1:48 Colors and Markings of US Navy Wildcats

The cat that slowed the Japanese advance

The Grumman F4F Wildcat entered the war as the main carrier fighter of the US Navy and had to face an opponent that was both more agile and faster. It made up for that with armor, self-sealing tanks and the tactic of mutual cover in pairs. It went through the fighting in the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway and the exhausting months over Guadalcanal, where it often mattered that a damaged machine could still carry its pilot home.

The second career of the type is interesting as well. When the parent factory threw itself fully into the Hellcat, production was taken over by the Eastern Aircraft division of General Motors, and the machines then carried the designations FM-1 and later the lightened FM-2 with a taller fin. Those served from small escort carriers until the end of the war. The finishes meanwhile managed to change several times, from prewar polished surfaces with colored insignia through the two-tone blue-gray combination to the later three-tone scheme.

What to keep in mind during the build

• a selection of color schemes for Wildcats in 1:48 scale
• part of a collector's series on the finishes of naval aircraft
• usable for the original machines and for the license-built versions
• the markings are applied over polished gloss varnish and sealed with a matte coat

With the early schemes it helps to know that the boundary between the upper and the lower color was softly sprayed on the real aircraft, whereas the later three-tone finish had noticeably sharper transitions. The small warning legends and service markings come last of all, after the large areas have been settled, or they shift easily under the tweezers. The short stubby fuselage has almost no flat surface, so do not be sparing with the decal softener.