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Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat - 1/48 Tamiya and 1/72 Airfix #FINISHED#


nimrod54

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I have managed to get the national markings on the Airfix kit this afternoon. In the end I went with the kit option of a US Navy Wildcat from VF-6 when on USS Enterprise (CV-6) in 1942. I will leave these to set up before sealing them in with a coat of clear, then I can make a start on adding the stencils.

 

My plan for the Tamiya kit is to go with the kit decals again, and finish this as a three colour bird aboard USS Independence.

 

28925883908_4e20a33e1a_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

28925883228_8b510f33b0_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

28925883538_4ebb947efb_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

28925882108_493a4b7d07_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

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  • 2 weeks later...

The 1/48 Tamiya kit has now had the top colours airbrushed on over past few days, and I've used the excellent Colourcoats range of paints for this, starting with white on the lower surfaces. Once dry it was masked off in readiness for the intermediate blue (ANA608) on the fuselage sides, the masking was removed along the demarcation line and then masked off again in preparation for the non specular sea blue (ANA607) along the fuselage upper surface. The final colour to go on over the wings and tail surfaces was semi-gloss sea blue (ANA606). I'll give this a week to harden off properly and then I can start prepping for the decals.

 

42281959224_9b1cd64ddf_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

29128325028_089f2f3697_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

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18 hours ago, nimrod54 said:

The 1/48 Tamiya kit has now had the top colours airbrushed on over past few days, and I've used the excellent Colourcoats range of paints for this, starting with white on the lower surfaces. Once dry it was masked off in readiness for the intermediate blue (ANA608) on the fuselage sides, the masking was removed along the demarcation line and then masked off again in preparation for the non specular sea blue (ANA607) along the fuselage upper surface. The final colour to go on over the wings and tail surfaces was semi-gloss sea blue (ANA606). I'll give this a week to harden off properly and then I can start prepping for the decals.

 

42281959224_9b1cd64ddf_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

29128325028_089f2f3697_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

Nice work! Do you know, this is only the second model I have ever seen that has featured the four separate colours in the three colour scheme? The first was my own Hellcat so doesn't count!

 

Between your's and a pair that Duncan Black has just started, I really fancy digging my last Wildcat out of the stash!

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6 hours ago, Jamie @ Sovereign Hobbies said:

Nice work! Do you know, this is only the second model I have ever seen that has featured the four separate colours in the three colour scheme? The first was my own Hellcat so doesn't count!

 

Between your's and a pair that Duncan Black has just started, I really fancy digging my last Wildcat out of the stash!

Thanks for taking the time to comment Jamie. Tamiya suggest three colours in their instructions for this aircraft, but I decided to use four colours after reading through some pages on the IPMS Stockholm site suggesting that US Navy aircraft used these in 1943. I hope that this was the right decision.

 

I hope that you do decide to tackle your Wildcat, it would be good to see the results, and I am sure you will make a far better job of yours.

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14 hours ago, trickyrich said:

gosh that is a nice finish you've gotten with that paint job!! :thumbsup:   She looks awesome, well done.

 

Thanks Rich, I've used them on a couple of builds now and have found the Colourcoats paints a joy to use.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I have been chipping away at my entries for this GB and the two Wildcats are almost there now. The Tamiya kit is in the process of having the canopy frames painted and then I can give both models their final topcoats before adding the last few details.

 

28384243507_3f250b6314_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

28384242767_299fb9b0e4_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

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Got the final details completed on these two today, so I am calling them done. I don't generally weather my models, in the main this is due to fear of messing them up, but I did have a go at adding a pin wash to the panel lines on the Airfix kit, using some Abteilung 502 Starship Filth which dries to a grey/brown colour. It isn't very visible in the photos but it is there.

 

28478367977_1ec6644736_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

42630577494_423b16d9f5_c.jpg

by John L, on Flickr

 

I'll get some more photos in the gallery just as soon as I can, it's time to concentrate on the Carrier deck launch now though. Thanks to everyone for all the comments along the way and special thanks to Rich for keeping things ticking along.

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welldone John they look awesome together, fantastic job on the finish as well, top notch!! :thumbsup:

 

thanks for joining us, it was great to have you along as usual and to follow your builds.

 

I do hope you enjoyed the build and look forward to following more of your builds.

 

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1 hour ago, trickyrich said:

welldone John they look awesome together, fantastic job on the finish as well, top notch!! :thumbsup:

 

thanks for joining us, it was great to have you along as usual and to follow your builds.

 

I do hope you enjoyed the build and look forward to following more of your builds.

Thanks Rich, I have really enjoyed this GB. There are lots of great builds over in the gallery and it's nice to see a variety of subjects. Thanks again for the support along the way, it has been a hectic few months with most of the group builds that I signed up for taking place in the early part of the year. The madness doesn't stop here though, I have a Canberra to finish for next weekend, then three builds to progress for the Airfix GB.  :frantic:

 

Until the next time :cheers:

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Two beautiful builds John. 

My apologies for not commenting during the build, but I'm really struggling to keep on top of things with so much GB activity this year!

 

Cliff

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4 hours ago, CliffB said:

Two beautiful builds John. 

My apologies for not commenting during the build, but I'm really struggling to keep on top of things with so much GB activity this year!

 

Cliff

Thanks a lot Cliff and don't worry about not commenting. I am struggling to find the time to comment on lots of excellent builds going on at the moment. Things should return to a more leisurely pace after completion of the RAF group build next weekend, and who knows I may have time to enter the 11th Hour GB if it's not too late. 

 

Cheers

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