Naval fighters, what if

[maxmwill]

Being relatively new here, I'm still feeling my way around, as well as working on something which I might like to show, a possible F16 variant with forward swept wings and canard, and all  sets of wings are joined(the fsw has severe dihedral, while the swept back nose wings have enough anhedral to allow a bullet fairing to connect to the main wings), and as this was in 1983 when the patent drawing was filed, it'll be of that vintage.

Anyway, that's not what this thread is about.

For some time I've been wondering about the Grumman XF5F Skyrocket, enough to start shopping around for a kit(preferably in 1/48, because due the unkind and uncaring advance of years, 1/72 is a bit hard to handle. Bad enough I need glasses for the quarter scale.

I've been wondering if anyone has done a whiff of the F5F as an operational fighter/fighter-bomber, or possible attack aircraft(kind of a multirole aircraft).

And, as it was being developed on the eve of the War, could it possibly have served under other flags, say, Great Britain, or others as a land flyer, say as a lend lease to the Soviet Union(they sure like ground attack aircraft, including the Cobra and the Hurricane. 

[Dizzyfugu]

IIRC, there have been several Skyrockets around here, or its land-based counterpart, the (X)P-50.

Potential (serious) users will certainly those that bought the P-36/40, the F4F or the Brewster Buffalo.

[Old Wombat]

I've seen a number of F5F Skyrocket builds & I'm pretty sure at least 2 of them are on this site, somewhere!

For some time I've been wondering about the Grumman XF5F Skyrocket, enough to start shopping around for a kit(preferably in 1/48, because due the unkind and uncaring advance of years, 1/72 is a bit hard to handle. Bad enough I need glasses for the quarter scale.

Oh. man, ain't that the truth!

[NARSES2]

My two were in 1/72

http://www.whatifmodelers.com/index.php/topic,37014.0/highlight,skyrocket.html

[jcf]

Minicraft did the XF5F in 1/48 in both the short-nose and long-nose configurations, originally in
different boxings, the later release has parts for either configuration.

http://modelingmadness.com/review/allies/us/hornerf5f.htm

http://www.cybermodeler.com/hobby/kits/min/kit_min_11660.shtml

A few have been built in Blackhawk markings.
http://hsfeatures.com/features04/skyrockettm_1.htm

[Old Wombat]

That's a nice metal finish!

[maxmwill]

Well, I did find a a few 1/48 Skyrockets on Ebay, one of which is a limited run MPM kit with pe parts, and this could be had for less than 32 bucks total, if that is the winning bid.

There are a few more, Minicraft kits, and they vary in price from just under 30 to around 38 bucks or so.

And I also found the Ginter Naval Fighters book on the Skyrocket, both XF2F and the XP50, so there is that.

And I've been gravitating toward a possible Soviet Lend Lease idea, with the F5F being turned into a ground attack, with possibly something in the nose(37mm?), plus wing mounted cannon, and anything more I'm not sure about.

I don't know because at this point, I'm still in the head-in-clouds planning stage, so as time marches on, perhaps what I'm thinking about or considering could and might change, depending on what else I think of.