If you’ve spent any
appreciable visiting this website’s discussion group as well as the others
on the net, you’ve probably seen the frequent rantings of a few obnoxious
loudmouths who seem to feel that the universe will not be complete until there
is a decent kit of the McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee produced in 1/48 scale. Among the
most rabid and obnoxious of this crew of whiny reprobates is myself. My groans
will be posted on the boards every time a new kit is announced of yet another
P-47 or Bf 109, or a “Luft ‘46” napkin-doodle, or some obscure Polish biplane,
while the Korean War veteran F2H-2 Banshee is overlooked yet again. There are
four airplanes that we absolutely need new kits of in 1/48, and IMHO
these would all be good sellers: the F2H Banshee, the T-28 Trojan, the Mirage
III/V family, and the F-5A/B/T-38 family.Oh, there’s a 1/48 Banshee of sorts on the market, Testor’s repop of the ancient Hawk kit, first tooled shortly after the crust of the Earth cooled. Aside from its Eisenhower-administration-era level of detailing (which is to say, none), the old Hawk Banshee has another major failing: It is an F2H-1 variant, not the more interesting, longer, tip-tank-carrying, Korean War veteran F2H-2.
Now any real modeler worth his Tenax should be able to convert the wretched old Hawk -1 into a decent -2, right? Well, maybe he could if he could find some good drawings of an F2H-2. I’ve been looking for a set for years with no luck. In fact, up to now, I’ve only found two references of any kind on the F2H, an older Ginter book that’s mainly useful for paint and markings schemes, and the 1/72 Airfix F2H-2/-2P kit, which is the only thing available to give you any hint of where the Banshee’s panel lines are. (Of course, “generic” Naval Aviation and/or Korean War books always have a few Banshee photos; the best of these is probably the old Squadron/Signal book USN/USMC in Korea.)
Squadron/Signal to the rescue--at long last! Their new volume #1182 tells the Banshee story in the now-familiar “In Action” format, with adequate text, a few color paintings and profiles, and lots and lots of good B&W photos. As a bonus, the Banshee’s predecessor from McDonnell, the FD-1/FH-1 Phantom, is also covered--briefly, but about as well as you’re likely to find anywhere.
Detail pics are not usually the “In Action” series’ forte, and this book follows format, but there is a drawing of the ejection seat and a couple of partial cockpit photos (looks like it’s all black in there to me, maybe with an interior green floor). A few main landing gear details can be seen in one photo of an F2H-3’s wingfold mechanism.
Some of the loudest members of the “Give us a Banshee model!” posse are Canadian modelers, as Canada operated the final Banshee variant, the F2H-4. They might be a bit disappointed in this book, as it devotes just two pages and four photos (plus one color profile) to the Canadian Banshees. (Actually, Canadian Banshee fans have had a very nice, large, hardcover book on the Canadian Banshee that has been out for at least ten years. It is HIGHLY recommended. Ed) For the rest of us, the photographic coverage of the USN/USMC use of the F2H-1 through -4, including Korean War service and photorecon and nightfighting versions, will be most welcome. At least and at last we have some fairly good sets of 3-view drawings to work with! (Although I have to say that I don’t think the -2N profile drawings look right at all--compare the drawing on page 8 with the photo on page 24 to see what I’m talking about.)
Warts and all, this book is a most welcome addition to Squadron’s “In Action” line, and I heartily recommend it to any modeler with any interest whatever in the F2H. Now, where did I put that old Hawk Banshee kit?
Model on!
--Snake