1:48 FM-1 Wildcat

The real subject

FM-1 Wildcat is the designation of the Grumman Wildcat carrier fighter built under license by the Eastern Aircraft division of General Motors, while Grumman itself moved on to producing the successor Hellcat. Compared with the previous version the FM-1 has its armament reduced from six machine guns to four and more rounds per gun. The machines served mainly from small escort carriers protecting convoys. You will know a Wildcat by its stubby fuselage and by the landing gear, which retracted by hand and whose wheels disappeared close together under the cockpit.

What the set contains

Photo-etched parts of thin metal sheet. Metal of this thickness manages what neither a casting nor an injection-molded part can: it stays slender even where the subject is made of sheet or strip. The parts are held on the fret by thin tabs and are separated only just before fitting.

Building and painting tips

• Cut with a sharp blade on a hard surface, not with nippers, or the edge of the part will wave.
• Make the bend in a bending tool or between two blades; the metal must not crack at the bend.
• Move small parts with tweezers and work over a light surface on which you can find them.
• Glue the metal parts with cyanoacrylate applied in the smallest possible amount.
• Degrease the metal and use a primer before painting, or the paint will not hold on the smooth surface.

Who it is for

For modelers who want to take a machine from the start of the war in the Pacific beyond the level of the kit and who do not mind a slower pace. Working with photo-etch calls for a calm hand and good light.

The package holds photo-etched parts. A kit, paints and glue are not included, unless stated otherwise.