Trumpeter

1/32 F4F-3 Wildcat (Early)

Kit Number: 2255

Reviewed by  Dave Morrissette, IPMS# 33653

MSRP: $69.95 Distributed by Stevens International (www.stevenshobby.com). One of Trumpeters' latest releases is the early version of the F4F Wildcat based on their earlier F4F-4 kits. The kit is housed in Trumpeters superb box and has 267 parts plus PE hinges and panel and a film for the instruments. The plastic is medium gray and softer than some but is very easy to sand as needed. The "-3" parts are on a new sprue while the remainder of the "-4" version remains. Looking at the kit, I broke construction down into three parts. First was the cockpit and wheel well assembly. Second was the engine and last were the wings and tail parts. I started with the cockpit which is nicely detailed and about the only thing missing were some seat belts (which I appropriated from another kit). Construction was straight forward and presented no issues and required only painting and assembly. In testing the fit of the cockpit to the fuselage, it was hard to get the cockpit to fit well and I ended up trimming the floor boards a bit. It would have been nice to have a little more support of the cockpit but once in place, it fit well. As those that have seen the Wildcat know, the wheel wells are very open and visible and Trumpeter handles it nicely by adding lots of detail from the firewall forward. All of this is constructed and installed prior to closing the fuselage. One note- Trumpeter has included the metal hinges on this kit for the ailerons, flaps and all tail surfaces. Before the fuselage is closed, the tail needs added if you are using the PE hinges and metal rod. I used them to help position the parts and then glued them in place. The fuselage fit is excellent and I only had to fill slightly at the bottom near the firewall due to own haste. The engine was a kit unto itself and is made from around 50 parts. I decided to wire the ignition for the engine and drilled holes to use copper wire for little added touch. The engine was sprayed gray with black metal cylinders which were them dry brushed aluminum. The engine goes together well but it does take some time due to the number of parts. I added this to the already completed fuselage and added the cowling and flaps. The cowling is clear so the engine can be displayed through it if desired. I painted mine inside and out. No putty needed here either. Last were the wings and horizontal stabs. For the wings, they are built to leave both gun bays open and have separate ailerons and flaps. The flaps have a lot of ejector pin marks and most pictures I have seen show the flaps up when at rest on F4F's so I elected to close them and glue the ailerons in place. I also chose to have one gun bay open and one closed. I didn't install the closed gun bay which proved a bad idea in that the gun barrels are separate and socket into the guns so make sure you install both gun bays. The panels for the gun bays are a little small so for the closed one, I ended up puttying them in and rescribing. The rest of the wings were no big deal and fit well as did the stabs. Both of these attached to the fuselage with not putty although I did have to tinker wit the fit a little. Onto the painting! Because of the colorful paint scheme, I needed a plan of attack and here's the order I settled on. Paint the tail gloss green and then the wing bands, fuselage band and front of the cowling gloss white. I was going for a painted on look for as much as possible. Once that dried, I masked the whites off and sprayed the wings yellow with a little red added to orange it up a little. I then masked the white wing stripes, fuselage band and tail and tried one thing new for this kit and that was using Tamiya Aluminum from a rattle can decanted to replicate the aluminum lacquer finish. Be warned, empty the rattle can slowly and once empty, let it sit for a while until it warms. The paint coming out of the can is mixed with the propellant and it you touch it or get it too warm, it boils and everything is covered in aluminum. Once it had settled, it sprays beautifully and can be thinned with a little lacquer thinner as needed. It dries in 5-10 minutes and is rock hard and can be polished- wonderful stuff. I applied the decals which were the best I have used in any kit. Great opacity and they snuggled down with no coercion needed; even for the black trim lines. I then coated the kit with a 50/50 mixture of flat and gloss and weather slightly with Mig pigments. Another flat coat and adding the clear parts and the antennae and we were good to go. To say I like this kit was an understatement- it is beautiful! Fit is excellent and the finished plane looks so cool with its' bright yellow wings. My Thanks to Mike Bass and Stevens International for the chance to review this gem- highly recommended!

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