The Grumman F3F-2 was the last biplane fighter to serve with the United States Navy, entering service in 1937 and remaining in active use as a trainer well into the early years of the war. Its wings were still fabric-covered, and its retractable undercarriage was hand-cranked — requiring exactly 28 revolutions of a cockpit handle. For carrier operations, that must have been a demanding task during take-off and landing. Many of the US Navy and Marine Corps' great flying aces flew the F3F as part of their early training.
This is the Grumman F3F-2 from Accurate Miniatures in 1/48 scale — a highly detailed kit that includes photoetched parts. I originally built it about ten years ago, but it had been gathering dust due to lack of display space. Rather than start a new kit, I disassembled and completely rebuilt the model. After a decade, the glued joints had become brittle and came apart with minimal force. I used oven cleaner to strip the paint from the upper wing and canopy, then reprimed and repainted the entire model.
The reference aircraft is BuNo 0995 — originally coded 2-MF-16 — which was damaged in a crash on December 30, 1940, repaired, and overpainted in Gray Blue over Light Gull Gray. Colours are from the Vallejo US Navy & USMC set (No. 71157), which offers a slightly bluer tone than AK Interactive — a difference I find very appealing on the model. Stars are from Yellow Wings decals; the BuNo is a combination of various decal sheets. The canopy is scratch-built, as I always find kit canopies too thick for an open-display pose.
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