How is the work going on? I would really love to be part of this.

Matt,
Welcome to Aeroscale. You're really going to like it here.

I'm assuming that you've read the entire build blog to date so you're up to speed. I try to put in a few hours everyday as I'm semi retired and still work 4 nights per week.

I'm working on the cockpit and have just finished the IP, and modified the seat. Still need to add the seatbelts. (No shoulder harness in the F4F-3s). Just started the side consoles as they need a lot of work. Hopefully I'll have a update by Sunday.

Joel

Looking forward to the next set of photos Joel

Paul,
Me too. Just got to get enough done to make that next set of pics worth while to post.

Have you started your ship yet?
Joel

Not to derail your blog but yes I have small steps so far

Paul,
All my build blogs are open blogs. As long as it's about modeling, it's fine with me. Will be taking a look at the ship site.
Joel

Hi Joel just saw this and welcome to the wonderful world of 1/32 ... when are you moving into 1/24th? I'll stick around for the ride! Awesome work as per usual Joel and as I've said before it's up to the "Joel Willstein level of excellence"!

Chris,
That's quite a humbling statement. Honestly, there is nothing I've done with this build or earlier builds that anyone couldn't do.

1/24 scale aircraft has never crossed my mind as space would be a major concern, and the selection of subjects is really limited. But I've collected several cars & race cars from the 60s-80s in 1/2401/20 scale if that counts.

Joel

Good work so far, Joel ! The engine for example looks fantastic. A model in its own right.

Your build is may a good source for my coming Airfix F4F-4 in 1:72.

Bernd,
Thank you my friend for those most kind words. If anything in my build can help you, then my blog was more then worth the time and effort.

Joel

Well, time for another update.

My attention now turned to the cockpit assembly, which builds up quite nicely with excellent detail. The 1st order of business was determining the proper color of the cockpit. My resourses had a mixed bag of colors ranging from Interior Green, Dark Dull Green, and the more exotic Bronze Green.

For some time I've followed the research and findings of Dana Bell, who really knows his stuff. Dana stated that the pre-war F4F-3 cockpits were either Natural Aluminum or painted Aluminum Dope. At the start of the war the cockpits were painted what was referred to as Bronze Green. By the time that the -4s came out, the standard cockpit color had been once again changed to Dark Dull Green. The issue is that Bronze Green didn't have a ANA number, so there was no conversion to FS numbers. Dana suggested that two very close matches were FS 24050 or FS24052, and started out as a semi gloss finish, which naturally didn't last very long.

Bronze Green was very, and I mean a very dark green with a ting of Blue. FS24052 being the lighter of the two Fs numbers, is what I mixed my paint to. The mix that I came up with using Tamiya paints is: 2 parts XF-13 J.A. Green to 1 part XF-18 Medium Blue thinned 2:3 with their Yellow Cap thinner.

The Pit construction started with the IP and bulkhead. Trumpeter has the IP panel as a 3 part assembly:
Bulkhead/back plate in gray/ Acetate instruments that are very well printed, and a cover plate. I painted the top cover plate with Tamiya Nato Black, as I feel it has a more natural look to it in scale then flat black. I Tested the ascetate instrument sheet on the backing plate, but the white didn't really pop all that well.



So I cut out a new backing plate from .010 sheet and checked out the gauges again.



There is enough of a difference to make it worth while.

Then I masked the top half of the IP bulkhead and primed the bottom half with MIG-AMMO Black primer. I air brushed it with my home made Bronze Green color:



I wasn't particularly happy with Trumpeter's seat.



Basically, it just to thick, to clunky looking, and thus in need of a diet. Sanding got the seat down to proper proportions, added a seat/backing plate from .010 sheet, and two small plates on the top sides of the back.



One thing to note is that the -3s still didn't have shoulder harnesses, so I opted to make them out of Tamiya tape. Still not too happy with the plan Jane Aluminum painted buckle and latch.

The construction of the rest of the Pit only took a few days including painting, as I didn't add any other details. Once the fuselage is close up, you just don't see very much of the cockpit as the side walls are rolled.





Next up I test fitted the Fuselage halves, and as I expected after reading one build blog after another, the halves just don't align properly, and quite a lot of pressure is needed to close the resulting gaps. Well, sure enough that was the case with my F4F as well. The difference is that I just wasn't going to accept that as a solution. Now I had test fitted both halves with just the wheel well bulkhead glued in place and they fit perfectly, as well as the unworked side to the wheel well. Unfortunately, now I was looking at a modeling nightmare!! The only answer is that the two cockpit bulkheads were causing this issue. So out came the heavy duty sand paper and I commenced at sanding, testing, sanding, testing, etc for a few hours. Finally it fit.



Absolutely no pressure was used to close up the fuselages halves other then the normal nudge here and there. What still didn't fit correctly was the wheel well bulkhead. Not to sure how I'm going to go about fixing this issue other then carefully pre-shimming with sheet, the working with Milliput and blending it in with water. When dried, Bondo and sanding. Hopefully it will turn out as well as the other side did, but I have my reservations.




