BY BILL ENGAR

AIRSHOW PROGRAM SUMARY:  Atlantis brings back another long-lost Revell classic with its early (short-nose) Grumman F11F-1.  Expect a nostalgic, easygoing build!  Comprehensive Blue Angels markings for all SIX planes over TWO seasons, PLUS spares!  Beginners might need a little help deciphering the decal instructions.  We’ve got it all covered for you here with detailed explanations and plenty of photos!

The Atlantis F11F-1 Tiger is a box-scale kit at 1/54.  This means it’s closer to 1/48 than 1/72 scale.  The model was originally tooled in 1956, which coincided with initial operational deployment of the Tiger.

Atlantis Models created all-new box art for H169, their new F11F-1 Tiger with Blue Angels markings!  MSRP is a LOW $21.99.

Aircraft technology progressed at breakneck speed through the 1950’s.  The F-11F Tiger joined the trailblazing Douglas F4D Skyray as first carrier-borne supersonic aircraft (in level flight).  The F-8 Crusader, which came along just two years later, was superior in virtually every respect and so the Tiger had a limited career in squadron service once the Crusader replaced it.

Perhaps the Tiger’s best-known role was as the Blue Angels’ performing aircraft from 1957 to 1968, by far the longest an aircraft type was used during the Blue Angels’ early history.  While new F-8 Crusaders were deployed as quickly as possible to the carriers, the Tigers remained valuable for training purposes and its capabilities were a good fit for the Blue Angels’ performance envelope.  The Tiger’s graceful lines made for an aesthetic group formation and the Atlantis kit captures well the essence of the early Tiger.

Atlantis' Grumman F11F-1 is basic when it comes to parts breakdown.  It'll be an easy, quick build.

Revell had a few releases of the Tiger between 1956 and 1961.  Initially released in standard Navy colors, it eventually was available with Blue Angels markings and box art to match.  Atlantis Models created new box art and a very nice set of Blue Angels decals.  Included are numbers to build all six planes plus numbers for three spares!  You could purchase six kits and build the whole team right out-of-the-box if you wish! 

This decal sheet is nearly the same size as the kit box.  Note that two sets of Blue Angels titles are included.  Two backbone flashes are included--the "W" shaped flash is for the 1957 version and "V" shaped flash for 1958.  We detect a white underlayment layer on this sheet.  What this means is that Atlantis took measures to be sure the yellow won't get swallowed up when placed over a dark blue surface.  As always, Atlantis does the little details right when they prepare their kits.

There were two versions of the Tiger used by the Blue Angels.  The Atlantis kit represents the earlier short-nose version.  The Blue Angels used the early short-nose version of the F11F during the 1957 and 1958 seasons.  There were two variations in décor there—and Atlantis has captured them both!

For the 1958 season, the Blues changed the titles to a cursive font that remains to this day, so you have your choice of early font or a more current font.  If you can’t make up your mind, perhaps you’d just better buy twelve kits!

The Revell Riveteer was AWOL the day this kit was mastered.  The rivets that are there are restrained.  Main panel lines are engraved.  Minor panels are finely raised lines.  Oops, we noticed one of the intakes fell off the sprue before we took this picture.  Note that there is a very small amount of flash to clean up here; all flash, sinkhole and ejector pin issues in this kit are minimal.  It's actually pretty amazing considering the age of the tooling, but as we've seen before, Atlantis does test shots and takes measures to improve parts fit and overall quality prior to kit production runs.

Pilot names are also included for 1957 and 1958 seasons!  Atlantis Models went to some lengths to research this sheet.  And if that isn’t enough, there are “spares” included on the decal sheet!  No, these are not spare decals if you mess up, these are the registration numbers for three spare aircraft that were intended to substitute if one or more of the primary aircraft had a maintenance issue.  Those of you familiar with the Tiger will probably know why three spares were needed.

This sprue has outer wingtips which can be posed folded if you want.

The pilot is stuck to the seat like a fly on flypaper, but you can actually paint him up pretty nicely thanks to intricate detail.

