Academy 1/72 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat

ACADEMY 1:72 GRUMMAN F4F-4 WILDCAT

Reviewer: Jon Hudak (rec.models.scale)
Kit Review submitted: 1 January 2008

Aircraft History:

I won't go into a long history of the Wildcat here but instead will briefly cover the F4F-4 or "dash four" model. The most noticeable changes to the F4F-4 model were folding wings which allowed more of them to be carried aboard ships and the armament was upped from four .50 calibre machine guns to six. It's no surprise that these features plus additional armour plate in the cockpit upped the weight of the Wildcat by some 700 lbs. These features were not welcomed by pilots who were used to flying the -3 model and performance naturally fell off a bit from the extra added weight. Also the pitot tube went from a straight long unit that came out of the leading edge of the wing (like on the dash three) to an L shaped one which was moved further outboard and under the wing. Additionally an external carburettor intake scoop was added atop the cowling which now featured four flaps per side.

One would naturally think the two extra machine guns in the wings would have been welcomed but even though they increased the firepower in reality they also added weight. Some books I've read mention pilots having the extra two outer wing guns removed to save weight and try and restore back some of the lost performance. When compared to some of the fighter planes from the Axis powers four .50 calibre machine guns was pretty outstanding! Against the Japanese Zero the Wildcat wasn't as manoeuvrable in combat but it's able speed, armament and ruggedness helped make up for any deficiencies. In fact Saburo Sakai himself mentioned in his autobiography Samurai that whereas the USAAF pilots in their Airacobras were "easy meat", the Japanese fighter pilots were given a rude awakening the first time they flew against experienced USN fliers in their Wildcats. Nevertheless the Wildcats role in WW2 cannot be downplayed and its contributions to helping the Allies eventually win air supremacy over the Japanese in the Pacific are truly noteworthy.

The Kit:

A first look in the box reveals what looks like a halfway decent kit. Four sprues of nicely molded light gray plastic parts with zero flash and recessed panel lines and rivets in some areas. From what I've heard this is rumoured to be the old Frog mold with engraved panel lines added to it. A separate clear sprue provides the canopy and fuselage windows. Optional drop tanks for under the wings are provided which is nice. The interior consists solely of a generic seat shape that has a provision for holding the control column. A pilot figure is also included but he's not too good either. (For their time I think Matchbox had some of the best pilot figures.) One set of markings is provided for a Wildcat from an Atlantic unit, "black four" as seen on the box art. The side photos on the box may lead one to believe you can model two different "cats" as they show a model with the yellow surround on the fuselage national insignia from Operation Torch. Whether these markings were included at one time or not is possible but my copy did not have them.

Final Construction:

This was another one of those kits that had been worked on with good intentions to finish it but only to eventually end up on the started pile. The interior which consists of a simple seat, control column and optional pilot had been painted along with the insides of the fuselage halves with Gunze H58 Interior Green. I opted to leave the pilot out. The engine was painted flat black and medium gray for the cylinders and crank case. These items had been glued inside and then the fuselage halves were joined together followed by the cowl ring. I remember using superglue as a seam filler on the fuselage and everything went pretty smooth. The cowl ring needed a little blending with the fuselage but that was pretty simple to do. I think the wings were joined together around this time and then it sat for probably a couple of years. It was worked on again a second time more recently when some friends and I tried to build and finish one of these kits in a day. I figured I'd be able to do it since I had a good head start and came close to finishing it. Unfortunately it sat for at least a few more months until now. It was during that stint that the wings were joined to the fuselage followed by the horizontal stabilizers.

The wings were the worst fitting part of the kit and if you want to try and accurately portray the slight wing dihedral like it is on the real thing you're either going to end up with a large gap at the wing roots either on the top or the bottom depending on how you attach them. A friend gave me a hand with this and I figured I'd rather have less work to do on the top. Even then it was still a decent sized gap but it's hard to avoid. Thin shims of strip/sheet styrene or stretched sprue might have made more sense to close up the gaps especially on the bottom but I took what I thought would be the easy route and slathered in lots of filler. A couple of times I used a Q-tip moistened in nail polish remover (the 100% Acetone kind) to smooth out the filler (Mr. Surfacer 500) thinking I'd get off easy only to have to do it again. In short I used both methods, with the traditional wet n dry and smoothing the filler out with a Q-tip. Eventually with the seams and joints looking a lot better (but still not perfect) I was ready to start painting.

Painting and Decals:

Model Master enamels were used for the rest of the airframe painting and before painting some paper towel was stuffed in the wheel well area, fuselage window holes and cockpit to prevent any overspray. Light Ghost Gray was used on the bottom of the aircraft as a base coat and also to check for any flaws. Of course there were some glaring spots that needed fixing and it was back and forth with the filler and sandpaper and airbrush for touch-ups. Being pretty satisfied with the results and ready to move on and get "the cat" finished the canopy was masked off with Tamiya tape and attached with white glue. A quick squirt of Zinc Chromate Green was applied for the framing before doing any further painting.

