took a break from my phil air force projects to do this build...it's a conversion of a 1/72 hobbyboss FM-1 kit to a proper FM-2 version...
this is in conjunction with a group build by IPMS-philippines on "the battle of leyte gulf" and the "battle of the philippine sea" or otherwise known as "the great marianas turkey shoot"...where the once great imperial japanese naval squadrons were dessimated by the US navy's carrier based squadrons...
in the "battle of leyte gulf", the FM-2 version of the wildcat in defense of the allied liberation forces landing in the island of leyte, saw action against the IJN's battle group under admiral kurita's command ...this sea battle also featured the biggest battleship ever built...the "yamato"...
this particular aircraft shall be done in the tri-color scheme of the "composite squadron 4" that flew from the USS white plains (CVE-66) circa 1943-1944...
color scheme here...
decided to add a little detail to the wildcat's engine from a borrowed engine part of the hellcat kit...as the original engine detail wasn't too accurate...
Come on friend, your skills are not as important as you think.
This is quite easy to make it.Anyway, it was a good idea to use those parts .For sure the engine looks better now.
> managed to delete the service panels in the wings for the outboard guns on both sides;
> replaced the propellers with paddle type versions;
> used brass sheets for the amended engine cowling flaps;
for this i used .005" thick brass...i also found that the using a metal burnisher by scraping the cut metal sheets can help in forming it and smoothening out some dinks and scratches...