Colors & Markings Series Volume 1
F9F Cougar in US Navy & Marine Corps Service

Detail & Scale

Reviewed by Donald Linn

This is a review of the print version.

Detail and Scale closed out 2020 with a new book; F9F Cougar in US Navy & Marine Corps Service; Colors & Markings Series Vol. 1. This is not a duplication of the previous F9F Cougar Detail & Scale Series Volume 2 Revised Edition released during the summer of 2020, the new Cougar book compliments the previous F9F Cougar in Detail & Scale Series, and also Jet Fighters of the US Navy and Marine Corps Part 1: The First Ten Years, which includes a chapter on the Cougar. The three books provide an excellent reference in text and photos of the Cougar’s history. Unlike the Detail & Scale series, this book does not include kit reviews, that being previously covered.

Because the book’s main theme is Color & Markings, there is little design and development coverage, this being presented in full detail in the previous F9F Cougar in Detail & Scale book. Following the book’s theme, the new F9F Cougar book begins with a review of the 4 primary paint schemes applied to the Cougar during its service career. First the overall Gloss Sea Blue scheme that lasted from 1952 to 1961.

Next came the familiar Light Gull Gray over White scheme that lasted until the end of the Cougar’s service life. When the Cougar reached the end of its service life they were converted to drones to be shot down, giving fighter pilots the opportunity to shoot down a real aircraft, although they were operated remotely by drone controllers. This leads to the overall Gloss Insignia Red scheme, later replace by highly visible Fluorescent Red-Orange, and finally International Orange applied to the Cougar drones. To easily identify the Cougar drone controller from the drone, Engine Gray was applied to the fuselage, the wings and vertical tail surfaces were painted Orange-Yellow, with Insignia Red for rudder and wings bands.

Lastly there is the standard Training scheme with a gloss white fuselage and either International Orange or Fluorescent Orange   applied to the two seat TF-9J Cougars.

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For me, and I think many modelers will agree, the photography is excellent. The color images in particular are of high quality with a wide variety of different color schemes well presented. The black and white images are likewise of equal high quality. And noteworthy are the color profiles by Rock Roszak with accompanying squadron history. The book closes with a chapter on the Blue Angles and a brief history and brilliant photos of their F9F-8 and TF-8T Cougars.

For me this was a particular interesting book as I have always had a keen interest in jets of this period, it must be an age thing. This book is recommended as an enjoyable read and combined with superb Cougar photos that will allow model builders a wide selection of color schemes to select from when building their Cougar model.

Review Copyright © 21 August, 2020
Last updated 5 February, 2021

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