Hello. Since the Dornier is done, I started the Tamiya 1/48 scale F4F Wildcat. All the cockpit parts have been painted with a Future wash applied and then a coat of Dullcoat applied. I used a resin seat from True Details, they instruct you to add belts from the curtain rod to the top of the seat with tape,Tamiya tape was used for that. They were painted but have to be washed yet. I used Testors Clear Parts Cement for the glass in the instrument panel. The seat support is only dry fitted for now. This is a great little cockpit for out of the box. The landing gear and gear bay have been painted and washed too. The wheels have been painted and washed and installed into the tires which fit very nicely. The engine has been painted and assembled as well. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

That's about where I am with mine, though I am using the kit supplied cockpit. I do have a question about colors. Have you not finished painting the landing gear or are the Tamiya instructions wrong?

Hi Cary. Yep, I'm finished painting the landing gear. They call for the bottom section to be semi-gloss black and the strut section to be flat white. My strut section and the gear bay look a little on the light gray side due to the wash I used. The fuselage halves are together and I will start sanding the seam soon. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hello. The gear bay has been attached to the cockpit and the prop has been painted and weathered. The prop hub was drybrushed with chrome silver toned down with raw umber artist oil paint. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hello. The cockpit and gear bay has been installed. The fuselage and wings have been assembled with the tailplanes being attached, the fit is tight there so no glue was needed. The cowl and rudder are dryfitted for now. The entire plane was wiped down with alcohol and the all the panel lines were preshaded with black. The camo colors have been applied from ModelMaster. I love the BlueGray. You can't really see the preshade on the underside in this photo. Next is a coat of Future and then the Aeromaster Decals. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

looking good wingman- I especially like your wheels. What color did you paint them?

Hi Jon, thanks. They were painted ModelMaster Light Gray with a raw umber/Future wash applied. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hello. Just about done. I wanted to use Aeroscale's Wildcat decals but when I put the stars in water they started to crack about 10 seconds after submerging them. I did use the codes from this sheet, they performed well. I decided to use some stars from a Superscale sheet that I had. They performed well but they are a bit out of register, they were the only ones I had on hand. The exhaust and gun staining are pastel chalk applied with a stiff brush and then using my finger to soften and blend it in.I used a punch set to punch holes in some Tamiya tape for the lights on the underside. I applied chrome silver and then the clear color and then removed the masking to give a nice round circle. The antenna is stretched sprue tightened by holding a blown out match held close to the sprue. Just a few more touch ups and then done. Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Wingman, that's looking sweet! What colors did you use for it? Also what color did you use for the pre-shading? The effect is very muted which is what I'm going to try and achieve myself.

Nice job Mike

I really like the subtle weathering. How did the decals go down over all the rivets? - I remember them being a bit of a problem when the kit first came out...

All the best

Rowan

Very nice looking wildcat

Thanks Cary. The Aeromaster sheet called for Blue Gray over Light Gray, I used ModelMaster. The photos don't show the blue as much as when you look at it by eye. It's a very cool looking color.I used flat black also from ModelMaster for the preshade. When I spray over the preshaded panel lines, I start in the center of the panel and then go over the panel lines in light passes making sure not to cover up the black. My windows in the belly of the fuselage didn't fit very well, how were yours? Thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Hi Rowan, thanks. I wasn't going to add a rawumber wash to the topside because I liked the way the preshade turned out but I'm glad I did ,I did add it to the bottom side .I've seen WWII photos of Wildcats and Hellcats with LOTS of staining but I didn't want to go that far. The decals went on very well over the raised detail. The Superscale decals went down VERY well. Speaking of Wildcats and Hellcats, the History channel is playing the Dogfights series right now. The computer animation on that show is spectacular. Thanks for looking Rowan, Wingman out.

Hi Zoran. Thank you. I applied the sand to the base and should be finishing up within a few days, thanks for looking, Wingman out.

Wingman, I'm waiting to install the windows until after I've painted. Thanks for the heads-up though.

Hello. The Wildcat build is done. Here is a bit more build info. I was going to use white glue with the sand but decided to try spray glue.Using the spray glue gave it a smoother look for the sand. The base was painted and masked and the spray glue was applied. The photoetch PSP was put down first so that some of the glue would seep through the holes and give the sand something to stick to. The drums and crates were attached with super glue after the plane was positioned. The photoetch PSP are Verlinden items. I've had these for a VERY LONG TIME and being that they were kept in a somewhat damp basement, they developed some rust so I decided not to do any weathering with them. The drums and crate are resin items from Custom Dioramics with Archer Dry Transfers. That's about it, thanks for looking everyone, Wingman out.

Curious question I have about what I see on your model. First off very good looking model. But my question is the tape over the machine gun ports. Was that too help with aero dynamics or to keep sea water and other debris from getting in until it was needed?

Ric

Hi Richard. Thanks for the kind words. The tape was applied to keep debris out of the guns. I'd like to say THANK YOU for your service in the armed forces.

WE SHOULD ALL SAY THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO HAS SERVED OR WHO IS SERVING IN THE MILITARY. WHEN YOU'RE OUT AND ABOUT THIS WEEKEND OR ANY TIME YOU ARE OUT,TAKE THE TIME TO SAY THANK YOU TO SOMEONE IN UNIFORM OR IF YOU SEE A VETERAN WITH ONE OF THOSE BLACK CAPS ON THAT STATES WHERE THEY SERVED GIVE THEM A THANK YOU TOO, IT COULD MAKE THEIR DAY.

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY

Thanks for looking Richard, Wingman out.