Atlantis Models provides an important contribution to the history of Blue Angels model kits with this release by allowing the modeler to choose between these two schemes that represent the evolution of the famous Blue Angels colors.  If you don’t want to build the entire team, you’ll probably want two kits to represent both interesting schemes.  At the low pocket-money price of $21.99, buying a pair won’t break your bank.

The wings were nicely engineered.  You'll want to mask off those engraved leading edge lines and paint those leading edges with the shiniest silver-metallic finish you can find.

Here's a closeup view of the port-side fuselage half with more small parts including nose cap at top, landing gear doors, and tailhook.  The Landing gear strut will be the same blue color as the plane with the oleo (round section between the "scissor" structure) done in shiny-silver.

As far as the plastic, the model is similar to many vintage kits of the era.  None of the parts are small or delicate and any modeler comfortable handling glue should have no trouble building it.  Panel lines are a combination of raised and engraved and rivet detail is subdued.  I detected a few minor sink marks and there is a little flash as you’d expect to see on a vintage model kit, but all in all, the plastic looks great and I can detect no issues that will make this anything other than a nice, easy build.

Grumman's Navy jet fighters utilized bubble canopies.  There are very fine lines to delineate the framing, but you'll want to use photo references while you mask and paint it.

This view is what greets you the first time you open the box to this kit.  Canopy and kit plastic is bagged to protect the parts.

This side of the box has kit info.  As far as paint colors, I don't think that khaki will be needed (stay tuned for an explanation).  You'll need glossy white and gray instead.  You will need a small amount of red along with green to do the wingtip navigation lights (the decals have cutouts for these!).  You will need some blue paint for cockpit framing.  Also stay tuned for a necessary conversation regarding Blue Angels Blue.

This side of the box provides a view of the decal sheet.  The round ball decal suggests a stand; note that one is not included with the kit, although Atlantis offers their swivel-stand separately.  You'll need to cut a slot for the ball mount if you're planning on using a stand because the kit was not tooled with a stand mount.

The 2Modeler guys give Atlantis Models' Grumman F11F-1 "Blue Angels" Tiger four enthusiastic thumbs up!  The plastic should provide an easy build for modelers comfortable using glue and at least a little paint and the decals should go on great.  Beginners might be a little confused by the decal instructions, but we're going to elaborate on them in this article.  We give our thanks to Atlantis Models for providing us with a sample kit to review and enjoy.  We were pleasantly surprised by this kit and we're confident that you'll be happy with it.  Perhaps your biggest challenge will be the decision between the 1957 version and 1958 version.  The easiest solution will be to simply buy two kits.  Your wife will never notice.

The back page of the instructions (left) shows a side view of the early 1957 version (italic block letter titles)

The construction diagram at bottom left (Page 2) shows location of decals for the 1958 version.

BONUS SECTION

THE DECAL OPTIONS:  SOME CLARIFICATION

Recall that you have two major options for your Blue Angels F11F-1; early 1957 season, or 1958 season.  The building instruction diagram on Page 2 of the instructions show placement information for the 1958 scheme.

This photo shows the Blues in their 1957 scheme.  Note the italic, block letter titles.  Note the extra stripe on the "flash" along the aircraft nose.  This is the "W" flash on the decal sheet.  Also note that this scheme does not have the shield insignia!

There are a couple places where less experienced modelers will have questions but we will clear them up here.  The first is proper use of the top “flash.”  Note that there are two flashes on the decal sheet.  One is “V”-shaped, the other is a “W.”  To put it simply, use the “V” flash for the 1958 (later) scheme.  Use the “W” for the early (1957) scheme.

This photo shows the 1958 scheme.  It uses the "V" shaped flash, cursive titles, and has the shield, at least on the nose of the #4 aircraft.

The second question will be about the silver comet-like marking.  The "spear" was simply unpainted, highly polished natural aluminum surrounding an engine vent intended to expel a quantity of engine bleed air and oil effluent used to cool the turbine bearings inside the Wright J65 turbojet.  The "spear" region would have to be wiped down after every flight and repeated exposure to oil or the constant cleaning would damage a painted finish.  It’s located on the starboard (right) side of the aircraft with the vent port almost directly below the trailing edge of the wing as noted in the photo.  This decal’s placement is not mentioned in the instructions.

