1/72 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcat - Carrier Aircraft GB

[nagoya_triangle]

This morning I applied a basic paint job for the cockpit and engine pieces. I even tried to make the seat straps with tape, which was going ok until I ruined them when I tried to paint the buckles. I'll just try again later. 1/72 is a little small for my ability to apply good detail.

 

[meatloaf109]

Little bits of aluminium foil work for buckles, or the whole belt, if you want.
And somewhere, it might be GB 13, Airframes (I think) posted a cool way to make buckles from wire. Might be too hard for 1/72, but worth a look.

 

[nagoya_triangle]

Thanks for the tips. I just tried to scrap something together quickly. I think I'll see what I can do with the foil for the buckles.

 

[ccheese]

Going to be interesting...

Charles

 

[Lucky13]

H*lluva lot better than my abilities in this scale! Looking good pal!

 

[Airframes]

I agree, good start.

 

[Vic Balshaw]

Good on ya James, great start and welcome aboard and have fun.

 

[parsifal]

Welcome, good luck and enjoy James

 

[nagoya_triangle]

The wings and fuselage of this Hasegawa kit fit together so nicely, although I may need a little putty for one of the stabilizers. I have experienced a setback with the landing gear assembly. I was test fitting some parts and the right side of the main gear support just snapped in half. I spent a long time trying to glue it back into place and arrange everything in a way that will somehow hold the wheels. I just hope I got it all straight enough that it won't sit crooked.

I'm pretty much done with most of my SBD now and will have more time to focus on the wildcat. I brush painted the exterior with some $.75 acrylics from a craft store in the USA and I'm pretty happy with the result.

 

[woody]

Doing good James.

 

[brucejscott]

Looking good James.

 

[Lucky13]

Looking good mate!

 

[Wayne Little]

Agreed not bad at all!

 

[Crimea_River]

Good work so far.

 

[R Leonard]

A great choice for a project!

Not to make your life difficult, though, but the F4F-3 did not have shoulder belts, just a lap belt. Factory installed shoulder belts did not appear in F4Fs until after Midway. The -4's flown there by VF-3 and VF-6 had only lap belts, those flown by VF-8 has ship designed and installed shoulder belts. But -3's . . . not at all.

Regards,

Rich

 

[Gnomey]

A good start so far!

 

[nagoya_triangle]

Thanks for the info! Now that I look back at my reference (Wildcat Detail Scale) I can see that you are indeed correct, i was looking at the wrong model.

A great choice for a project!

Not to make your life difficult, though, but the F4F-3 did not have shoulder belts, just a lap belt. Factory installed shoulder belts did not appear in F4Fs until after Midway. The -4's flown there by VF-3 and VF-6 had only lap belts, those flown by VF-8 has ship designed and installed shoulder belts. But -3's . . . not at all.

Regards,

Rich

 

[Wayne Little]

You will always get pointed in the right direction around here with good information!

 

[rochie]

nice work

 

[javlin]

Nice to see some new names in the Gb's looking good thus far.