Osprey Publishing Ltd

Osprey Modelling #39: Modelling the F4F Wildcat

by  Mark Glidden, Consultant Editor Robert Oehler

Reviewed By  Keith Pruitt, IPMS# 44770

MSRP: $18.95 ISBN: 9781846031106 82 pages, 204 color photos, plus an 11 color reference chart, Softbound Thanks to Osprey Publishing for the review copy (www.ospreypublishing.com) According to Wikipedia, "The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter that began service with both the United States Navy and the Fleet Air Arm in 1940. Although first used in combat by the British in Europe, the Wildcat would become the primary carrier fighter for the first year and a half of the United States Navy's involvement in World War II in the Pacific Theater. The FM Wildcat, an improved version built by General Motors, remained in service throughout the remainder of the war on escort carriers, where larger and heavier fighters could not be used." This book is broken down into nine sections, plus an introduction and index, giving the history and detail of the Grumman F4F Wildcat. The Introduction is relatively brief, but covers the development and from the prototype through the FM-2, the final variant. There is also a chart with columns for the Designations, Characteristics, and Notes on the different variants of the F4F, from the XF-4F-1 (a biplane precursor "that never left the drawing board") to the FM-2. The first section is "The Wildcat in Detail". This section contains detailed color photographs of the FM-2 at the Palm Springs Air Museum, and the F4F-4 at the San Diego Air & Space Museum. The landing gear and wing-folds are highlighted in a number of the photographs. There is also one page containing nothing but cockpit photographs. The next section covers the 1/72 Hasegawa Martlett Mk III, built as a version used in the North African campaign. The True Details Resin Seat and Eduard photoetch set were used to add details where they were missing from the kit parts. There are also some styrene bits used in the cockpit tub to add some detail. The kit provides the F4F-4 version, so some changes would need to be made to accurately portray the Martlett III. The cowl flaps were re-scribed, the wing-fold lines were filled, and the outer wing guns were "removed" by plugging the ports with styrene rod. After pre-shading, painting, decals and weathering, the stretched-sprue antenna wire finished the model. The third section is titled "McCuskey's Midway Ride-Converting Tamiya's 1/48-scale F4F-4 to the F4F-3 Wildcat". This is an extensive build, which includes adding Eduard photoetch set, Part F4F Wildcat photoetch set, Ultracast F4F Wildcat seat, Cutting Edge navigation lights, parts from the JPS F4F-3 Conversion set, Quickboost B-25 .50-cal gun barrels, Cutting Edge Resin flying control surfaces and USN Mk 8 gunsight, with decals by Yellow Wings, Super Scale, and painting masks from Eduard and Tally Ho! The author covers all the changes necessary to backdate the kit into the F4F-3. The next section covers a kitbash, "using the Tamiya 1/48 kit to improve the Sword 1/48 FM-2". The Sword kit is a limited-run kit, with some flash and inconsistent detail plaguing the kit parts. Additions to the kits included Ultracast resin seat, KMC Resin Wright R-1820-56 engine, Cutting Edge Resin Mk 8 gunsight, Cutting Edge Resin FM-2 propeller and spinners, and Eduard canopy mask. Aftermarket decals were also used from Techmod Decals, Mike Grant, and Archers Fine Transfers. The model was finished in markings used by the Navy in the Atlantic anti-submarine role. The "Crown Jewel" is covered in the fifth section: the F4F-3S Wildcatfish! The author did an extensive conversion of the Tamiya 1/48 F4F-4 kit, adding the RVHP Wildcatfish conversion set, the Eduard Wildcat photoetch set, Part F4F- Wildcat photoetch set, the Aires F4F detail set, Cutting Edge N-3 gunsight, Squadron F4F canopy, with parts from the Tamiya M1A1 Abrams (Huh?), the Tamiya Me-109E, and Tamiya Mosquito kits. Additionally, the radio compartment was opened, and the components were scratchbuilt from styrene. The wing-fold lines were filled, and the panel lines were re-scribed. The control surfaces were separated and posed in deflection. After all the additions and changes in the conversion, the model was painted in the Blue-Gray and Light Gray standard camouflage pattern. The markings were painted using the Montex F4F mask set. This turned out to be a beautiful, and unusual, model. The next section of the book is a tutorial section on building techniques, including opening various panels and doors, filling unwanted panel lines and seams, filling gaps with Mr. Surfacer, removing scratches from clear parts, and rescribing panel lines. The last section is a list of Wildcat kits and accessories that are available in various scales, a list of Museums and collections, and suggested reading, videos, and websites. Additionally, there is a color reference chart, which has paint chips of the various colors used on the Wildcat. While this book is not the definitive reference on the F4F, it covers enough history and detail to definitely make it worth adding to your library. It has good explanations, and excellent photographs, of the steps taken to build the models that are included. If you are a Wildcat fan, this is a nice basic guide for building some common, and some unusual, variants. If you are an aircraft modeler, there are some neat extras in the book that make it a great resource. Personally, I enjoyed the book and would recommend it highly. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Osprey Publishing, and to IPMS/USA, for this review sample.

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