page. A sprue layout is given followed by 19 constructions steps, which are easy to read and seem to flow fairly well. Paint callouts are given in Gunze colours with FS numbers where appropriate.

Decals

The Decal sheet gives the modeller the chance to model two different aircraft. Absolutely no information at all about these two aircraft is given on the instructions. However the two aircraft are as follows:

• 15623 - 354th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Oxnard AFB, California 1953. This aircraft is now at The Pima Air & Space Museum, Arizona (As shown on the box art).
  
• 01054 - 60th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Otis AFB, Massachusetts, late 1950's. An aircraft painted in these colours is displayed at The National Museum of The US Air Force in Dayton, Ohio.
  

The decals are very glossy, in register and have dense colour. Carrier film is minimal and I cant see any reason they will not perform well.

Conclusion

This is a welcome kit for those who like 1950s aviation and want a modern tooling of this aircraft, or who want to build something slightly different from the usual. The kit engineering looks first class and it should build into a good looking model with some care. Here's looking forward to more exciting kits from Kitty Hawk.

Review sample courtesy of

and available from major hobby shops

[Chaotic Mike]

That looks good for a new entrant. Do we know anything about the company? Their website is less than forthcoming (unless I'm having an iPad-engendered 'issue' because of browser compatibility. Or something.)

Mike

[Silver Fox]

Having seen Wolfpacks' kit I can only agree with Julian that it is amazing kit and what a way to enter the market. I'm just waiting for some clients to pay me and the promised Caracal decals to emaerge.

[Julien]

That looks good for a new entrant. Do we know anything about the company? Their website is less than forthcoming (unless I'm having an iPad-engendered 'issue' because of browser compatibility. Or something.)

Mike

One of the guys behind it Mr Song used to work for trumpeter so he knows a fair bit about the industry I would say.

They have just done the F-35B in 1:48, check out Mike's review here: http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234924464

They are also talking about a new family of Jag's in 1:48 : http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=234926121

Also some talk of Mirages as well.

I can honestly say the quality is really something, better than hasegawa and Tamyia I would say. Tehy could do a couple of things different like having plastic bits as well as PE, and some sort of info on the instructions about the decal options.

As this is only their first kit things can only get better I would say, and there is evidence of this from the F-35B review.

and the promised Caracal decals to emaerge.

Cool, any idea what the options are going to be?

Julien

[woody37]

I had a look at this kit in the flesh and can only agree with Juliens comments, it's a great kit. The plastic colour is a little unusual, but the detail and quality is all there. Looking forwards to seeing one built.

[Silver Fox]

[

Cool, any idea what the options are going to be?

Julien

/quote]

Heres a link

http://caracalmodels.com/48scale.html look about three quarters of the way down

[Chaotic Mike]

One of the guys behind it Mr Song used to work for trumpeter so he knows a fair bit about the industry I would say.

Ah, that's where he went. I remember a raft of posts about Trumpeter's Jaguar, and a gloriously rendered resin Napier Sabre, amongst other things. Looks like he is continuing to do good work, then!

Mike