TAMIYA 1:48 F4F-4/FM-1

Hi George,

Looks like a great start! Don't worry about the 'satin' effect on your interior paint - it looks appropriate. Bronze Green was a rather oily enamel, and was nearly always just a bit too glossy - that's why the Navy suggested the switch to flatter Dull Dark Green lacquer.

I've a bunch of pix of F4F-4s and FM-1s in ASW schemes I and II. Drop me a PM before I go on vacation next week and I'll try to send you a batch via DropBox.

BTW, the tall tail was designed to be retrofitted to earlier Wildcats, though I've never found a photo of that extension on anything but the FM-2. Still, the easiest way to distinguish the FM-2 from earlier models is the repositioning of the exhausts above the leading edge of the wing on the FM-2.

Cheers,


Dana

Much appreciated Dana, PM sent. Done for another week, camp bus in 50 minutes. Other wing has had the gun hatch removed and when I get back I'll work on the bottom two. Have a great week gentlemen. I'll pop in if the internet allows.

I really liked the appearance of the engine. The Citadell paint brand is convinecing me.
The interiors of the cockpit are very "padrísimo". I like what you've got so far Geo.
Saludos amigo

Great work so far George!

Looking very nice George, will be following with interest.

Well, I started mine in GB21 as I had to retreat from building because of moving and other dastardly things.
Not much done and hopping I can pick it up for GB41, Pacific Theahtre.
Mine has a good Davidson story. So hoping.
Good job so far Geo.

Thanks all. My decals arrived for my current GB but I'll be getting back to this shortly.

Just caught up on this. Nice work so far Geo and some great supporting info.

May decide to piss Terry off and build this kit some day.

Add a few golf clubs and balls, and it'll be acceptable Andy !
Oh and some spanners and nails, to replicate the engine sound !!!!

Thanks Andy. Sprayed the forward innards light grey. I'll brush paint the landing gear as I feel I will feed the spray booth more than paint the gear.

I didn't paint the hole below the cockpit as dry fitting the lower wings/fuselage/cockpit shows it's pretty dark down there

...se pone interesante!!

Cheers

Looks good so far George!

Merci. Painted details on the landing gear(?) bulkhead using Tamiya XF-56 - Metallic Grey for the chain system and Citadel Runefang Steel for the pipe

I can't find a decent photo of this area to tell if there was any weathering or if the U.S. Navy kept the gear area clean as they do nowadays. The arrow is pointing at unintentional paint chipping during handling. I'm going to at least add this with a pin to some areas around the chain

Not bad George.

Danke!! Attached some fiddly bits to the firewall(?) and then attached that to the cockpit which I then inserted into the taped up fuselage halves to ensure everything lined up. The fuselage should have been glued together in step one, the pic below is step three

I didn't dirty up the firewall as I could find no clear shots of it so as much as I wanted to I left it alone

Good stuff George.

Looking good George! As far as the fire wall is concerned, here are my thoughts on it if I may.

I would think that, even if well maintained (kept clean) there would still be some discoloration to the areas from oils and lubricants staining the paint. In my experience as a crew chief on Blackhawk helicopters, we would try to keep our aircraft as clean as possible, inside and out. We didn't leave oil or grease around the engine areas or the hydraulic deck, and frequently washed away dirt and grime. From a maintenance perspective, it is much easier to tell if a seal is going out and trace where a leak is coming from if the aircraft is kept clean. We also touched up chipped paint by hand when found to prevent corrosion, as well as applying anticorrosion films to exposed unpainted hardware and sliding/moving components such as hinges. We were land based, not near any saltwater, but still kept up with anticorrosion measures constantly. Now, that being said, it has been my experience that no matter how well we cleaned our aircraft, some paint discoloration from POL fluids and even the anti corrosion products was evident. Where the anti corrosion film was applied, the areas would appear slightly glossy and the color darker as it was a somewhat oily compound and left the area appearing wet. The areas I am talking about are not wide swaths or patches, but just around rivets and bolt heads since the compounds were applied to just these spots with an acid brush, not much bigger than we might use in our hobby (1/2 inch wide at the most). Where airframe skin overlapped and components bolted/riveted to brackets etc., you could see some grime just under the edges at times that was just near impossible to get too, but not filthy by any means.

Ok, sorry for the long ramble, but if I were going about this on my model, I would at a minimum do some pin washes around the rivets and airframe stuffiners(?) On the firewall. I found a picture of an FM-2 wheel bay/firewall that illustrates this nicely I think.

Dunno if this is static display or airworthy, but still it can be seen that the firewall is pretty clean, but also a bit stained.

Just wanted to offer some personal insight in case it may be of help. Either way you decide, she is still coming up very nicely and I am enjoying your build very much.

-Chad

Pic via the internet image search