fleet air arm planes in wwII

[streetfighterjeff]

a good friend of mine, who sady has alzimers( spelt wrong iknow) used to fly wild cats, hellcats and swordfish during the war. thing is i want to build one of each, but i have never seen a hellcat or a wildcat in rfar colours. can anyone help? the swordfish is dead easy. all going to be 1/72. cheers in advance

jeff

Edited July 13, 2014 by streetfighterjeff

[Troy Smith]

a good friend of mine, who sady has alzimers( spelt wrong iknow) used to fly wild cats, hellcats and swordfish during the war. thing is i want to build one of each, but i have never seen a hellcat or a wildcat in rfar colours. can anyone help? the swordfish is dead easy. all going to be 1/72. cheers in advance

jeff

If you search for Fleet Air Arm, or FAA you will find many pictures.

Wildcats or Martlets can be very confusing in marks, see here

http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/wildcatfaaba_1.htm

I don't 'do' 1/72nd, so for what's what in the scale have a search, at least now you know what version are what from the above link.

Hellcats? Eduard do a 1/48th 'dual combo' kit

http://www.hyperscale.com/2008/reviews/kits/eduard8223reviewbg_1.htm

and a quick search says 1/72 nd too

http://www.hyperscale.com/2012/reviews/kits/eduard7078reviewbg_1.htm

many aftermarket sheets too.

HTH

T

[Adam Maas]

Eduard's excellent Hellcat has been boxed in a FAA Dual-Combo boxing in both 1/72 and 1/48 which is the best bet there. This allows you to do a Hellcat Mk.1 (F6F-3) and a Hellcat Mk.II (F6F-5). This is both the best Hellcat boxing and one of the best FAA Hellcat sheets, all in one box. Note most Mk.1's were in the FAA's traditional Temperate Sea Scheme while the Mk.II's are mostly in standard USN GSB with either Aussie-style roundels or Pacific Fleet roundels with bars.

The Wildcat also served but was known as the Martlet in FAA service. Unlike the Hellcat which was a standard US airframe with FAA radios (and possibly belts) the Martlets were a mix of origins with some being specific FAA configurations different from production for the USN. These are really a minefield so you want to know which airframe you want to build prior to figuring out which kit to use. Expect to do a little modification to the kit to get the FAA version unless you are doing a Martlet VI, which is pretty much a stock FM-2.

Edited July 13, 2014 by Adam Maas

[streetfighterjeff]

tbh, i dont think stan would be too bothered, but i want to do the best i can. i'll have to try and find what sort of time he was flying.

[dfqweofekwpeweiop4]

Both Hasegawa and Sword have done Wildcat kits with FAA markings in 1/72 but they are oop now, so only available 2nd hand.

thanks

Mike

[Planebuilder62]

AZ do the Martlet, check Hannants

[baldmanwithsnake]

I got the xtradecals sheet "Yanks with Roundels pt2" which has FAA schemes for Hellcats and Wildcats in 1/72nd

Link to my photo here http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/234963660-academy-172nd-tbf-1-avenger/#entry1681041

Edited July 14, 2014 by baldmanwithsnake

[MDriskill]

Expect to do a little modification to the kit to get the FAA version unless you are doing a Martlet VI, which is pretty much a stock FM-2.

Excellent point, and the Martlet V was also externally identical to its US variant, the General Motors-built FM-1. Hasegawa did both FM-1 and Martlet V boxings in 1/72, but would be a trick to find nowadays.

The Martlet III was likewise an un-changed F4F-3A, but surprisingly no "mainstream" manufacturer has yet seen fit to do a first-rate kit of any early fixed-wing Wildcat (in my book, the "scribe-it-yourself" Hasegawa "F4F-3" does not count).

AZ Models comes to the rescue, however, with very passable kits of the Martlet Mks I, III, and VI (and of the related US F4F-3 and FM-2). The overall lines and engineering of these are plainly based on Hasegawa kits, but with appropriately changed details to create the new variants. Note that some are under AZ's "Admiral" label.

Edited July 16, 2014 by MDriskill