Here's another picture of a short-nose (early) F11F used by the Blue Angels in 1958 as noted with the cursive titles and shield on the nose.  Note that the aircraft doesn't have a large tail#.  The "spear" marking for the vent, present on the decal sheet, can plainly be seen here.

CONSTRUCTION HINTS
 
The instructions don’t mention the need to put weight in the nose of the model to avoid a tail-sitter.  As with any model plane that has a tricycle landing gear configuration, I’d recommend taping the fuselage together with your weight in the nose and dry-fitting wings and tail surfaces; those also could be secured temporarily with a small piece of tape.  If the model balances in front of the location where the main landing gear wheels should be, then the amount of weight in the nose should be sufficient.  Painting a model will probably bias the weight backwards a gram or two!  The F-11F-1 model has plenty of space to add weight.  Lead fishing weights secured with epoxy glue work great; my favorites for building aircraft models are known as “bullet weights” and they are pre-shaped to fit nicely inside most model airplane noses.

This is the (later) Blue Angels F11F at the Pima Air and Space Museum in Tucson, AZ.  This photo shows where to locate the "spear" bearing cooling vent decal.

Landing gear wells used the same paint scheme as the fleet birds; the bottoms of these aircraft were glossy white and that carried over into the wheel wells.  Landing gear struts are the same color as the overall aircraft (except the oleos, which are bright silver)

ROLLING ​WHEELS AND A HOT SCREWDRIVER: 
 
It was quite typical for model airplanes of the 1950’s to have rolling wheels thanks to a heated screwdriver.  The idea is to heat a screwdriver blade to the point where it will melt the axle post, creating a neat flare that will retain the wheel so it will roll.  As a kid, this was always tricky and I messed up a few times before learning that there was kind of an ideal temperature for the screwdriver to get the perfect “flare” on the axle post.
 
Nowadays, I simply trim off the post so it is even with the wheel hub and I glue the wheel on.  The wheels won’t roll, but the hub looks a lot better than most of the jobs I did while a kid-modeler.

Here's the #5 aircraft, a short-nose bird in the 1958 scheme.  Note that there is no shield insignia on this plane.

I know that some of you are working hard to retain the entire vintage experience of building this model and if you want to try the heated screwdriver trick, I’d suggest taking the kit sprue and doing a few sprue-stretches to narrow down a portion of the sprue.  If you’re not familiar with sprue stretching, check out our Atlantis B-24 review where we show in detail how to do this model building trick.  If you get a segment of sprue that is stretched down to approximately the same diameter as the axle post, then you can practice the heated screwdriver trick to your heart’s content before trying it on your model kit part.  OK, it’s easier to just cut the axle post off even with the wheel hub.  And safer, too.

Since our detail shots of the Tiger at Pima Air and Space Museum were taken, their newer long-nose F11F (#141824) has been refurbished and repainted as the #6 aircraft.  We're happy to see that it is displayed out of the harsh Arizona sun where it will be much better preserved for future generations to enjoy.

Be sure to check out BoxArtDen if you haven't already.  This is one of their restored images of the original Revell F11F-1 box artwork of the Tiger in typical for the time Navy squadron markings.

ENGRAVED INTAKE DANGER WARNING:
 
Note around the intakes that the V-like jet intake danger warning stripes are engraved.  During carrier operations, the markings are important reminders about the dangers of jet intakes while engines are spinning (if you haven’t seen it, this YouTube video of a crewman being sucked into a jet engine illustrates the danger). Not needed for exhibition purposes, these markings were not used on Blue Angels aircraft and they could be filled with putty and sanded smooth prior to painting for the Atlantis version.  And the guy sucked into the A-6 engine was not seriously injured, believe it or not!

An online "paint chip" for Blue Angels Blue paint!

A gorgeous Blue Angels museum aircraft.  Compare the color to the paint chips.  It's lighter, right!!??

FS-15050 is the federal standard formula for Blue Angel Blue.  It says so right here!!!

WHAT COLOR IS BLUE ANGELS BLUE?

The answer to this question is very simple—Blue Angels Blue.
 
