1/144 Miniwings Grumman F11F-1 Tiger

Gallery Article by Björn Leichsenring on Oct 23 2015

 

      

The F11-F1 made by Grumman was a single-seat carrier-based fighter aircraft of the US Navy. The first flight took place on July 30, 1954 and was put into service in 1956.  In the production period from 1954 to 1959, only 199 units were built. Because the unreliable engine turbojet Wright J65-W-18, the Tiger was in 1961 again decommissioned and replaced by the more powerful F-8 Crusader. Until 1969, however, it was used by the Blue Angels aerobatic team.

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My model represents a "long nose" version of the fighter squadron VF-51 "Screaming Eagles" with the BuNo 141825. Although the VF-51 was never equipped with Tigers, were used in 1958 to qualification purposes 8 F11F-1 on the USS Ranger.

The resin kit comes from MiniWings reflects the original very well again. Only the cockpit and the rear end with fishing hooks were scratched. The decals were very thin and reacted very sensitive to the Softener.

Björn Leichsenring

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Photos and text © by Björn Leichsenring