The Arma Hobby Wildcat was announced on New Year's eve, I had had high hopes for a B-Mustang . After letting the disappointment cool down for a few seconds I was suddenly an enthusiastic Wildcat-guy proving that Arma can turn me into just about anything so Wildcat it is for this year's summer build ! It turned up here at the beginning of the week so with the Gladiator finished it was a quick starter!


Arma has gotten the box art thing almost as well as Eduard !


A nice variety of options! One will be British in green camouflage for sure, I haven't decided exactly what to do with the other one. Either British in overall blue or maybe an American in grey and white...


Plastic. It's exquisite !


Decals, masks and a small fret of PE with mainly seat belts and an ignition harness.


And while I was shopping anyway a small amount of extra goodies jumped into the bag... Arma will release a Wildcat VI later this summer but that version is simply an FM-2 made exclusively for the British market during WWII so the decals can be used for this kit as well! I've been curious for a long time about the AK colours, there was this perfect set for one of the schemes I'll be doing and complemented with a pot of Sea Blue, there should be everything I need. Stay tuned for a report on performance later !

So, most important thing finished: blog started! Updates might take a bit of time to start coming since there is holiday- and family stuff to attend to for a few weeks!



Magnus

Excellent, will be following Magnus. i'm thinking of changing my paint source so will be interesting to see what your thoughts are on the AK paints

Magnus, you are indeed an Armaholic

Luckily for us

Magnus another cool build to follow, last week I received a parcel from Arma with the expert Wildcat and an overtrees Wildcat plus those same decals and a Yahu IP, so you most definitely have my attention.

Friends! Just a quick update to show that I'm back and getting on with the build!

I spent last night in etch heaven/h..l depending on your viewpoint (mine usually leans towards the latter...)


Lots of very well moulded parts goes into the cockpit, a small kit in itself! Etch adds the icing on the cake and is manageable, my main worry was the ignition harness that actually fitted well except for the fact that the numbering was the wrong way around (part 1 in the instructions should be part 2 and vice versa). Luciano! If you're not already beyond this stage, take note ! Finally, there is an etched instrument panel included as in most other Arma kit but it is still only the same as what comes in plastic (instruments are "solid" with no clear film to be added behind them) so I pass on that one as usual! As you can see, I still have some harness work to do but after that it's primer time!



Magnus

Welcome back Magnus the detail on the plastic looks superb

Magnus nice progress and thank you for the heads up.

I’m far from even starting mine so anything you spot I’ll make a note of, currently I have a few 1/72 fire engines and airfield rescue vehicles on the bench.
1890 Shand Mason horse drawn fire engine (Langley)
1914 Dennis fire engine (Keilkraft)
1940 RAF Austin K2 Ambulance (Airfix)
2004 Maz AA-70 airfield crash tender (A&A Models)
Bit different and a splash of colour except the K2, there are more sitting in the stash as well.

Nice Magnus!
I follow you

I'm jumping on board for the ride here as well, looks like a very nice kit.

Cheers, D

Tim! Indeed it is! I would say they are in the same league as Eduard!

Luciano! I think I pass on the horse drawn stuff (scary things those horses ) but I have to admit that I've been tempted by the ACE Salamander. I think there is an Austin in my stash as well. And a Thompson refueller but that's rather the opposite of a fire engine !

José and Damian! Thanks for following, I'll make good use of that motivation !

I thought I was through the worst with the etch, turns out I wasn't...


Before you, you see more than two hour's worth of work. Getting the spark plug ends of the harness in place was a tedious process! Since etch is rather springy it is difficult to bend it down and getting it to stay in place. Super glue accelerator applied by a small brush (now sadly deceased...) finally did the trick: bend to shape, a drop of glue, push it towards the contact point with a toothpick and apply accelerator. I have always disliked the smell of that stuff (it also gives me a headache) but spraying some of it into a small container and keeping a lid on it between usage made it bearable...



Magnus

Very fine detail for 1/72 on those engines, nice work getting the PE to behave!

