1:32 F4F-4 WILDCAT

The cat off the flight deck

The F4F-4 version brought folding wings, thanks to which considerably more machines fitted into a hangar, and six machine guns instead of four at the cost of a smaller supply of ammunition. In this form it went into the battle of Midway and over Guadalcanal, where it bore the main weight of the fighting against faster opponents. Pilots made up for the lack of performance with the two-plane element tactic and with the toughness of the airframe.

A framed cockpit plays into the stencils' hands

Here, unlike on the later machines, the sliding section has pronounced longitudinal and transverse frames, and in front of it stands a windscreen with flat panes. Masking a cockpit like that by hand means an hour and a half of work with thin strips, because the individual fields are narrow and irregular. Cut pieces shorten that time to roughly a quarter and above all guarantee that the width of the frame comes out the same on the left and on the right.

Three masks and a changing star

The American national insignia changed several times during the war. The red center of the star disappeared in the middle of 1942, and a year later the side bars were added. A sprayed marking gives a freedom a sheet of decals does not have: you can choose the exact form according to the date you are building the machine to.

When to reach for a decal instead

If you are preparing a heavily worn finish, a sprayed two-layer area sands less well than a thin decal. On the deep blue-gray carrier camouflage it is the decal, on the other hand, that gives away its border even under several coats of varnish. So decide according to how much wear you are planning, before you reach for the airbrush.