The next question becomes more difficult to answer:  “What color is Blue Angels Blue?”
 
Blue Angel Blue is officially FS# 15050.  If you look at a color chip, most would call it Navy blue, or a dark blue.  Chances are, if you buy this color paint and use it as-is on your model, it will probably seem too dark!
 
Check out photos of the Blues throughout this article and compare them to the color chips.  The planes in the photos always look lighter than the color chip.  This is due to what is referred to as “scale effect.”  In real life, the color of the dark airplane at a distance just looks lighter.  To me, a mix of Testors light blue and dark blue enamel that comes out a little lighter than a color chip of “Blue Angels Blue” is right.  Actually, after wandering around the Internet a little looking at pictures of the Blue Angels F11F’s, the color of plastic the kit is already molded in really doesn’t look too light at all!  Note that the in the picture of the museum aircraft above, the shade of blue even appears a tad dark compared to the other color photos.  Crazy hue.  Crazy, huh!

Take all the Grumman aircraft off a Cold War-era aircraft carrier and you'll have very few airplanes left.  The straight-wing Grumman F9F Panther evolved into the swept-wing F9F Cougar, which in turn was substantially tweaked into the supersonic F11F Tiger.

Chris Paulson sent me a great link from the Tailspintopics blog. The Tailhook Topics page discusses the evolution, application, and even definition of Blue Angels Blue and it's definitely worth a read if you're contemplating paint color on any Blue Angels model!  Thanks, Chris!!! 

​Another thing to remember is that the type of color film used to photograph a Blue Angels aircraft will have an effect on the shade of blue in the picture and even the direction and angle of the sun will affect the hue as well.  My best advice here is to experiment and remember that the best shade of Blue Angel Blue is probably what looks right to you!

ADDITIONAL PAINTING TIPS

Leading edges of wings, tail surfaces and intakes should be highly polished aluminum (as always, check your photo references!).  Unless you’re building an outdoor museum aircraft, weathering on a Blue Angels aircraft should be minimal.  No other Navy aircraft are as meticulously cleaned and primped as these.
 
The instructions are a reproduction of vintage artwork.  Decals are much more comprehensive than what came with the original model.  The instructions flag locations that were intended to be painted yellow in the original Blue Angels kit; since Atlantis has provided decals for what previously would have been painted, all the paint flags indicating “yellow” should be ignored although if there are some gaps, say, at the wingtips, a little touch-up with yellow might be in order.

This shot of the 1957 scheme shows how the horizontal flash meets the intake.

Photos suggest that the Tigers had gray cockpits.  I don't believe that zinc chromate or green would be seen anywhere in wheel wells or cockpit interior spaces.  Use that green paint for the starboard-side wingtip light.  Portside tip lights are red.

Instructions would have you paint the pilot’s helmet red.  This might possibly have been seen in a Navy squadron of the era, but likely not on the Blue Angels.  Check your references there; I’ve seen pictures of early Blue Angels helmets that are white, blue, or yellow, but not red.  Also, I don't believe that pilots wore khaki flight suits as called out in the painting instructions.  This is probably an error left over from the original release of the kit that depicted an operational squadron aircraft.  For many years, the Navy and Marine pilots who flew Blue Angels aircraft wore--what else--blue flight suits.

BLUE ANGELS TRIVIA:  For their performances, the Blue Angels pilots do not wear G-suits!  Their choreographed maneuvers generating high G-forces are such practiced routines that the pilots know exactly when to tense certain muscles to prevent blacking out.  Also, a G-suit would interfere with the precise muscle control needed to fly in such tight formation.
 
Please let me be clear that I am not an expert in Navy color schemes of this or any era.  If you, dear reader, can present more definitive evidence for Blue Angels colors circa 1957-8, you are welcome to do so!  I’m always happy to update our articles with contributions from our readers who have specialized information in a particular topic.  As can be seen in these photos, there were ongoing revisions to Blue Angels paint schemes!

THE BLUE ANGELS

Wikipedia has a comprehensive history about the origins of the U.S. Navy Blue Angels including how they got their name.  Did you know that the Blue Angels also represent the United States Marines?  One of the six Blues team members is always a Marine pilot symbolizing the teamwork between these two branches of the U.S. military.
 
