Click2Detail 1/144 North American FJ-4 Fury
By Matt Bittner
Introduction
The FJ Fury was developed at the same time as the F-86 Sabre. It was developed for the United States Navy (USN) and Marine Corp at a time when the USN needed a more capable ship-based fighter. The FJ-4 was a further development of the Fury line by using a thinner wing with an increased area. In addition, the aircraft flew with more fuel giving it a better range.
The Kit
The Click2Detail 1/144 FJ-4 Fury comes in three versions: "on the tarmac", "in flight" and "deluxe". This is a review of the "on the tarmac" version and it comes with 18 pieces. There are no decals so any marking option you choose you will need to source your own decals. The detail is really nice on this kit and must be seen to be believed. The only area that might need some work is the cockpit – most 3D printed kits I know of rarely comes with a full interior. What I may try to do is incorporate a RetroWings cockpit meant for the Trumpeter F-86 (there are probably differences, but if you close the canopy most won't be seen). If I do this, then I will definitely use the provided clear-resin canopy to "squash-cast" a thinner replacement. In addition I will probably replace the kit-supplied, long pitot tube with a metal one – while the kit one is good, the metal will provide more strength and won't be easily knocked off.
Construction is not too difficult. Decide if you want to display the outer wings up or not, and glue them on that way. The main landing gear, each side, is a single piece capturing the gear doors and landing gear/wheel in one piece (with the larger doors as a single piece for both sides). The tail hook is a separate piece and I suspect it's this way because the model may be tail heavy, so gluing the tail hook down will keep the model on its nose gear. As with the main gear, the nose gear is also one piece incorporating the wheel well and smaller gear door, plus landing gear and wheel, while the larger door is a separate piece. There are also separate antennas and the smaller pitot tube in the starboard wing. Plus the canopy has a separate sliding part it's attached to.
And that's it for your 1/144 FJ-4 Fury.
Conclusion
Another kit that shouldn't be difficult to assemble, especially if not wanting to add any cockpit detail, the Click2Detail is an excellent addition to your 1/144 "air force". Although you'll need to source your own decals this could be a weekend build.
Many, many thanks to Click2Detail for sending this in for review.