1/48 Tamiya Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat |
Gallery Article by Randy Lutz
on
Oct 1 2003
|
|
|
|
This is my Tamiya 1/48 GRUMMAN
F4F-4 WILDCAT as flown by Lieutenant James E. Swett of VMF-221, while based at
Henderson Field, Guadalcanal in April 1943. This model represents the
Wildcat which Swett was flying when he downed 7 Vals on one mission. The
decals as provided by Cutting Edge feature 7 kill markings, but these should not
be included on the model, as the 7 Vals were Swett's first victories of the war.
He would have had to have been clairvoyant to have kill markings before the
fact. This particular Wildcat was shot down that same day after the 7
kills were obtained.
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
Also in regard to
the Cutting Edge decals, I found them to be a bit of a disappointment as they
were thicker than Micro Scale printed decals and the registration was off on the
star insignias. For each star I had to make a mask to protect the decal
and airbrush the camouflage around the image to cover the protruding white
portion.
I tend to build out of the box or
with very minor enhancements, and the Wildcat was no exception. Listed
below are the things I did to the kit. A special thanks goes out to
Brandon Wood for supplying valuable information about Swett's Wildcat.
Cockpit
Fuselage
-
radio compartment air scoop drilled out
-
carb air intake opened
-
formation lights added to underside
-
antenna wires made from stretched sprue
-
hoist points drilled out
Wings
-
all gun barrels drilled out
-
landing light replaced with MV products lens
-
oil cooler screens replaced with photo-etched screens
Paint and Decals
-
model painted with Xtracolor X162 USN Blue Grey, M-485, FS 15189 and X137
Light Gull Grey, FS 16440
-
all markings are from Cutting Edge sheet CED48120
-
model is weathered with chalk pastels
References
-
Famous Airplanes of the World No. 16 Grumman F4F Wildcat
-
Famous Airplanes of the World No. 35 Grumman F4F, F6F, F8F
-
Famous Airplanes of the World No. 68 Grumman F4F Wildcat
-
Osprey Air Aces No. 3 Wildcat Aces of World War 2
-
Aero Detail No. 22 Grumman F4F Wildcat
-
Detail and Scale Vol. 30 F4F Wildcat
-
Squadron In Action No. 84 F4F Wildcat
-
Squadron Walk Around No. 4 F4F Wildcat
Randy Lutz
Click on
images below to see larger images
|
|
|
|
|