This kit is very similar to the previous Panther kit in terms of what the kit is like and what is offered. It has engraved panel lines, two position speed brakes and cockpit and the ability to carry underwing ordnance. In this case it is a combination of wing tanks and Sidewinder missiles.  The cockpit is identical with seat, stick and instrument panel. Decals are provided for instruments and you get a pilot should you wish to use it.

Instructions are also the same with six construction steps, though there is some color information for the interior and other parts. FS 595a colors are given in those cases. You get three different decal options. One is a Blue Angels aircraft, and for this you get a standard nose. For the others, a later nose with refueling probe is provided. A gull grey and white Cougar from VF-81 is provided as in a training TAF-9 from VT-86. This plane is in white with international orange sections on it. It makes into a very colorful model, but bleed-through of the orange is a real problem when it comes to decals. The decals provided in this boxing are the same subjects as what is in the Hasegawa kit. As I got mine as a 'special', the decals in it were badly water damaged, requiring a hunt for replacements. Unfortunately, the pickings are rather slim in this regard.

After finding an aftermarket cockpit from ResinArt, I decided to tackle this one once again. I'd previously build this boxing many years ago as the VT-86 plane and recall it being a pleasant build. The ResinArt cockpit is superbly molded and provides a great amount of detail that includes a color etched brass set for the instrument panel, belts and a few other bits. I did have some breakage as the control stick snapped off its lower section and broke into two pieces. Since attempting to repair this would be futile, I'll have no choice but to use the kit part.

As getting the cockpit all assembled and painted will be (for me) a time consuming process, it provides the opportunity to search for applicable painting schemes. Until that choice is made, none of the holes in the lower wing will be opened as the sea blue Cougars (which would be early production) apparently didn't have Sidewinder capabilities, if the historical section is correct.

So the first thing to do was to prepare the main fuselage halves for the resin cockpit. The anti-glare shield and the backlight have to be removed. This was first done by a couple of scribes of the general area with my scalpel, followed by bending the part down until it snapped free. This is actually a pretty easy task. I then used my low speed motor tool to grind away more of the plastic and finally some coarse sand paper to bring it down to the correct shape. Naturally, one side turned out perfect while the other didn't as I took away a teeny bit too much. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grumman_F-9_Cougar

Thanks to me for this one.

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