When people mention the Grumman Aircraft Corporation, images of sleek and sexy aircraft come to mind F-14 Tomcat, Bearcat and Hellcat. But in the 1930s, sleek and sexy were not as important as functionality, hence the looks of the F3F series.

Accurate Miniatures should be commended for taking the time to manufacture a kit of these non-mainstream subjects. Following behind the F3F-1 kit is the F3F-2. Similar in design to the -1, the major difference between models is a different upper wing and a larger Wright Cyclone engine (same as a B-17). The kit comes molded in light grey plastic with photoetched details (engine, cockpit, exterior and rigging), and a set of beautiful decals; allowing the modeler the choice of building any of all the F3Fs ever built (try that with a Me 109, of F-4).

The cockpit comes with a base, with fold up sidewall panels, beautifully detail instrument panel, and nicely molded pilot's seat. Paint everything aluminum, and install your choice of photoetched, or decal seatbelts. This kit's Wright Cyclone is one of the best looking radial engines I've ever seen on a scale model. Comprising of a single row of cylinders, exhaust collector ring, crack case front including pushrod covers, and a photoetched wiring harness the engine looks fantastic when finished.

The fuselage, wings and tails simply fall together; absolutely NO putty is required anywhere on this kit! Pay careful attention to the upper forward fuselage installation; use only a minimum of glue to cement this piece into location. The wings are self-aligning, thus eliminating fancy jigs to line all the parts up. I held my upper wing in position to use as a reference for dihedral. I then glued the lower wings in place, and allowed them to dry. Leave the upper wing off until you've finished painting; it's easier to mask for the yellow surface. The only difficulty at this stage was the external bracing for the horizontal stabilizer. Careful dry fitting and trimming is required here, before committing anything to glue.

The main landing gear of the F3F series is rather complex, comprising of 2 a-frames and a vertical brace. Follow the manufacturer's instructions for this point. Remember to carefully dry fit the parts together, they can be rather "fiddley" and delicate.

This is an absolutely beautiful kit, and I recommend it to any modeler with a handful of 1/48th scale kits under their belt. For those of us who just like neat looking or colourful aircraft the F3F fits the bill. I'd also recommend this kit to anybody thinking of build a biplane kit, but aren't experienced enough for creating jigs for alignment.

Thank you Accurate Miniatures for this kit, now where did I put that Gulfhawk?