trump 32 scale wildcat........calling it done

[fightnjoe]

idle hands they say......

me, not wanting to lose what i have going, have decided. my next project will be..........



trump 1/32 f4f-4. this one makes me nervous. i have read some pretty nasty things but then again i have read some really good things. opinions range from oob to scratching (or buying am) a whole new pit. me i am leaning towards as close to oob as i can. i know very little of the subject but i love the landing gear on these a/c. so we go step by step and see how long before i break.


first up, step 1. the cockpit.

i cliped the parts off the tree and have them dryfit so i can see what i am working with. some decent detail. missing some things from the few ref pics i have. might have to see if i can do something about that.






next up will be to see what i can do about some of the obvious missing items. really do not want to go overboard after the last two builds.


comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.



joe

[wbill76]

Looks like a nice big-scale project to sink your teeth into Joe, will be following along!

[Leon]

Count me in Joe.

[fightnjoe]

thanks for stopping in. hope it is worth it.

worked a bit on the pit. first i hit it with my normal of flat black and then vallejo bronze green. i dislike vallejo paints greatly. i have never had any kind of luck with them. i dont know if i thin them too little or too much or just inept when it comes to them but i dislike them. however there are only two companies that produce a bronze green. vallejo and humbol. humbol is unavailable in the area and i am not in a position to make another paint order at this time so vallejo it is. i didnt add much, yet. just got the pieces dryfit for the time being.

after the bronze green i picked out a few highlights with some odd colors. (turquoise, interior green, red, and gray) i then used silver and gave it a drybrush to show some wear and abuse.









i also changed the bulbs in my two overhead lamps, using a day bulb and boy are they bright. may have to switch back to the softer bulb. the light washed out the colors a bit. still need to figure out how to make decent seatbelts and possibly some of the smaller tubing along both sides.

so........


on to the next.

comments, critiques, and criticisms are encouraged.



joe

[wbill76]

Nice work on the pit so far Joe, got to love the details that are possible in this scale.

[Deleted]

Joe...when I saw the title I thought..."Surely not,Trumpy kits ain't THAT bad!!!"...then I saw what you meant.Great start on the pit,and at this scale,possibly a tad easier to detail,if you feel the need,eh?

[Leon]

Nice start on the pit Joe.Like your detail painting.

[M1Carbine]

Joe - the front office looks fantastic so far buddy. Keep the pics coming.

Bob

[406 Silverado]

The office is looking pretty good in paint. This is one of my fav birds.

[Rick]

Hey Joe, I've got on of these on the shelf for a few years now. Your paintwork and weathering looks great. Looking forward to watching the rest of it come together. Rick

[Deleted]

Hey Joe, Trumpy 1/32 kits can be a mixed bag, to quote the great Forest Gump "you never know what you're going to get". Some are great others are so far out in shape they're just a starting point on the way to the something that even looks like the subject 
The cockpits are almost always lacking though, for the money. Sort of Revell detail for Tamyia prices 

So all that said, your making a superb job of this one, I'm in 

[destrozas.]

Joe, how beautiful you left the cockpit,. comets that have painted with Vallejo model but with model color or air?.
I paint with the airbrush model color besides the Gunze, all you see of the small valley that do not have a good grip on the plastic

[fightnjoe]

many many thanks for the kind words.

got to tell you, i am back to square one. reason.....i just could not leave the pit alone. there was so much in the pics that i just couldnt leave it alone. last night i took the plunge and got a good start on scratchbuilding the starboard side. i havent cut up the kit pieces, i just started from scratch and moved forward.

i promise i will get some pics up at some point. not even sure if i am going to go with the scratched parts or go back to the kit.


i am listening to the voices in my head again. that could be a scary scary thing with a subject in this scale.



joe

[bullardino]

Nice start, if you get scratchbuilding on this one, it'll be a real show. Count me in

[fightnjoe]

many thanks.

luigi the fun has begun. i just hope it looks decent when finished.

dicky i have caught something. just not sure what it is.




joe

[fightnjoe]

ok i need help. spent a good amount of time on redoing the side panels for the pit. now they are not done by a long shot but i am going nuts. cant make up my mind if they look ok or not.

so........







and then the seat.




so please, could you help me out and let me know what you think?



joe

[deafpanzer]

Interior looks SUPERB already... please count me in!

[scruffy]

Your side panels look great, I think one painted and the details picked out with some paint they will look superb!

[venom1]

Yer got nuthin' ta worry about Joe, I think you are doin' a cracker of a job!

I agree with Scruffy, once you get some paint on them it will make all the difference. Sometimes it is a little hard to tell when it's nothin' but white plastic everywhere. Keep doin' wot yr doin'!!

Cheers,

Sam

[Deleted]

Ahhh.... Trumpy 1/32 aircraft kits and white plastic stock   Sort of inevitable really, a bit like the weekend and beer 

Your doing a great job here buddy, keep it up 

[406 Silverado]

Nice scratch work.

[wbill76]

No expert on the details Joe but the white stuff looks good from here. Once painted I think you'll be able to evaluate it clearly and then make any changes you think are necessary.

[bullardino]

They look fabulous. Dunno about their correspondance to the real thing, as I'm no US plane expert at all, but they definitely look crowded the right way

[fightnjoe]

many thanks all for the kind words.




joe

[pantherf..-Email Not Valid]

Looks good!  I think once it's painted it won't stand out so much. 




Jeff

[Deleted]

Lookin gooooood!

[fightnjoe]

many thanks for your kind words.



joe

[destrozas.]

great interior scracth

[fightnjoe]

many thanks for the kind words.


now just a brief update.

been playing with the seat. you see the three tell me your thoughts.







comments, critiques, and criticism are encouraged.


joe

[bullardino]

Have you seen this article: mikeashey.com/AIRCRAFT%20ARTICLE%20%20PDF%20FILES/ARTICLE-SCRATCHBUILDING-AN-F4F-WILDCAT-COCKPIT.pdf

I have the original book at home, and it's really interesting. Looking at your three seats, I'd go for the rightmost one, looks closer to the one Mike Ashey did and to the pics I've seen.