Joel

Joel -
Your cockpit looks excellent!

Your Bronze Green looks ( on the monitor at least ) very reminiscent of a model railroad color I recall called Brunswick Green . It would be interesting to see how close they are.
Happy New Year to you and yours a few hours early ! - Richard

Hey Joel , Your pit turned out not to bad at all . The fit seems to be fighting you all the way though . Hopefully this won't cause to much more . Have you test fitted the wings ?



Terri

The cockpit looks great Joel, the jump up in scale certainly shows most here with the wealth of detail and better defined controls.
The seat too shows how much better a clunky kit part can look with a little attention.

Richard,
Thanks for stopping by on New Years Eve, and approving of my latest progress. At my age just staying up and watching the ball drop is the highlight of our night

As for the color match up with Brunswick Green, I googled it and Badger does indeed have the color #1616. The supplied chip looks almost Black to me, so it's real close. Like I said, I went with the lighter of the two chips. The up close and personal color is darker then the pictures because the lights I used just have that effect on close up work. Will have to post a more accurate picture in my next update.

Joel

Terri,
Happy New Year. Hope that you had a happy and safe one.

Thanks for liking my efforts with the pit. and yes this kit is fighting me every step of the way.

My brother, whose been a 1/32 modeler from the start of our comeback years ago, kept on warning me that the F4F is one of the Trumpeters earlier releases, and has a lot of issues. I just thought that the -3 which is a has corrected molds from their -4 release would have been easier to build. but as I've found out that's not the case. In hindsight I should have started with a newer Trumpy kit or one of my Tamiya kits. But I'm committed to finishing it.

As for the wings, I did test fit one taped pair on the fuselage half with the cockpit glued in as I was concerned that the tongue would cause issues with the added cockpit walls. I originally test fitted them before I started the fuselage wall work, and it did fit both times. The issue (of course there has to be an issue with everything on this kit)is that the fuselage wing roots have this weird concave surface while the wing surface is perfectly flat. That leaves just the tongue and the outside edge for a gluing surface. I have no idea why they opted for this configuration other then molding issues. But since the landing gear is attached to the fuselage, I don't have to worry about it being able to maintain the model's weight over the long haul of home display.

Joel

Paul,
Happy New Year to all In Scotland. You had the honor of bringing in the new year 8 or so hours before we on the East coat did early this morning.

Agreed with the jump in scale there is a proportionate increase in detail and a higher definition of those details. What I've seen peeking into the two Tamiya kits and my Zoukei-mura A-1J is detail at a level I've never seen up close before. OOB with attention to those details, along with perfect building skills is all that is required.

I could never figure out why such a simple thing as a WW11 seat in early 1/48 and 1/32 kits were considered after thoughts, and more often then not either needed a lot of work, or a resin replacement. Has to be one of the easiest things to mold. Go figure.

Joel

Really nice job on the office Joel, looks great!
Dealing with fit issues is just another part of the challenge in this hobby to me, I expect to find it in every build. Generally it has been created by something I have done wrong, but when you solve the problem and get that satisfying neat join you move on to the next stage with a satisfied smile on your face.

Happy New Year, and keep up the great work.

Cheers, D

Hey D,
Happy New Years.

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the latest progress. Agreed that every successful challenge makes the build just a little bit better. So far I've gotten the better of every issue, and will continue to do so till once again I get to cross the finish line.

Joel

Hi Joel awesome work so far buddy! I feel that solving fit issues is entirely one of the most rewarding aspects of building a kit. Solving just why it won't fit and then fixing that problem gives me great satisfaction because sometimes it's not really apparent just what part or assembly is giving you the issue. It's the detective work I guess and engineering to a certain extent. You certainly are making this kit "fit" fella in every sense of the word.

Chris,
thanks so much for those more then kind words.

Like you, problem solving, especially fit issues, once solved does indeed have a great sense of satisfaction involved. But when I'm stumped and nothing works, the exact opposite kits in: Frustration. Rarely but it still happens that when all else fails, and most of the time I've contributed to the problem 10 fold, the model ends up at the recycling center . Then I just move on to the next build

Joel

Joel,
Nice work on the pit. I like the clean line between the headrest and armour plate.


Gaz

I can certainly understand where you're coming from Joel! I myself have never binned a kit (must be the Scots in me I guess). I have shelved a few for a number of months while I mull over the problem. But I keep worrying at the problem till I solve it. I'll be the first to admit that sometimes the solving of the problem is just sheer brute force but I'm finding as I mature as a modeller finesse is starting to set in. (I must be getting frail LOL) And I have the likes of your goodself and this community to offer another set of eyes to look at the problem and perhaps offer me a solution I might not have thought of myself.

Keep up the sterling work buddy I look forward to your taming of this particular kit!

Joel very nice so far.



Joe

Gary,
Happy New Year's

Thanks for stopping by and checking out the F4F. Outside of the IP, the pit is pure box stock. The headrest painting was super easy as it's a separate part. I just made sure that I painted it before I glued it to the Armor plate. the semi shine is actually skin oil as I find that it gives the most realistic shine for leather.

Joel