Tamiya F4F-4 WIldcat

[thug626]

The Tiger is not done yet. It just needs a "couple" of things to finish it. I am just not quite sure what they are yet. So, to keep the mojo going, and not sit there staring at a build, I opted to break out the Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat. This has been in the stash for a bit, as I've been collecting stuff for it for a while. I realized today, I need to get some better decals for it. The Tamiya ones look nice. They are just too thick for my liking.



For the CP I chose an Aires kit. The molding is fantastic per their usual. The wing folds are by Wolfpack.


The engine is by Quickboost. This is pretty slick as it has the accessory portion, which is visible from the wheel wells. No pictured is the Squadron canopy.


My first couple of orders of business were to glue the fuselage halves together, and "clip" its wings.


Here's how the resin replacement stands up to the original. By the looks of the initial rough test fit, The new wing roots should work out just fine.


A detail shot of the wing fold portion. This will be quite visible.


A detail shot of the Aires CP.

[Leon]

Nice bunch of goodies there Dave! Off to a good start.

[panzerjager2]

Pretty darn cool....   You know I'll be watching this build.... 
PJ2

[dupes]

Holy aftermarket, Batman! There isn't going to be much Tamiya left in there by the time you're done...hahhahah.

[mrversatile]

Nice start, Dupes. Looks like a good idea for this kit.

[Tojo72]

All those details will be great.

[wing_nut]

I got to look at this when I'm off my phone and on a real computer. That looks dope.

[thug626]

Good morning everyone. Thank you all for taking the time to have a gander. Not much in the way of physical progress on the build. There has been a fair amount of trimming and dry fitting of the resin goodies. Particularly the Aires CP. They do make lovely CP's and other goodies. What is left up to the builder is just exactly how their goods fit into the kits. Hence, a lot of dry fitting.
Yesterday I had gone looking for a decal sheet for this build. I have had it in the stash so long that I had thought I had ordered one. Or I did and it's in a "safe place". Safe even from the likes of me.
So, I went on to eBay and scored a rather nice decal sheet that has a fair number of Wildcats represented. One in particular is that of Major General Marion E. Carl USMC. He was an amazing fellow who accomplished a fair number of firsts. He was born and retired in my home state. So, I am dedicating this build to his memory. Thank you for your service sir.

[thug626]

A lot of color was laid down for the CP today. I started with Vallejo Black Primer and Duraluminum.


This is the effect I was going for.


I started with some basic chipping for the seat.


Since most seats were black, I added another layer for chipping.


All of the CP parts awaiting washes, and additional weathering.

[Leon]

CP is looking good with color Dave!

[mustang1989]

Oh yeah.........this one's gonna be cool to watch come together alright.

[thug626]

Thank you kindly Leon. The black paint used for the seat is the Mission Models paint. The Zinc Chromate was a mixture of Lifecolor paints.

Thank you very much Joe. The biggest hesitation I have is the final mounting of the CP. There's usually a surprise or two that becomes apparent with resin CP's. It's usually when you have both hands occupied and the CA is about to "go off". We shall see......

[thug626]

The scaled down version of Grumman Iron works rolls on. I got the fuselage buttoned up the other day. Getting the CP into place was an ordeal, but opposable thumbs and CA won the day.



The Wolfpack wing fold kit looks as though it'll fit as advertised. I won't install the inner wing panels until the engine and cowl are mounted. Still some clean up of the leading edge yet to be done.


The accessory assembly and engine are by Quickboost. The pushrod tubes are 0.020" styrene rods.


The detail really isn't too bad for twenty four year old molds. The landing gear is busy, but assembles quick and easy. It is made up on four parts and fits together as per usual Tamiya engineering.

[Leon]

Coming together nicely Dave!

[adt70hk]

Looking good!!

[406 Silverado]

Looking good. Always a good thing when the fuselage halves come together.

[thug626]

Good evening everyone. This build is rolling along faster than I had anticipated. Today I finished painting, weathering, and installing the engine. Also the inner wing panels are now permanent. The cowl and prop are only dry fitted.




Ignition wires are from some copper stock I have acquired over the years. It has yet to be painted.


The main landing gear assembly received its colors last night. I'll be hitting with and oil wash and highlights.

[Rick]

That’s looking mighty sweeet! The office looks well appointed and well decorated. Looking forward to more.

[thug626]

Good morning Rick. Thank you kindly for the compliment. I am hoping to start laying down some color today.

[thug626]

My plans had the bird further along that what actually happened today. Not that today was a wash. Got a lot done with the yard work, errands run. I received my decals for the bird and an additional paint rack.
The Wildcat received a gloss primer coat, and a bit of dark aluminum for some chipping to be done.


These are the decals that arrived today. They got here a day ahead of schedule. It turns out that there are three Wildcats of Capt Carl.



The colors look the part, and the decals look very thin. We'll see how they hold up when I put them on the bird.

[Leon]

Nice progress Dave! Good to see primer and some paint going on!

[thug626]

Leon Thank you kindly my good man. A lot of progress has been made over the last several days. I did remember, however, to take some pics along the way. So, this is going to be a pic heavy update.

Base coats were laid down after a dusting of Vallejo Chipping Medium was done first. It only takes a light dusting of the stuff to get some rather nice chipping effects. The Wildcat also received its landing gear and wheels.


After this pic was shot the prop received a light coat of Satin clear coat to knock down the sheen of the prop hub.


All of the control surfaces were painted a lighter shade of the base coat as these surfaces were fabric covered.




I gave the paint a day to cure before working on the decals. The decals were great. The only issue I had with them was trying to get them to settle down over the rivets on the fuselage.




Here is todays progress. Exhaust stacks and staining.



Fortunately, I had some MV lenses in my stash to use for the landing light.


Weathering done on the top side of the wing. I used various MIG oils for this step.

[panzerjager2]

As always GREAT DETAILS.......

One MAJOR complaint though.... I literally just "blinked" and it seems this build is complete.... I like watching your work develop. 
PJ2

[thug626]

Thank you PJ2. Normally, the updates would be more "bite sized". This build is going much faster than I had thought it would, plus I didn't have access to my computer for a bit.

[Leon]

This is coming along nicely Dave! Everything is looking good.

[Rick]

Beautiful work Dave.

[adt70hk]

Looking very good indeed Dave. Well done. Andrew

[thug626]

Leon Thank you kindly buddy.
Rick Thank you very much my good man.
Andrew Thank you as well good sir. It is almost there. Just a few more things to go.

[thug626]

I am going to call this one complete. I'll get some proper finished pics up in a couple of days, as the weather is supposed to clear, and I'l like to get some outdoor shots done.
In the mean time I'll put these up for now.






While I wait on the weather, I'll get started on the next project.

[Tojo72]

A job well done,very nice.