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1/48 - Grumman F4F Wildcat/Martlet family by Eduard - F4F-3/F-4 & FM-2 released - new F4F-4 boxing in April 2024


Homebee

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Eduard is to release 1/48th Grumman F4F Wildcat kits: F4F-3 through F4F-4, FM-1 and FM-2 to Martlets.

Sources: 

https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95280&start=33705#p2449036

https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95280&start=33720#p2449051

https://www.modelforum.cz/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=95280&start=33765#p2449103

 

Quote

Takže v tom červnu 1942, u příležitosti Bitvy u Midway, vydáme další Limitku, jejímž hrdinou bude...

Googled:

So in that June 1942, on the occasion of the Battle of Midway (80th anniversary), we will release another Limit, whose hero will be ...
 

 

WILDCAT.jpg

WILDCAT-PODVOZEK-1.jpg
WILDCAT-PODVOZEK-2.jpg

 

WILDCAT-TRUP-2.jpg
WILDCAT-TRUP-1.jpg

 

V.P.

 

Matt-Memory2.jpg

Edited by Homebee
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  • Homebee changed the title to 1/48 - Grumman F4F Wildcat by Eduard - 3D render - release in 2022
  • Homebee changed the title to 1/48 - Grumman F4F Wildcat family by Eduard - 3D renders - release in 2022
1 hour ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

Eduard:

 

The Wildcat will range from the F4F-3 of various variants to the F4F-4, FM-1 and FM-2 to the Martlets, but those won't be all of them because there are about eight of them and some are very marginal.

 

I guess they are talking about lesser produced variants? That will be nice to see and would be also nice if they did that with their Spitfires.

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This was a rumour so long ago that I doubted whether there was any truth in it.

 

If there's an accurate Martlet III release, I'd love to redo that (I converted an HB kit which was nice, but basic, and my skill has moved on in the interim). Eduard's most recent output is at such a high level that, unlike many aircraft kits, I don't feel disappointed when comparing them to the standard of AFVs.

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23 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

@Piotr Mikolajski  : then why mention the F4F-3 explicitly?

 

Because Mr. Sulc said they would start Wildcats with the F4F-3 version. How else would he say they would start with F4F-3 without pointing to F4F-3?

 

  

23 minutes ago, alt-92 said:

I'd say they would do the earlier one. 

 

What you are referring to is a statement by Mr Sulc, translated from Czech into English. In this statement he literally lists the versions of Wildcat that they will be releasing. If you speak Czech and want to translate yourself, here is the original:

 

Wildcat bude od F4F-3 různých variant přes F4F-4, FM-1 a FM-2 až po Martlety, ale ty nebudou všechny, protože těch je asi osm a některé jsou velmi marginální.

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I recall reading that early Martlets had some variation in the gun installations compared to your more standard US -3 and -4, so would assume theres going to be some extra wings sprues in certain boxings.

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7 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

 

It seems to me that they will do the Martlets that are equivalent to F4F-4, FM-1 and FM-2, but they won't do the earlier ones.

Well, there were over 200 Martlet/Wildcat IVs supplied to the Royal Navy. These had the 9 cylinder Wright R-1820 Cyclone with the short chord cowl. Would be nice if Eduard did this version.

 

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

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8 hours ago, Tbolt said:

Okay thanks. That wasn't clear when it translated to English.

 

OK, in that case I will break down into pieces what Mr Sulc said:

 

Wildcat
• F4F-3 of various variants
• F4F-4
• FM-1
• FM-2

Martlet
Not all variants will be released because there was about eight of them and some of them were marginal.

 

I tried to check yesterday what he means by "different versions of F4F-3" and how many versions of Martlets there were (I see 7, not 8, but I wouldn't bet on anything), but here you rather need someone who is an expert on Wildcat.

 

"Different versions" certainly refers to variants of the F4F-3 that require the replacement of literally a few small parts. So it could be F4F-3A or F4F-3P, but it could also be differences between different production series of F4F-3. What versions they will actually make - we will see.

 

As for the Martlets - since there will be Wildcat FM-1 and FM-2, there will also be Martlet V and VI. Looking at the balance between the cost of investment and the needs of the target group I suppose there will also be a Martlet IV, because quite a few were produced and it's hard to say about them that they were "very marginal".

 

Martlets I-III need major changes and since not all Martlet versions will be released, that's where I would look for cuts. But whether Eduard will reject all I-III or only some of them - here you need a clairvoyant with a well-calibrated crystal ball.

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Eduard's preference for several markings per box may suggest that some of the early Martlets would not be worth their own releases unless there are enough distictive markings to fill each box. Possibly a dual boxing of II/III or III/IV? Or maybe the parts breakdowns would allow a mix of Martlet versions in a single box. Not Eduard's usual way, I know, but I'd buy it.

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18 minutes ago, Ade H said:

Eduard's preference for several markings per box may suggest that some of the early Martlets would not be worth their own releases unless there are enough distictive markings to fill each box.

 

Yes and no :)

 

If you look at Eduard's new distributor leaflet, the proposed schemes for the first box of A6M2 Zero are boring, because they are virtually identical. But this Zero version had to be made anyway, Pearl Harbor has its audience, so we'll see the first build reports in December.

 

The most expensive factor in producing one more version is always the plastic part. If to make a new version you need a new antenna, a new shape of the exhaust tip, etc., then designing it will be fast, and such parts will take up little space on the mould, so the cost is negligible.

 

If for a new version you need new fuselage halves, new wings, new engine - their design will take much longer, they will take a lot of space on the mould, and this means a much higher final cost of the project.

