Subject: Re: F4F ARC Gallery Article Text & Pix (pt.1)
From: "Submissions for ARC" <[email-masked]>
To: "Igor Svetlov" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 Jul 2008 15:53:46 -0700

Hi,
I just wanted to let you know your article went on ARC today.  Thanks again for sending it in.

Steve Bamford
Aircraft Resource Center
http://www.aircraftresourcecenter.com

Live like there is no tomorrow;
Love like you've never been hurt.
Work like you don't need the money.
Dance like nobody's watching.
Sing like nobody's listening.
Live like it's Heaven on Earth.

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Igor Svetlov 
  To: Steve Bamford ARC 
  Sent: Friday, July 04, 2008 6:15 AM
  Subject: F4F ARC Gallery Article Text & Pix (pt.1) 

  *PLEASE NOTE THE DIFFERENT MAIL ADDRESS FOR CONTACT* 

  MORE PICTURES IN THE FOLLOWING  MAILS 
  _______________________________________________________________________________________________ 

  1/72 Hasegawa

  Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, 

  BuNo 5093, Lt. Cdr. John S. Thatch,
  Officer Commanding VF-3, USS Yorktown, 
  Midway, 1942-06-04

  by Igor Svetlov (IS)
  --------------------

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  Kit: 
      1/72 Hasegawa F4F-4 Wildcat

  Afermarket parts: 

      True Details              #72455  resin cockpit and wheel well detail set

      Squadron                  #9105    vacu canopy 

  Decals: 

      Aeromaster                #72-093C  F4F-4 Wildcat Aces Pt.1

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  Construction

      This kit is rather accurate in terms of shape and dimensions, but, as for the detail level,  there was some obvious improvement potential, what is, however, by no means a fault of a mainstream injection molded kit.   

  In particular, the following improvements were made on the kit:

  .    Inner surfaces of wing halves and rear fuselage halves (rudder) were thinned down to obtain sharp trailing edges. 

  .    Some panel lines were filled and some added according to reference photos. In addition, the overlapping panels (for example, on the rudder) were represented using thin metal foil.

  .    The cockpit was replaced by the True Details resin parts. 

  .    The canopy was replaced by the Squadron vacu formed item. Since the Squadron canopy is designed to fit the Academy kit, some adjustment work was required for mounting it on the model. The canopy replacement forced widening the fairing above the control panel in the cockpit, which have originally had rather wide margins for placing the thicker kit canopy. This fairing was  also thinned down for correct scale representation.   

  .    The most  serious flaw with this kit is just an empty space where the landing gear bay should be. This problem is partially solved by inserting the True Details tub, however some extra work was still required. For instance, the recesses to accommodate the main wheel are just repeated in full size on the resin tub and, since it is designed to fit the kit fuselage having rather thick plastic, these recesses turned out much deeper than they should be. Some filling and re-scribing was required  to fix this problem. Some additional detail was also added to the rear bulkhead and to the engine compartment interior partially visible in front of the wheel bay.   In addition, the fuselage walls around the front of the wheel bay were partially thinned down for the correct skin representation.   

  .    The air intakes in the forward engine  cowling ring were deepened and thinned down to scale.

  .    A lot of detail was added to the rather basic kit parts for the reasonable representation of the Wildcat's complicated landing gear. 

  .    The aileron, elevator and rudder hinges molded as solid pieces were improved by cutting out their inner areas. The missing central elements were also added to the fairings covering the hinges of the landing flaps. 

  .    The too shallow kit exhaust stacks were replaced by scratch built parts and the fuselage panel around them was also somewhat refined by making extra steps, holes etc.

  .    A new rounded propeller hub and the visible part of the arrester hook were made from scratch.  

  .    A larger pneumatic tail wheel provided with the kit was replaced by the solid smaller one which is correct for this particular a/c. The replacement wheel was the part left unused after building the F2A-2 kit as a Dutch Brewster Model 339C.

  .    Some further minor improvements made on the model can clearly be seen on the photos. 

          
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  Camouflage and Markings

      The model represents the F4F-4 BuNo. 5093 (F-23), one of the Wildcats flown by Lt. Cdr. John S. Thatch during the Battle of Midway. Flying the F-23 on the June 4th, 1942, he shot down 3 Zeros.  

  Unfortunately, no photos of  BuNo. 5093 are known to exist, however, it is known that its finish was absolutely standard, so that the photos of other VF-3 Wildcats of that period could be used as reference. 

  The camouflage is the standard USN early two-tone schema. Testors/Model Master Light Gull Grey was used on the lower surfaces and the blue-grey from WEM  on the upper surfaces. The cockpit was painted with Bronze Green from Humbrol.
     
  Pastel chalks were used for the panel lines highlighting (wet method). Some moderate washing was done as well. As the prototype of the model was actually new during the Battle of Midway, only moderate weathering was represented by subtle color variations on the upper surface. 

  The markings came from the Aeromaster decal sheet providing the option for this particular aircraft. 

  Future was used as clear coat: pure  before applying decals and for sealing them and mixed with Tamiya Flat base for the final coat. 

  Click on images below to see larger images

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  References

  1.    Grumman F4F Wildcat  in Action No.84 - Squadron/Signal 
  2.    Grumman F4F Wildcat Walk Around No.4 - Squadron/Signal
  3.    Grumman F4F Wildcat - Modelpres No.9
  4.    Grumman F4F Wildcat -  Detail & Scale No.30
  5.    Grumman F4F Wildcat - Monografie Lotnicze  No. 20 - AJ Press 
  6.    Grumman F4F Wildcat  - Aircraft Profile No.53
  7.    Grumman F4F Wildcat Aces of WWII - Osprey -Aircraft of the Aces No.03 
  8.    Grumman F4F Wildcat  - Kagero - Monografie 12
  9.    Grumman F4F,F6F,F8F - FAOTW 35 - BunrinDo 

  Photos and text © by Igor Svetlov(IS)