Spitfire madman Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 (edited) Hi all here I present to you my first full build of 2023 It’s finished as F4F-3 (1850) 41-F-4 flown by Lt. Charles Shileds of VF-41 USS Ranger in December 1940 At the beginning of January I was undecided on what to build next so I asked my wife to pick a kit from me stash and to choose the markings! And my wife picked the Eduard F4F-3 Wildcat and chose the early pre-war markings i started this by the end of the first week of January. The only issues I had with the kit was the rather fiddly undercarriage I don’t know if it was something i did or something to do with the kit parts but I had a major misalignment problem later on in the build one wingtip was a good 4mm higher than the other and that’s when I noticed the misalignment of the undercarriage although everything was glued to where it should be so I had to shorten one of the undercarriage legs to get it to sit horizontally! Question I don’t know whether to give it a wash to accentuate the panel lines and rivets if so can any recommend what to use ? Paints used were mainly from the MR Hobby Aqueous and Mr.Metalcolor ranges and some tamiya acrylics the decals are of the new type from Eduard and I bit the bullet in peeling the carrier film off and I must say It went better than expected with the decals only lifting in a couple of areas. I throughly enjoyed this build from start to finish despite the aforementioned issues hope you like it and thanks for looking happy modelling Edited February 16, 2023 by Spitfire madman Added text 53 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kategor Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 The idea of your wife choosing the model and markings is a very good one, sometimes that takes more time than building the model 😆 Very nice build, congratulations! 2 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
franky boy Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Great build. You don’t see many US Navy aircraft kits finished in the colourful pre war markings so good to see one here. James 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantherhawk27263 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 What a beautiful Wildcat!!! Very well done. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Bryant Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 As said above, it's nice to see a wildcat in the colourful pre war markings! Great finish! Might try letting my wife pick my next kit.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
russ c Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Beautifully finished Wildcat there, really nice work 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keeff Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Nice build and finish! 👌 Keith 😁 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire madman Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 27 minutes ago, Chris Bryant said: As said above, it's nice to see a wildcat in the colourful pre war markings! Great finish! Might try letting my wife pick my next kit.... It seems to be working as my wife has picked my next build 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
speedy Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 (edited) A great model mate and boom its so colourful. I'm going to let my wife pick the next one. Then tell her to pick again once she gets the one I'm actually going to do. Personally I wouldn't wash it as they look defined already. Edited February 16, 2023 by speedy 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tokyo Raider Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 I really like it! I have the same kit and wanted to do this scheme... what yellow did you use? It looks really great... I am a fence sitter when it comes to wash in all the panel lines... i mainly do it in control surface hinges and wing folds only, where grease is. If you look at photos of real aircraft, they dont have all panel lines highlighted. So i would restrain in the wash... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roberto Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Very nice! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire madman Posted February 16, 2023 Author Share Posted February 16, 2023 43 minutes ago, Tokyo Raider said: I really like it! I have the same kit and wanted to do this scheme... what yellow did you use? It looks really great... I am a fence sitter when it comes to wash in all the panel lines... i mainly do it in control surface hinges and wing folds only, where grease is. If you look at photos of real aircraft, they dont have all panel lines highlighted. So i would restrain in the wash... The yellow is MR Hobby Aqueous H329. Thank you for the feedback on the wash 👍 I’ll leave as is Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SAT69 Posted February 16, 2023 Share Posted February 16, 2023 Wow! That is gorgeous! Wish I could build as well. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire madman Posted February 19, 2023 Author Share Posted February 19, 2023 Thank you all for the kind comments 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sky Keg Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Very colorful and very nice. Mike 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Posted February 20, 2023 Share Posted February 20, 2023 Great job on your Wildcat and congratulations to Mrs. Spitfire Madman on choosing such a gorgeous scheme! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harold55 Posted February 21, 2023 Share Posted February 21, 2023 Fantastic looking Wildcat! Your wife has great taste in aircraft and their schemes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2996 Victor Posted April 3, 2023 Share Posted April 3, 2023 That's a beauty! The pre-war schemes are very eye-catching and distinctive (which was, I suppose, the whole point!) and you've done a fantastic job. Cheers, Mark 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spitfire madman Posted April 4, 2023 Author Share Posted April 4, 2023 11 hours ago, 2996 Victor said: That's a beauty! The pre-war schemes are very eye-catching and distinctive (which was, I suppose, the whole point!) and you've done a fantastic job. Cheers, Mark Many thanks 👍 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Tip Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 Great model! Spot of colour in the drab or grey collection... Like many others obviously, I too confere with my wife about some schemes... and one of the first I remember was a 72 TBD which I also did in prewar paint and love it. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
georgeusa Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 You have to love the look of the pre-war U. S. Navy planes. Subtle finish and blending in was not in their bailiwick. Really nicely finished kit. Sorry to hear about the build issues. But, it looked like you overcame them. Thanks for sharing. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corsaircorp Posted April 4, 2023 Share Posted April 4, 2023 Congrats Sir !! Tidy and well finished F4F !! Sincerely. CC 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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