1:72 Ryan F2R 'Dark Shark'; aircraft "117/Bu. No. 141467" of VF 870 Squadron, Royal Canadian Navy/RCN, HMCS Magnificent, early 1951 (Whif/MPM kit)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

Some background:

The Ryan F2R Dark Shark was an aircraft originally built for the United States Navy that combined turboprop and turbojet propulsion. It was based on Ryan's earlier FR Fireball, but replaced the Fireball's piston engine with a General Electric T-31 turboprop engine driving a 4-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller.

 

The prototype made its maiden flight in November 1946 from Edwards Air Base. The turboprop made for much improved performance over the Fireball, but the US Navy showed little interest in it; by that time, they had abandoned the idea of the combination fighter and were instead looking into all-jet fighters, e .g. the Grumman F9F Panther, McDonnell FH Phantom and later the F2H Banshee.

Anyway, compared to the fabled North American P-51D Mustang fighter of World War 2, the Dark Shark exceeded her listed performance statistics of a 437 mile per hour top speed and 3,200 feet per minute rate-of-climb - the potential was there.

 

Although the F2R did not sell to the United States (beyond the Navy the Air Force also showed some interest, but this also turned out as a dead end, too), the Canadian Navy was looking for a the compact and fast fighter. Pure jet aircraft were at that time considered too costly and risky in operational use on the relatively small ships of the Colossus class, and the Dark Shark promised a good compromise between performance, safety and complexity.

 

In August 1947 Canada finally ordered a total of 18 F2Rs for the country's sole carrier, the HMCS Magnificent. Production Dark Sharks incorporated a number of design improvements like a better gun-sight as well as speed brakes and Canadian equipment. The Canadian Navy wanted to improve the armament, fitting four 20mm cannons instead of the original 0.5" machine guns, but this proved to be impossible - the wing structure did not offer enough space. Reducing the armamment to just two cannons was rejected, as well as the idea of a complete redesigning. Hence, the relatively light machine guns prevailed. Further armament comprised external ordnance of up to 2.000 lbs (907 kg), including HVARs under the outer wings and iron bombs or drop tanks on two hardpoints under the wing roots..

 

Even though the Canadian F2R served with British Commonwealth Forces in the early Korean War stages, they were not deployed to the respective war theatre and were never used in front line service and under real combat conditions - they were mostly used for pilot training.

 

The Dark Shark’s active career was short, though: already in 1951 the RCN expressed interest in replacing their F2Rs and obsolescent Hawker Sea Furies with McDonnell Douglas F-2 Banshees, drafting a $40 million deal for 60 new aircraft. Unfortunately, due to fiscal wrangling in the Canadian Cabinet, the purchase was not approved until after Banshee production had been shut down in 1953. The RCN was finally forced to acquire second-hand USN aircraft, 39 F-2C Banshees at a cost of $25 million. These aircraft were delivered from 1955 to 1958, and the Dark Sharks subsequently phased out after less than 10 years of use.

 

 

General characteristics

Crew: 1

Length: 36 ft 0 in (10.97 m)

Wingspan: 42 ft 0 in (12.80 m)

Height: 14 ft 0 in (4.27 m)

Wing area: 305 ft² (28.3 m²)

Loaded weight: 11,000 lb (4,990 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1 × General Electric J31 turbojet, 1,600 lbf (7.1 kN)

1 × General Electric T31 turboprop, 1,760 hp (1,310 kW)

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 497 mph (432 kn, 800 km/h) at sea level

Service ceiling: 39,100 ft (11,900 m)

Rate of climb: 4,850 ft/min (24.64 m/s)

Wing loading: 36.1 lb/ft² (176 kg/m²)

 

Armament:

4 × .50-inch (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns

2.000 lbs (907 kg) of external ordnance, including iron bombs or drop tanks on two hardpoints under the wing roots and/or HVARs under the outer wings.

 

 

 

The kit and its assembly

Some time ago I came across MPM’s Dark Shark kit at a convention – I had no plan for the kit, but it was cheap (EUR 10,-), so it landed in my bag and eventually in the kit pile. I never wanted to build the real USN prototype, rather a whiffy thing, but it took long until I inspiration struck… So it came that Canada would be the sole (fictional) operator of this unique aircraft, which only flew as a single prototype.

 

The Dark Shark IS weird. Conceptually, it somehow reminds me of the EE/BAC Lightning, because the engine layout dictated anything else around it – and it is amazing how the engineers got all the engine parts into this relatively small airframe. Consequently, the landing gear is retracting outwards, the respective wells are part of the folding outer wing parts! And the relatively short wheelbase certainly made handling of this aircraft rather hazardous, I do not want to imagine how deck landings might have been...? Balance and CG certainly also had some serious effects on handling, both on ground and in the air. But: it is an interesting aircraft that actually flew, being outpaced by reality.

