Siga 1/72 FJ-1 Fury

SIGA 1:72 FJ-1 FURY

Reviewer: Simon Skinner (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 6 September 2002

Aircraft:
In January 1945, to continue its evaluation of jet-powered fighters started with the FD/FH Phantom, the US Navy ordered North American XFJ-1 and Vought XF6U-1 prototypes. The NA-134 was North American's first jet fighter design, and was a clean but small low-wing monoplane with straight flying surfaces and a straight-through arrangement for the axial-flow turbojet. The first example flew in November 1946 with a General Electric turbojet, and orders were later placed for 100 FJ-1 production aircraft.

Deliveries of these aircraft began in March 1948 with Allison-built engines, but by this time the order had been cut to 30 aircraft as the Fury had been overtaken by the rapid development of more advanced fighters. Some aircraft equipped the VF-5A on the USS Boxer, and this squadron became the first to serve at sea under operational conditions with a jet fighter. It was also the first and only squadron to receive the FJ-1 production aircraft. The type also had the unusual facility to kneel on a carrier deck by retracting the nosewheel so that the nose rested on the small wheel. Thus, planes could be parked with the nose of one under the tail of another!

Further evolution of the basic design with swept surfaces produced the F-86 Sabre.

The Kit:
I'm not sure if these kits are short run but that is the impression I got when opening up the box. There are two sprues of light grey injection molded parts that are encumbered by a small amount of flash and a few ejector pin marks, but nothing that can't be removed in a straight forward manner. Panel lines are recessed and are a bit basic, whilst surface detail is on the minimal side of things. There is a tacky yet oily residue on the plastic meaning the parts need a good wash first. One injection molded canopy in two pieces is supplied in the kit, a bit on the thick side but acceptable.

Instructions:
Provides a brief history and fairly clear construction sequence that most modellers will follow without any real concerns and painting information for the two colour options the kit provides for. However, only generic names are provide for colours with no paint range or FS equivalents quoted. Thankfully, gloss sea blue, silver and orange are pretty easy to replicate without further specific information.

Construction:
Treat this like any limited run kit and you will get through okay, so don't assume it goes together like a mainstream kit as you need to be prepared to put in a little bit of extra effort. With this in mind I will say up front that I did enjoy building the kit and with the aid of test fitting first, didn't encounter any significant issues along the way.

Parts need to be removed carefully from the sprues because the plastic is easily gouged and the first area that got assembled was the cockpit. Pretty basic really - a cockpit tub with side console detail and a main instrument panel attached to it, plus seat and stick. Everything goes together pretty easily and snugly inside the fuselage half. Don't forget to add plenty of nose weight because this will rear up like someone has just been given an electric shock up the backside! Before the fuselage halves are closed the intake trunk and nose wheel bay also need to be put in place. Both were poor fits, the former much smaller than the fuselage cone and the latter needing trimming. A small amount of putty was inserted behind the intake trunk but there was no escaping the fact that it could be seen on close inspection afterward.

Next comes the placing together of the fuselage halves and this was a source of immense frustration because one is actually a tiny bit larger than the other! So out with the putty and flat file to blend the joins in as smooth as possible. This was a very time consuming task and a lot of the basic detail was removed in the process of trying to reduce the size of one fuselage half. You could almost get away with not doing anything about it, but it would be noticeable to any discerning eye on close inspection.

The wings were assembled separately and benefit from a bit of a clean up to remove some ejector pin marks and flash. I added the tip tanks also at the same time before placing the wing sub assembly onto the aircraft. The locating pins did not fit so they were removed and the wings butt joined with super glue after the respective mating surfaces were given a preparatory sanding. Likewise a similar story for the tailplanes. Pegs were also needed to keep the wing halves clamped together as the trailing edges were all too keen to prize apart. Photos of the aircraft are also handy to get the correct angle of the wings portrayed because once you remove those locating pins there is not really much to assist you get it right. Filler was needed in the usual places around the wing roots.

The canopy is in two parts and contains a slight bit of flash, it also benefits from a quick once over with the trusty exacto blade to shave off any micro-bumps etc. The windscreen only goes into place with a fair bit of persuasion while the open main canopy goes on without too many hassles at all. As a matter of interest, I test fitted it for a closed cockpit and the news was not too promising as I suspect there will be a gap between windscreen and main canopy.

The undercarriage was finally added last and went on without any major dramas. Once all that was done, the aircraft was given a coat of primer before the orange rear fuselage band was painted, masked and the gloss sea blue was sprayed on around it.

Versions & Decals:
The kit provides for two aircraft that can be replicated in an overall Gloss Sea Blue scheme both from the US Navy with one having an orange fuselage band to break the mundane blue. The decal sheet is medium sized with a good array of stencilling to accompany the US Navy insignia. The register of the colour is quite good and on first appearance they remind you somewhat of a Hasegawa decal sheet. But appearances are deceiving and these decals are not all that they seem. On hitting the water they were prone to curling and disintegrating - one came off with half its backing sheet like some sort of leper infection! I dispensed with the kit decals and used spares, but I managed to salvage a few of the stencils and used those from the kit. Carrier film is also on the thick side and some silvering effect was noticed. Overall, pretty poor.

Overall:
At the end of the day I have finished with a very nice looking model of the FJ-1 Fury, so on that basis I would recommend this kit to those with some modelling experience, can rework the kit a bit and of course "must have" a Fury in their collection. I'm sure the old Hasegawa kit is probably better or as good as this kit but it is still one that is worthy of recommendation. Certainly not one for the novice though as it needs a fair bit of work to bring up to a satisfactory standard.

Related Reviews:-

Siga 1/72 North American FJ-1 Fury (Richard Stracey)

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