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cDonnell’s first shot at a
supersonic, radar-equipped
fleet-defense interceptor, the
F3H Demon was handi-
capped by the development of its power-
plant, the infamous Westinghouse J40. A
redesign with a better engine resulted in an
adequate fighter, but it was bettered by its
contemporary, the Vought F8U Crusader.
Eventually, Demons were replaced by the
iconic F4H Phantom in the early 1960s.
Sword’s new kit surpasses earlier efforts
by Emhar, RAREplanes, and Airmodel. It
features fine, recessed exterior detail, a good
cockpit with choice of resin ejection seats,
two-piece canopy, Sparrow and Sidewinder
missiles, and a pair of drop tanks. The decal
sheet in this boxing provides markings for
two Demons. A second boxing with differ-
ent decals is labeled as the F3H-2N/M and
contains identical plastic parts.
Assembly starts with choosing one of
two resin ejection seats. It’s nice that Sword
offers the late Martin-Baker seat as an
alternate, but it was equipped in late
Demons with BuNos of 146709 and later,
and none of the Demons offered on the
decal sheets in either boxing were late jets.
So use the two-part early seat (parts U1
and U2). The fit of the finished cockpit to
the forward fuselage is not precise. The
instructions do not indicate a need for nose
weight, but I added some lead BBs to the
nose cone just in case.
You’re faced with another choice in Step- The fuselage is molded with the Demon’s
early long beaver tail, but a separate later
shorter beaver tail is provided, too. The
short tail belongs on Demons with BuNos
from 143403 and later, correct for the air-
craft depicted on the decal sheet. My sam-
ple’s short beaver tail had deep sink marks
that needed to be filled and sanded.
There’s trouble in Step 13. The assembly
diagram shows a small, unnumbered block
added to the rear deck (Part 34) behind the
ejection seat. There is no part in the kit, so
ignore it. However, the diagrams show an
incorrect assembly of the rear deck. The
deck should be installed flush in the assem-
bled fuselage, covering the opening behind
the seat. Part 36 should be glued inside the
rear of the canopy. Unfortunately, you’d
have to shave off much of the raised detail
from the deck to allow Part 36 to clear it
with the canopy closed.
Sword provides several photo-etched
(PE) brass parts for thin, flat details,
including the braces inside the intakes and
the shell deflector plates behind the gun
ports. I chose to duplicate these items with
pieces of 0.010-inch styrene strip so I could
glue them in place with solvent cement.
The emergency barrier snags are molded
onto the leading edge of the wings. PE
brass snags also are provided, but using
them would involve cutting into the leading
edge with a razor saw and attaching them
with super glue. I passed on
that option, but did install
the large brass wing fences.
The perforated spoilers are also
brass and I installed them after paint-
ing and decaling.
The kit comes with a pair of
Sidewinders, but they look like a later type
than the Demon carried. I rounded off the
noses to partially correct them. You also get
a pair of Sparrow I test missiles and a pair
of Sparrow III production missiles. The tiny
pins on the missile pylons and shallow
holes in the wings make attaching the
weapons stores difficult. Also, the diagrams
show the shorter pylons being attached
outboard, while photos show they should
be inboard. I left off the drop tanks as they
were rarely carried.
The nose gear strut represents a com-
pressed oleo section, but the model sits cor-
rectly despite it. Missing is one retractor
strut and the two shrink struts that are in
front of the main strut.
Sword provides the static pressure boom
on the right wing, but there is no pitot tube
in the kit. It should be at the base of the
windscreen. Also missing is a small tube onthe leading edge of the fin. I’ll make them
from thin stainless steel tubing someday.
Funny, all of these details are shown in the
markings diagrams but are not in the kit!
I painted with Mr. Color lacquers and
kit decals seemed thicker than previous
Sword releases and were easier to handle.
The model looks fine despite missing bits.
I put 19 hours into my Demon. When I
build another, I’ll redo the nose gear strut
to better represent its unique structure.- Paul Boyer
Sword McDonnell F3H-2 Demon
Kit: No. 72122 Scale: 1/72
Mfr.: Sword, swordmodels.cz Price: $17
Comments: Injection-molded, 114 parts
(4 resin, 22 PE brass), decals
Pros: Fine recessed panel lines; good
interior and shapes; colorful markings
Cons: Confusing and conflicting detail
behind the seat; poorly represented
nose-gear strut; some details in instruc-
tions not provided in kit