F7U-3 Cutlass 1/100 by S&P
The F7 cutlass was a big departure from traditional aircraft. It was tailess and had a large single wing. It looked like it could be the quantum leap in carrier aircraft, but it was a big failure. The aircraft was seriously under powered, had a bad habit of crashing when landing and earned the nicknames Gutlass and more sadly ensign eliminator. Despite these shortcomings the navy managed to go thru several marks and mods. Luckily they didn't last long.
The S&P kit looks a little daunting but after studying the real aircraft pics it is very do able. I started with the twin tails as they looked the most challenging.
the key here is to preform the complex curves via burnishing and folding along the dotted lines included in the design. It took 3 tries before I was finally satisfied with the result. A small design flaw was the cut out that slots onto the wing. it is too large by half the width and should be cut at an angle tapering aft instead of square... the first pic shows as designed, the last 3 show the cut out tapering aft.
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