The F-89C Scorpion is a surprisingly large aircraft — the wing is massive. Revell's kit of this early Cold War warrior is simple but well-executed. The model has raised panel lines, which I rescribed, but several inaccuracies for the C-model. These include various vents over the fuselage which need to be filled or omitted, moulded-in wing pylons for rockets (not carried by the F-89C), incorrect nosewheels (they should be spoked) and no fins on the wing-tip tanks. I used photos of this the F-89C from the web to make the changes to the airframe and added tank fins from plastic card. To improve the nosewheels I overlaid the hubs with paper cut to a spoke pattern to give the impression of spoked hubs. For the NMF I used Alclad II for the first time over an entire airframe. I undercoated with Humbrol enamel gloss black and then sprayed the Aluminium. I then masked off the aluminium and sprayed the red and yellow trim in Humbrol enamel. These areas were coated with Klear, decalled (using the kit decals, which were resistant to settling into the recessed detail), washed with oil and then sealed with Pollyscale Flat. The masking was then removed and an oil wash applied directly onto the Alclad, followed by the decals. Some of the aluminium had to be retouched where small flecks of the Alclad were removed by the masking. The multi-hue metal effect is simply different densities in the application of the Alclad. A nice kit which was straightforward to correct, easy to rescribe and simple to construct. I finished this model in the Spring of 2003.
