Hello all!

I just finished up an F4F Wildcat, and figured i would share it with you all.

Jesse,

Fine Wildcat! Maj.Robert E.Galer's?

Is that Trumpeter's 1/32 kit?

Jesse,
What a great build. your weathering is just superb, as it has the look and feel of a well used F4F.
The ChopperMan

Beautiful, it's not very often that I see an early blue-grey scheme modeled looking as good as this.

Very nice Jesse!!

thanks everyone. yes fred, it is the trumpeter 1/32, but not necessarily built for any one pilot. i used whatever decals came with the kit, and mixmatched a little bit.. i ended up finding this at a LHS on clearance for 20 USD a couple years ago. i started it and let it sit for a long time (as many of my builds go), until i decided to start her back up and finally get it finished.
i got this one, obviously really cheap, but i havent ever done a very large scale like this. so, i went with it and did whatever detailing i could. ive only done 2 planes in my time, other than those i have done as a kid. im an armor guy that has started delving into every kit type out there.

Jesse,
Very nice! Looks quite well-used.

Gaz

Both ailerons down?

Sergey.

Sergey,
We as modelers tend to display flying surfaces, in this case ailerons with one up and one down. To have one in the up position requires hydraulic pressure within its system. From what I've read, and at times seen, once that pressure dissipates, it wasn't all that uncommon to have both surfaces in a somewhat down attitude, or at least the up one in a more neutral position.

I'll be the 1st one to admit that I almost always display flying surfaces in positions as though there is the appropriate of hydraulic pressure.

Joel

they arent "modelled" that way. they both happen to be hinged. therefore, they are able to be freely moved up or down. i didnt want to glue them in place. Same with the rudder, elevator, and flaps. ultimately, i can move them to whatever position i would prefer since they arent permanent. for the sake of keeping my OCD sane, i usually keep things the same on both sides.

[quote]


But not in this case, hydraulic pressure doesn't play any role here. Wildcat's ailerons were mechanically linked, and the only way they can be both down, when wings are folded. That's why there's no one photo with deployed wings and both ailerons down, and no one photo with folded wings and ailerons in other position than both down.

Sergey.

Superb build Jesse. The fading and weathering are excellent.

Excellent work Jesse - very nice model. Weathering looks spot on. Congratulations.

Regards,
Kobus

Hi Jesse

Nice build! I really like the weathering.

Sergey's quite right on the ailerons, and I hit a similar problem with Dragon's Bf 109E - all the etched hinges are just too loose for the control surfaces. My thought at the time was simply to carefully apply a little liquid cement to lock them - but, if you really want to keep them positionable, perhaps a drop of something like Gator's glue on the hinges themselves might give the extra friction needed to hold them in the position you want.

All the best

Rowan