Their website is also worth visiting and has a list of their upcoming shows.  The Blue Angels have performed for over 500 million people.  If you haven’t experienced their aerial display, check their schedule and visit an upcoming show near you!

Utah is Air Force Thunderbirds country, and the Blue Angels don’t stop by very often due to the simple fact that we don’t have a Naval air station here.  We have regular opportunities to see the USAF Thunderbirds perform at Hill Air Force Base and we’ve seen a number of their shows featuring T-38’s and F-16’s.
 
However, in about 1970, the Utah Air National Guard hosted the Blue Angels at an event at their field adjacent to Salt Lake City International Airport.  I was pretty young when I attended this show.  My next-door neighbor was an ANG member and took me to see this demonstration, which was an unforgettable experience.  At the time, the Blues were just starting to use the F-4 Phantom.  All I can say was the thunder of twelve huge J79 engines in afterburner was overwhelming.  The Phantom was a giant of an airplane.  The sight of six of them in a tight delta formation was absolutely staggering!  The experience made me a lifelong Phantom Phanatic.

This poster by Chris Bogan Creative shows the relative sizes of the aircraft used by the Blue Angels over the years.  Of note is how massive the F-4 Phantom is compared to even the F/A-18.  As this was being written, the Blue Angels were transitioning to the F/A-18 Super Hornets.  Chris has an updated 75th anniversary version of the poster that includes the Super Hornets!

The Blue Overcast returns!  Late in 2020, the Blue Angels transitioned officially to the F/A-18 Super Hornet.  This aircraft, 25% larger than the "Legacy Hornet" F/A-18A/B, will bring the same massive presence to the sky that the F-4 Phantoms did between 1969 and 1974.  The F/A-18E/F is larger than the F-4J and the engines are more powerful.  Upcoming Blue Angels shows are sure to be spectacular!  

IT'S BACK!!!

For whatever reason, Revell never re-released their F11F-1 Tiger kit.  Over the years, many classic box-scale models have seen regular releases, but the Tiger was never seen since 1961.  

Revell's F11F-1 Tiger was never re-released since this 1961 version was available!  For many years, we assumed the worst.

Was the F11F Tiger tooling lost?  Was it damaged beyond repair?  Did it have too many rivets to be accepted by modelers?  We kept wondering when Revell would announce a re-release, but it just never happened!

Revell's Cougar molds were dusted off as late as 1985!

Revell's 1/55 Cougar kit first tooled in 1953 was released through the 60's, 70's, and even as late as 1985.  For that release, Revell decided to make us believe that the model was a 1/48-scale kit (it said so on that fine print at the bottom of the Blue-Band box art!).  They couldn't fool us.  We knew it was the classic box-scale kit.

In late 1987, Revell re-released a quartet of their classic box-scale kits with new artwork by Stu Shepherd.  These Blue-Band kits could be had for around $3.00 each if you knew where to shop!  But where was the Tiger???  The F-94 has seen a 1990's Revell SSP re-release in a vintage-style box.  Atlantis will soon re-release the F-89 Scorpion!  We'll be sure and provide news and coverage regarding this kit; we've contributed to it!  We hope to see the classic B-58 and F-100 again, too!

Former Revell box artist Stu Shepherd created this Blue Angels artwork.

In the late 1990's, Revell initiated their SSP program and a number of classic subjects returned, some of which had not seen a release since the early days of the hobby.  The F11F Tiger was never included!

It wasn't until Atlantis models acquired all the legacy Revell tooling after the 2018 Revell/Hobbico implosion that the spigot opened wide with dozens of announcements of amazing classic box-scale kits. ​

For those of us who love these classic models, it was like a dream come true!   For 2021, Atlantis announced they were going to do the Tiger and we were VERY excited!  We were a little nervous; what would we get?  After seeing the plastic, we wonder why the kit wasn't re-released sooner, but it doesn't matter!  It's available now and it's awesome!  Atlantis is bringing back a box-scale cornucopia and all these models will look fantastic displayed together!  Thanks to Atlantis, Box-Scale is really cool again!