Hasegawa 1/72nd F4F-4

[mike romeo]

Hi folks,

This was my last build in 2013, and was a deliberate antidote to some of the "Classic Fettling" I'd been doing during the year. So, the prescription for the build was oob all the way and a simple colour scheme.

Hasegawa's rather nice F4F-4 in Operation Torch markings seemed to fit the requirements, and so it proved. I must admit I couldn't resist adding some wine bottle foil seat belts and a bulkhead between the undercarriage bay and the main fuselage, but apart from that it was built as Hasegawa intended.

The kit went together with no problems, and I rushed it a bit to get it finished by year end. So a number of details, like cockpit framing and weathering are not as refined as I would have liked. Still, I'm happy to have it in my cabinet.

Oh, btw, the the underside shot shows that Hasegawa decals can be persuaded to sit in panel lines. The trick is to use very hot water (just short of boiling) to soak the decal in prior to application.

Comments welcomed.

]

regards,

Martin

Edited January 24, 2014 by mike romeo

[Wolwe82]

very nice wildcat, good job

[Winenut]

Lovely build. You can see the lineage from the Wildcat linking to the Hellcat.......top stuff

Would Micro Sol or Micro Set get those decals into line with or without the hot water.......maybe not???

I cant do without them now.......shrinks them right into the panel lines or smooths over any rivets!

Cheers

Winenut

[Neil AS]

Lovely job

[warhawk]

Excellent job. I like the minimal weathering, not too much oil streaks or wash in the panels.

[mike romeo]

All,

Thanks very much for the positive feedback.

Winenut,

Hasegawa decals of a certain vintage can be very sensitive to setting solutions. I nearly had to bin a Spit Mk VII due to that some years ago. Consequently, I tend to treat them with kid gloves. They tend to be quite thick, so I am happy that I now have a way to get them into panel lines without the use of other chemicals.

regards,

Martin

[MDriskill]

That's a really lovely build!

IMHO this is an outstanding kit, a better representation of the Wildcat's shape than most larger-scale kits in fact. Your rendition does it full justice!

And thanks for the tip about the hot water on the decals, I will definitely give that a try.

Edited January 26, 2014 by MDriskill

[Spad]

Nice job and looks like the perfect antidote to intensive fettling!

On the subject of decals, have you tried the hairdrier technique? And I don't mean shout at them a la Alex Ferguson! Wafting a hairdrier at the decals while still wet(and perhaps soaked in Set/Sol) really softens them up and they go down into all sorts of corners and detail.

Cheers

Rick