 

This means that in the first case you can even make a box with boring paint schemes, because the real cost is boxart and decals. In the second case, even attractive paint schemes may not be enough to justify the decision to increase the investment significantly.

 

Here you would need a Wildcat expert to show how many changes are needed from F4F-3 or F4F-4 to have the earlier Martlets. Then it would be possible to assess how many new parts are needed and thus how much more expensive the whole project would be.

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The changes which I had to make to turn a F4F-3a into a Martlet III were minimal, IIRC. I know that a mix of -3 and -4 on one set of runners would be unlikely, given the different wings and whatnot.

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24 minutes ago, Ade H said:

The changes which I had to make to turn a F4F-3a into a Martlet III were minimal, IIRC.

 

The changes that a modeller has to make when converting one version to another, and the changes that a designer has to make in the design of plastic parts, are two different things.

 

Just look at the conversion of folding wing into non-folding one:

Modeller has to fill folding line with putty and scribe new panel lines. Plus riveting, if he wishes to do that. This is about 15-30 minutes of fairly easy work per wing and anyone can do it.

From a design perspective, especially one with as much detail as Eduard's project, that means a designer has to make a completely new wing. And given the size of the piece, it means making a new mould, so a noticeable increase in cost.

 

So if you want to look at the cost-effectiveness of making a different version, you have to look at the level of detail in the overall design and how many such details the versions differ in. Sometimes "it's just a few small touches" means a very big investment for a company. More often than not, it is this significant extra cost that is the answer to the question "but why didn't they do version X".

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Hmm, so from the announcement Eduard are basically doing the versions Hobby Boss did.  Though HB  did mess up the FM-2 though. 

 

9 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

Here you would need a Wildcat expert to show how many changes are needed from F4F-3 or F4F-4 to have the earlier Martlets. Then it would be possible to assess how many new parts are needed and thus how much more expensive the whole project would be.

 

10 hours ago, Piotr Mikolajski said:

Looking at the balance between the cost of investment and the needs of the target group I suppose there will also be a Martlet IV, because quite a few were produced and it's hard to say about them that they were "very marginal".

 

Martlets I-III need major changes and since not all Martlet versions will be released, that's where I would look for cuts.

at this point, I suggest a  read of this, and then sit down in darkened room for a while until the headache passes....

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

 

the info in the link was put together by @Bruce Archer

 

Note the the Martlet I and Martlet IV have shorter cowlings, but longer noses behind.      

 

There are many other small variation in wing, folding/non folding, and amount of guns, and their position.   There is a chart down the page with a list of which version had what.

 

A Martlet IV would make doing a Martlet I a lot easier, but Eduard do sometimes have a near Tamiya ability to not actually do an interesting version, like not doing the first gen MiG-21F-13,  or more oddly, not doing a Mig-21 FL, even though they do all the bits and it was used in combat by various Arab AF and the Indian AF...

 

Which is my way of saying  don't hold your breath for a Cyclone engined version...   (which has not been kitted in 1/48th, and it not an easy conversion)

 

Perhaps I'm wrong, they may do a Martlet IV, as from looking at the info in the link, it has the same wing as F4F-4,  6 gun, folding,  but requires a whole new fuselage,  but looking at the details the both  FM-1 could use the F4F-4 fuselage with a new cowl,  but the FM-2 needs a new fuselage as different length and taller fin,  though I think they share the same wing, 4 gun, folding.

the F4F-3 variants use the same wing, 4 gun, non-folding.

 

Have a read of the links as I may have made mistakes.   

Jumei Temma has done extensive research on the Wildcat/Martlet family 

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

 

HTH

 

 

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9 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

Hmm, so from the announcement Eduard are basically doing the versions Hobby Boss did.

 

 Indeed. But for completely different target and with completely different quality available thanks to releasing kit 14 years later. Maybe with a few minor variants of F4F-3 more.

 

9 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

Eduard do sometimes have a near Tamiya ability to not actually do an interesting version, like not doing the first gen MiG-21F-13,

 

They are working on it already :D

  

9 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

Which is my way of saying  don't hold your breath for a Cyclone engined version...   (which has not been kitted in 1/48th, and it not an easy conversion)

 

I completely forgot about the Jumei Temma drawings, but I just compared them and basically wanting to do all the Martlets Eduard should do 5 different fuselage versions:

  • Martlet I
  • Martlet II / III
  • Martlet IV
  • Martlet V
  • Martlet VI

 Bolded are variants transferred from Wildcats so there is no additional cost but each Martlet from I to IV means another fuselage and engine parts. A little bit expensive.

 

And well... there are different wings. Unfortunately, Jumei did not prepare such drawings for all versions of the wings, but it is known that for main versions of  Wildcats we have at least three wings variants:

  • F4F-3
  • F4F-4
  • FM-1 / FM-2

What about the Martlets? Unfortunately, I only know that Martlet I had other wings, and V and VI used the same FM-1 / FM-2 wing. Whether in the other versions of the Martlets the wings were identical to the American variants or whether they differed from them, I have no idea. But it makes it clear that the Martlet I required new wings, a new fuselage, a new engine with cowling, a new canopy, a new tail wheel.... basically everything. Long story short - as long as you can reuse existing fuselages and wings to combine them in other configurations, such options make sense. But if you have to make an extra fuselage, a new engine and new wings to make one version, used in dozens of examples...

 

Of course, it could be that Eduard has used some clever design solutions to reduce the number of parts required while increasing the number of versions. But we will only find out about this in a few months.

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