Hi all, I don't normaly venture into this area of Armorama, but I was figuring on a lot of expert help given to me. Shortly the Trumpeter 350 scale Lexington will be released. It is set up for 1942. There are a large group of us who wish to backdate it to 1939 - 1940 time frame. Everything has been researched fairly well. So, in 350 scale I have a few aircraft questions. Was there ever a time the F-4-f Wildcat had the yellow painted wings? Is there any 350 scale aircraft available of the F-2-F Buffaloe or the Vindicator? If not how much modification in such a tiny size would it require to "give the appearance" of a Buffaloe taken from a Wildcat. Keep in mind the tiny scale and absolute exactness are not required. Can the Dauntless be faked for a Vindicator? Luckily they do make Devastators. I've got all the data on the ship and the color schemes of the aircraft I need, and am going to do what I want which is to put the yellow wings on as many as I can to dress up the ship. Thanks

Hi blaster76,

Yes, the Wildcat carried yellow wings and aluminum fuselage prior to the war. Converting the wildcat to a buffalo would involve shortening the fuselage behind the canopy and shortening and angling the tail, but I looks doable for the scale. Final touch would be to add a bit of brass to represent the landing gear doors which are on the wing on the buffalo.

I haven't found a manufacturer of tiny buffaloes or vindicators, but Trumpeter does make some Devastators which would be at home on deck.

Hope this helps.
Mika

Blaster,

The Wildcat is doable but the Buffalo had rounded wingtips and vertical stab, and the body was barrel shaped.
The Vindicator, I would build from a mix of different aircraft. I'd use the body of a Devastator, narrow the wing chord at the wing root. The vertical and horizontal stabs I'd get from a F4U Corsair, the Vindicator had rounded wing tips too. If you wanted, you could turn an F4Fwildcat into and F3F biplane by rounding the wings and tail and add a top wing. We still had Bipes in '39. HTH
Chief