Cheers, D

Damian! Thanks! A friend of mine recommends annealing the etch before working with it but I didn't think of it this time, it makes it a lot less springy!


Landing gear. Make it or break it on a Wildcat and another one of those "kit in the kit" instances! The Arma design worked remarkably well with a bit of care, I do however recommend that the gear is glued to the firewall in the same process since following the instructions and installing the gear last will lead to some very fiddly hidden gluing of the upper attachment points. Also, this ensures that everything is straight and square, even if the design is clever I think there is a slight risk of getting things a bit lopsided... The disadvantage is that the model has to be handled with the gear on from now but it is reasonably sturdy and with care it should work out well.



Magnus

Fantastic detail on the engine Magnus

Yes, these details are outstanding. And it is 1/72. Wow! I will follow!

Oliver

I have received my copy of this model yesterday. I must say it is jewelry class.

Friends! Progress is slow, I blame the summer ! Also, Archer the Dog is here for a few weeks and he really bites into my modelling time (pun intended...).

Anyway, if I can find the time tonight there will be some primer and then it is a matter of a major painting session to do the best of all the nice detail.


It was possible to add quite a few further details to the landing gear and firewall. It is really well designed and with care it both goes together perfectly and it also is remarkably sturdy.


Both firewalls and a pair of props with differet spinners!



Magnus

Great work Magnus. Love the undercarriage good inspiration to produce some sort of robot/automaton

This is coming together very nicely, the fit and detail look great.

Plus, there's those sticks I was waiting for!

Cheers, D

Very fiddly work with all those PE parts, Magnus, especially when I see that it is in 1/72 ....

Tim! For the modeller so inclined, this would be an excellent starting point! I really fell like I've tacked the majority of the parts to the firewall !

Damian! Those sticks are my main priority so as to not make you disappointed !

Torsten! Yes, it's fiddly but it helps being used to it. If I ever change to 1/32 I can probably never go back !

I feel that I've written this too many times already but this is another not-so-interesting update even if it marks a major breakthrough: primer!


There is a certain kind of aesthetic to all the parts in neat rows I think...¨


And as always nowadays I've been careful protecting the glue surfaces!



Magnus

Great work as always Magnus!

Strange but true! I for one enjoy all the little updates. Keep up the good work, Magnus!

Friends! I'll keep on keeping you entertained with those micro updates then !


There are quite a few decals that go on to the interior, things like circuit breaker panels usually worries me since they go over a profiled surface but it went very well after a drop of Micro Sol softened them down over the contours. Stickers that go over a level surface are seldom a problem, the plates on the engine are beautiful if I only could get them on straight, I see in the photo that they are a bit lopsided .

The only major painting project was the engine, it was fairly fiddly with the photo etch ignition harness. It still need a wash to deepen the shadows a bit but apart from that I think it is fairly finished!

A final note regarding the decals: the instrument panel. I don't know why the main panel is printed the way it is, following the instructions to paint the whole thing green and then just adding the decals you'll get green instrument faces on the center panel (like I did, I can live with it though). The other one will get a Yahu panel, let's see how that one turns out later!



Magnus

Excellent! Such detail in this scale is great to see.

Cheers, D

Damian! Here comes more detail !


Both interiors are now completed...


...only aftermarket used is the Yalu-panel in the cockpit to the left. And to the right you can see those annoying green instrument faces ! The Yalu panel fouled the fit (can be handled but then the mounting surface has to be sanded thinner which of course need some planning and thinking...) a bit when I closed the fuselage later so I don't think it is worth it, next time I'll probably just paint the top panel black and attach the decal over and call it a day with that!


A very dirty firewall, I didn't notice until now! I won't try and clean it though, almost nothing can be seen with the fuselage closed !


Another view before closing the fuselage for good!


And the current state of affairs! Engine covers needed a bit of extra sanding, they aren't difficult to fit but care is needed since the seams have to be perfectly neat.



Magnus