The underneath of the model was masked off in places, namely the bottom of the wings and stabilizers to prepare for the US Navy Blue Gray which came next. The tape was to prevent any possible overspray from getting where it shouldn't. The demarcation line between the two colours was freehanded with my Sotar 20/20 airbrush. It gets good results. A coat of Gunze Gloss Clear came next after the blue gray to prepare for the decals. For this kit I used Aeromaster sheet # 72-094C F4F Wildcat Collection Pt. II. I chose to depict #F17 from the USS Hornet during the Battle of Midway. If you've never used Aeromaster decals give them a try, they are beautiful and adhere and lay down easily. Highly recommended. I only used a bit of Micro Set decal setting solution on them but did manage to make a small tear in one of the national insignia. Afterwards the decals were sealed in with another coat of Gunze Gloss Clear and this was followed up later on by a wash consisting of Ronosol lighter fluid and Winsor & Newton Raw Umber oil paint. Thus the reason for the acrylic clear coat so as to not have a reaction with the wash which I would have been afraid to use over a lacquer based clear coat. Finally a coat of Gunze clear flat was sprayed on and the masking removed from the canopy.

Final Construction:

With all the major painting done the wheels were glued together (yes they're halved) and cleaned up. Light Ghost Gray was used for the rims and Tamiya Nato Black for the main tires and tail wheel. Tamiya Flat Black was used for the lower main parts of the landing gear assembly and some Light Ghost Gray for the upper arms/portion. The landing gear unit was glued into place and allowed to dry. I have to agree with Steve Papworth in his review of the same kit that the landing gear assembly was pretty fool proof and mounted solidly. All the formation and wing tip lights received a coat of Model Master Chrome Silver as a base colour and followed up with the appropriate clear red, blue and green Tamiya acrylic colours over top to simulate the glass covers. Remember that the only portion of the rather large wingtip lights to be painted in clear red and green should be the tips, and not the whole thing like I was originally going to do. The F4F Wildcat Walkaround book came in handy for stuff like this. Speaking of glass, Micro Kristal Kleer was used to make the ventral windows, since the openings are small enough this was no problem.

The tires were glued on at this point but not before the mounting holes on the wheels were enlarged with a #56 drill bit. Then the antenna mast was glued in place which was followed by the pitot tube after it was painted and cleaned up. Some pastels were used to simulate gun powder and exhaust stains and a silver pencil was used to simulate chipping and wear and tear on the fuselage and wings. Gunze acrylic paints were used for the propeller, H11 Flat White as a base coat for the tips, H4 Yellow for the final colour of them and H2 Semi-gloss black for the blades. A quick coat of Testors Acryl matt finish was next followed up by Humbrol Metal Cote 27002 Polished Aluminium for the prop boss/hub and shaft. The last thing to be done was enlarge the hole on the back of the propeller so it would fit better and glue it on. With that the model was finished once and for all!

Conclusion:

I have to say that I was glad I persevered and finally finished this kit. Why I never tried to fill the slot for the display stand is beyond me and I wish I would have. It certainly would have been easier to do before gluing the fuselage halves together. If anyone gives me any grief I still have the stand and can say it was intentional to which they'll then probably say "well why didn't you put the pilot in then?" Sometimes we never win, do we? I didn't do the drop tanks as I wanted to do a clean "unladen" bird. Though it's not the best Wildcat kit available nor the most accurate, in the end it does come out looking rather convincing and looks like a Wildcat. For many that's all they may need.

Would I do another one? Probably not. Though the kit went together fairly well I didn't care too much for the bad fit of the wings to the fuselage and lack of cockpit and other detail. I'd rather spend a few dollars more or for roughly the same price (if you're lucky) pick up one of the many versions of Wildcat or Martlet as kitted by Hasegawa at a show or swap meet. The new series of Wildcats available from Hobby Boss look fairly promising too so there's always that option to consider. I also have to agree with Steves comments that it's a case of you get what you pay for. Yes the kit is inexpensive and basic and lacks in detail in more than a few areas. I was able to compare it with a friends built up Hasegawa F4F-3 Wildcat and that's where you see a lot of the inaccuracies with the shape.

For one the fuselage is just too fat and the canopy shape looks like a rather "lazy deformed A" shape rather than a proper upside down "U" shape like on the Hasegawa kit. Photos of real Wildcats will explain this better. The wings and stabs aren't bad though the small teardrop shaped blisters that are on the flap area of the wings shouldn't be there and the same goes for the four recessed circles that are on the rear stabs just forward of the elevators. I didn't notice these til it was too late but they wouldn't be to hard to fill in. On the plus side it does come out looking close enough to a Wildcat when finished and isn't too difficult a build, plus it's inexpensive. I paid around $5.50 for mine at the time and that's cheap nowadays. For that kind of money I'm reminded of those priceless younger days plunking down similar money for a new Hasegawa kit at the time. Lastly it felt good to not only finish and complete another kit but also that's one less from the started pile and I felt a small sense of completion crossing it off my "started" list too. If you're on a budget or not too picky when it comes to accuracy this kit may be just the thing for you or could be a great build to do with a child/younger modeller. I guess it's good then that this kit is around.

References:

Squadron Signal Publications Samurai, copyright 1957 by Saburo Sakai.

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