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Grumman Wildcat JV368 - An Accidental Australian in the FAA - Arma Hobby F4F-4 to FM-1


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Sub-Lt Fred Sherborne is quite unusual in being one of the few Australian pilots in the FAA. His Wildcat V JV368, from the RN carrier Searcher, was shot down five miles south of Avignon on August 19, 1944. After taking AA fire, Sherborne crash landed the aircraft in a field of aubergines and was harboured by the French Resistance until the Allies took the village of Chateaurenard. Here a farmer poses on the Wildacat before it was hidden from the Germans.

 

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Sherborne joined the Royal Australian Navy as a seaman and was a gunner on a defensively equipped merchant ship in the Mediterranean. When that vessel was sunk he went back to England to be reallocated to another ship. When he was in the queue waiting to be re-mustered to another DEMS merchantman he became aware they were selecting people nearby to learn how to fly. He discreetly moved from one queue to the other and soon found himself in Florida as a young 23-year-old Leading Seaman. When authorities discovered his true identity they apparently said ‘You’re here now we might as well teach you how to fly’. He became a highly proficient and respected fighter pilot in 882 Sqn. Prior to the incident where he was shot down, Searcher was involved in the attack on the Tirpitz in Norway. He was Mentioned in Dispatches for his involvement in that action.

Postwar, he furthered in his career in the RAN. He was one of the founding members of the RAN Fleet Air Arm. He went on to command 805 Sea Fury Squadron, and was later Commander Air at NAS Nowra.

 

This is the excellent Arma Hobby Wildcat F4F-4 converted to an FM-1. The Wildcat V was the equivalent of the Grumman FM-1 but had four wing guns instead of the six of the F4F-4. The blast tube was filled in and the underside ammunition hatches rescribed as per the Arma instructions.

 

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Apart from that the model is OOB. Marking were deduced from pictures of JV368 and other aircraft of 882 Sqn. Searcher’s squadrons changed from the identifier of 6 to S. When JV368 was downed the fuselage, code had been repainted but not the cowling number. Aircraft in Operation Dragoon, both FAA and USN, were marked with a red cowling band.

 

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Many thanks to Tony O’Toole for his invaluable research assistance. Much of Sherborne’s story came from an article in the South Coast Register, the local newspaper of the Illawarra – Shoalhaven - Nowra district. There is a book by his nephew but it does not add anything of interest to modellers.

https://www.amazon.com/Accidental-Hero-Guy-Sherborne-ebook/dp/B079GQ1C8W

 

Edit - sorted out confusion of which kit I actually used. See below.

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9 hours ago, Vince1159 said:

any idea how they managed to hide it...

Apparently the local farmers dragged it into a nearby stream. Many of the parts were souvenired and ended up in collections or the museum.

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Very nice Ed. Always nice to have a story along with the model.
 

The FM-1/Wildcat V was only equipped with 2x.50 guns per wing, if Arma did 3/wing, the kit had F4F-4 wings rather than FM-1 wings. The USN aviators bitterly objected to the -4s switch to 6 guns since it reduced the actual engagement time because of less ammo/gun. When production switched to General Motors, the reduction in armament (along with an increase in ammo per gun) was part of the changeover to FM-1.

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10 hours ago, Chuck1945 said:

if Arma did 3/wing, the kit had F4F-4 wings rather than FM-1 wings.

Pardon my dumbness Chuck, it was in fact an F4F-4 kit. I have (too) many Wildcat kits. This is the box collection from my latest builds and includes the F4F-4 converted to FM-1 ........... I have edited the post to show correct model kit.

 

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I really do like the models with a  story behind them. 
 

I didn’t get the Arma FM-1 & FM-2 double kit but when I saw your picture with the scribing template to do the ammo box doors… Anyway, all I wanted to do is point out that except perhaps for some British specific details, the FM-1 and Wildcat V are the same airframe. The conversion you had accomplish was due to Arma putting the F4F-4 kit in a different box with new decals and calling it an FM-1

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  • Ed Russell changed the title to Grumman Wildcat JV368 - An Accidental Australian in the FAA - Arma Hobby F4F-4 to FM-1
  • 2 weeks later...

Great story and great model. Well done.
I also have had JV368 on the workbench for several months, having seen the South Coast Article last year and read the book via the local library.

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  • 1 month later...
On 6/19/2022 at 11:34 AM, Model cobber said:

JV368 on the workbench for several months, having seen the South Coast Article last year and read the book via the local library.

Let us see it when you have finished it. The book does not help a lot but it's an interesting read. The picture on the cover is the best bit!

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