Airfix 1/72 Martlet IV to F4F-4?

[-Neu-]

Heyo

 

So I wa able to get several of Airfix's newish Martlet IV kits at a super reasonable price, but I actually want to build them as F4F-4s, using the starfighter decals Midway set... so I can have them all folded up on the carrier deck (like in the video below). I profess to only have a limited knowledge of the various Wildcat marks, so what are my options to getting them to the F4F-4 standard? 

 

 

[gingerbob]

I believe (having done a moment's "quick and dirty" internet research) that the Martlet kit is missing the F4F-4 engine sprue:

 

 

Source of photo Hyperscale review of the Wildcat (F4F-4) kit.

 

That sprue should tell you pretty well what you would need to do to make it into an F4F-4 (or FM-1, which has 4 guns vs. 6).  (Summary: 14 cylinder two-row engine vs. single-row 9 cylinder, different prop, different cowl.)

Edited January 29, 2019 by gingerbob

[-Neu-]

yeah, thats what i figured.... I wonder if I can buy them from airfix direct. 

[MDriskill]

Real-plane-wise, the “dash 4” had the 14-cylinder, 2-row Pratt & Whitney Twin Wasp engine. The Martlet IV had the 9-cylinder, single-row Wright Cyclone, and a different prop. The two were identical aft of the firewall, but quite different in shape forward.

 

Here are two links that will up your Wildcat expertise:

 

Bruce Archer’s famous summary:

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

 

IMHO the best F4F drawings yet published here, and scroll near the end to see some brilliant comparative Martlet profiles:

http://soyuyo.main.jp/fm2/fm2e-1.html

 

 

[Work In Progress]

Seriously, swap it for an F4F-4 kit.

[-Neu-]

1 hour ago, Work In Progress said:

Seriously, swap it for an F4F-4 kit.

 

I didn't get them from a store unfortunately... and thats why I got them as a steal (unless you're talking about a trade). I guess my challenge here is trying to make them something that's useful. 

 

[dogsbody]

A comparative view of the two sprues:

 

 

 

 

Chris

[VMA131Marine]

1 minute ago, dogsbody said:

 

 

Chris

The cowling on the same sprue as the engine and prop is not used in building the model and is not correct for any variant of Wildcat. Airfix tooled up the cowl parts on the separate sprue when the significant differences in the PW and Cyclone cowlings were pointed out.

[-Neu-]

Hmmm I was wondering about that sprue @VMA131Marine: thanks for pointing it out. @dogsbody thanks for posting the screen shots! I forgot to mention that I got one of the F4F kits among the Martlets, but having the photos help.