 

As to be expected from a limited run kit like this, fit is rather so-so. Being honest: it's pretty poor. Surface detail quality is low, just some panel engravings can be made out. Lots of flash, some sinkholes (in the wheels) and in parts even a grainy surface finish.

The kit came with photo-etched parts, but this does IMHO not help, it's like a placebo. My kit also came with a vacu canopy, AFAIK there are also versions with injected canopies and without the photo-etched parts for cockpit and landing gear around.

 

Anyway, beware: this is only something for those who can and want to invest some time and effort into the building process. Nothing really fits: the fuselage halves are uneven, by about 1mm. The wing part with the front wheel bay has been constructed in such a complicated fashion that you only get it right when you (theoretically) fit everything together at the same time, but you will need four hands to accomplish this feat... At least the nose section offers enough room to store a bid pile of lead, so that this tail-sitter kit actually stand on its three wheels.

 

The propeller and the long nose are ridicolous, concerning the sprue attachment, the fit of the parts(?) and the fact that the construction only allows a fixed mounting. It's appaling - I was close to constructing the whole nose from scrathc, but finally built a scratch mount from styrene tubes and a wheel from a 1:76 WWII lorry.

 

But there's more to worry: the air intakes in the wing roots also have such a weird construction that you have three parts intersecting - with the poor overall fit it is IMHO impossible to achieve a sound shape, at least without lots of putty, sculpting and sanding.

 

Additionally, the intersection between the upper wings and the fuselage seems not to belong to the same kit - it took serious shaving and putty in order to achieve a decent transition between these large parts. This kit is nothing for beginners and IMHO totally overprized, at least when you buy it under normal circumstances. Huah!

 

Consequently, I used some scratch and replacement parts in my kit, e. g. totally new wheels and some other landing gear parts. I also added two WWII style GP bombs (probably from vintage Revell P-40's) under the inner wings - the original kit only offers the empty hardpoints. A jet pilot figure was added, too, as well as a better arrester hook.

 

The only argument that is pro MPM kit is the fact that it is the only 1:72 Dark Shark around. Be warned!

 

 

Painting

Another whif with a rather simple and - at first glance - familiar livery. But this one is unique: the Canadian Navy had its own colors. The upper grey of early RCN aircraft was called Dark Grey 1-9 (later 501-102, maybe FS 16099), very similar to NATO Extra Dark Sea Grey (e .g. Humbrol 123), and the lower sides were painted in a light grey instead of Sky, with the code 1-13 (later 501-106). The exact tones are under expert debate, though, literature makes controversial recommendations. For instance, the lower side grey is supposed to be FS 16314 (Glossy Flint Grey), and while the tone matches IMHO well, it is much too dark.

 

Anyway, I rather followed personal taste and impressions, inspired by pictures of real life RCN Banshees. I used simple Humbrol 79 (Dark Blue Grey, similar to German RAL 7012 Basaltgrau) for upper sides and Light Aircraft Grey (Humbrol 166) for the lower sides and fuselage flanks - the latter turned out to be a bit too pale, though, but I kept it since it is different enough from Sky.

 

This basic livery was combined with decals from Xtradecal's Sea Fury sheet X720074 and pimped with some colourful trim typical for RCN’s 870th Squadron/VF 870, e .g. the red propeller boss and the red and white fin decoration.

The latter was improvised: the rudder was painted with Humbrol 153 (Insignia Red) and the white wedges were cut manually from white 3mm stripe decals from a TL Modellbau aftermarket sheet. Tedious task, but IMHO worthwhile because this was much cleaner than trying do this delicate task with paint and brush alone.

 

The cockpit interior was painted in classic Chromate Green, a mix of Humbrol's 224 and 80, with some dry-painted Zinc Chromate Green from Testors. The landing gear was painted in Aluminum, as well as the respective wells.

As an eye-cather, the interior of the air intakes in the wing roots were painted in bright red (Humbrol 174), as well as the wheel discs.

 

The kit was only slightly weathered through a thin black ink wash and dry-painted panels. Finally, everything was sealed under a coat of semi-matte varnish (Tamiya), since the Canadian Navy machines had a rather glossy finish.

 

 

 

A simple aircraft, but a challenge to build. IMHO the slender Dark Shark looks very good in RCN colors, and the high waterline underlines the aircraft's clean lines. Hope you like it, too, and with best regards to fellow FlickR user Franclab in Canada. ^^

Done