1:48 Grumman FM-1 exhaust PRINT

Printed exhausts for the FM-1 Wildcat in 1:48 scale

The accessory from the Czech manufacturer Eduard replaces the exhaust outlets on a plastic model of the FM-1 Wildcat in 1:48 scale. The PRINT designation means that the parts come about by 3D printing from resin. This technology manages what an injection mold cannot do without a compromise: the mouth of the exhaust is really hollow and thin-walled, so from close up it does not look like a blind hole. On a radial engine the exhaust comes out just behind the lower part of the cowling, where it is very clearly to be seen on the finished model.

The real subject

The FM-1 is the version of the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighter that the Eastern Aircraft division of the General Motors corporation built under license. It was powered by a fourteen-cylinder two-row Pratt and Whitney R-1830 Twin Wasp radial engine, whose exhaust gases left through side outlets along the sides of the fuselage. Wildcats in this rendering served above all from escort carriers from 1943 and in the Fleet Air Arm they carried the designation Martlet Mk.V. It is precisely the surroundings of the exhausts that tend to be the most smoked up on the real machines, so a well executed outlet is a rewarding place for weathering.

Usage tips

Wash the printed parts in lukewarm soapy water, so that the remains of uncured resin disappear. Separate them from the supporting structure with a sharp cut, and on the thin mouths proceed in small steps, so that the wall does not break. Cyanoacrylate glue, ideally in gel form, which gives time for setting them in place, will manage the fitting. For painting, metallic shades completed by rusty and sooty pigments prove their worth, and the exhaust is then markedly more lively than a uniform dark area.

Who the set is for

• Modelers building the Wildcat in 1:48 scale who want a hollow mouth of the exhaust
• Builders who like working with weathering and traces of smoke
• Anyone interested in a quick improvement to a clearly visible detail with minimal work
• Collectors of American carrier-borne equipment of the Second World War