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Airfix F4F-4 Wildcat VF-10 USS Enterprise


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I'll be building the Airfix Wildcat as White 19 the mount of the "Sweede."

 

During the Battle of Santa Cruz on October 26, 1942, Stanley W. ‘Swede’ Vejtasa of VF-10 from the carrier Enterprise downed seven Japanese planes in one fight.

 

This was after he was already famous for dogfighting 3 Zeros for over 25 minutes in a SBD at Coral Sea. Damaging all three. The US Navy awarded him kills on the 3 Zeros, but the Japanese claim they where only damaged. No matter what the outcome, that's insane.

 

The kit arrived today, a little crushed but the contents where fine...

 

 

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Decals. I'll be building the third from the top...

 

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What is there left to say about this excellent little kit? It's head and shoulders above the Academy kit I was looking for....

 

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Much better details....

 

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This is my first real attempt at a building thread so I have a lot to learn.  But I'll get started tonight giving the kit a through wash.

 

 

Edited by Thud4444
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Let's get started shall we?

 

Confession time, I really hate cockpits. It's my least favorite part of the build. I respect the guys who like to reproduce every detail and dial, but that isn't fun for me. So you cockpit guys might want to look away for this part. It's gonna be ugly...

 

So of course construction begins in the cockpit and it's fantastic little jewel of detail and engineering. 

 

 

20180127_103935

 

(sorry, my pics are terrible)

 

 

 

I managed this morning to get the entire cockpit assembled and a first coat of darkened zinc chromate sprayed. In a few hours, I'll lighten the zinc and lightly dust the cockpit with an airbrush. And finally I will  use a dark brown or black wash to bring out the details. Then I'll have to decide if I'm going to use the decals or brush paint in the dials. Decisions, decisions. But right now I'm just waiting for this stupid acrylic paint to dry.

 

71b9bf767aed4450181053f04ac54afe.png

 

 

I really miss old school enamels. 

 

Edited by Thud4444
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After fixing lunch, feeding the cats, checking the mail and trying to save a few settlements in the Commonwealth; the cockpit was finally dry.

 

I gave the surface a light dusting with two lighter greens and finished the pit off with a light drybrush of green zinc chromate.

 

And according to the pics- 

 

20180127_161123

 

It looks exactly the same....:facepalm:

 

In person the green looks richer and slightly grimy. It just didn't photograph well. Or I take crappy photos. ..

 

ShvB5uW.gif

 

After a nice long dry, I'm gonna apply the decals and hopefully have the fuselage buttoned up by Monday....

 

Edited by Thud4444
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  • 1 month later...

Life has tried it's best to stop this build, but I'm here still fighting the good fight. Here is how she looks this morning -

 

Build

 

 

Good lord that picture is terrible. 

 

After the glue dries, I have a few places to fill and sand but hopefully I'll get some primer on her today. 

 

 

progress-not-perfection-28894371.png

 

Edited by Thud4444
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  • 1 month later...

II tried to post some pics last weekend but I had trouble logging in for some reason. Anyway I've got the primer on and what little bit of preshading I am doing is done. I also received the stand I ordered, because I decided mid build to swap it to an inflight display.  When I get home I'll try to snap a few pics. 

 

The main hold up was trying to locate some correct paints. I finally gave up and ordered some Vallejo USN paints even though I swore off that brand. I hope to get this seemingly never ending model completed on time.

 

 

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Here is where we stand this morning. 

 

Preshading on top wasn't very successful. 

 

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The underside came out a little better.

 

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As you can see the landing gear covers aren't 100%. But I think I'm just gonna leave them be. Hopefully once the wheels are in it won't look that bad.

 

A gloss coat and hopefully I'll get started on the decals soon.

 

 

Edited by Thud4444
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Decals on. Another coat of future and I'm gonna let it dry all night. 

 

20180429_152716

 

 

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I'll give it a wash tomorrow.  I'm thinking dark grey, almost gunmetal, for the top. And a light grey on the bottom. I figured black would be too dark. Thoughts? 

 

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Yup, black is far too harsh. I use darker tones of the colour I'm going over, just like you intend to

Never worry about the u/c doors. Its quite surprising how badly panels and doors fit on the real ones. As modellers we make them far to perfect a fit.

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+1 for Not A Black Wash. The panel lines are already quite visible, if you can mix it yourself I'd recommend as near a colour as you can get to the shadow-version of that blue and the same formula for the underside grey.

 

Lookinig good, by the way :)

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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Grey wash on

 

20180502_203945

 

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I didn't mix the grey on the right wing very well. It separated while drying. 😡

 

Post wash results. Looks dirty and grimy.

 

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I just realized I forgot to paint the insides of the cowl.😱

 

Tomorrow I've got a dark rust color that I'm gonna mix with a bit of black to give the underside a wash. After that drys, then I'm gonna give the guns and exhaust a bit of black streaks. Final flat coat and add the bits and canopy then I'm calling game on this one.

 

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Good progress mate, and don't worry too much about the stuff you forget to do and have to re-do later; it's all part of the learning process and we all still do it :D

 

Looking forward to seeing how she turns out.

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm calling this one finished.  What can I say, I'm not happy with it. I stripped off the drybrush and replaced it with a charcoal wash that I think looks better. I'll have to keep working on my technique. But for a first build it isn't awful,  but it isn't good either.

 

Unfortunately the humidity has been high lately so I have been delaying the final flat coat. It may not be great but I don't want to ruin it with a frosty flat finish.  The clouds are out today so here are some really bad shots on my phone indoors. Its supposed to be sunny tomorrow,  so I'll get some better shots then.

 

2018-05-13_06-58-35

 

 

 

2018-05-13_06-59-13

 

 

 

 

 

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It looks like it turned out well to me - whenever I finish a kit I tend to focus on the bits that went less well and I think it's human nature to do that. However, you finished it and it is a good representation of the original aircraft and whether you noticed it or not, you wiill have learned some stuff along the way as well :)

 

I'd give the flat coat a miss though, unless you can mask the canopy or remove it temporarily. otherwise the varnish will most likely fog the clear parts.

 

What were the Print Scale decals like to use?

 

Cheers,

 

Stew

 

 

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The canopy is just sat on for now. I'm afraid the charcoal wash will rub off without a flat coat. Hopefully the weather will cooperate. 

 

I'm really happy  to have finally finished something.  I hope I learned a bit. I'll find out on my next project! 

 

The decals where fantastic. They where super thin and in register. They also layed down with no trouble.  I would highly recommend them. 

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