1:72 Grumman 'Wildcat FR.VII' (F4F-8P/FM-3P), aircraft KB230/'D' of the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm No. 1835 Squadron; aboard HMS Premier (D 23) near Scotland, November 1945 (Whif/Hobby Boss kit conversion)

+++ DISCLAIMER +++

Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!

 

 

Some background:

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that began service with both the United States Navy and some European air forces in 1940.

 

Grumman fighter development began with the two-seat Grumman FF biplane. The FF was the first U.S. naval fighter with a retractable landing gear. The wheels retracted into the fuselage, leaving the tires visibly exposed, flush with sides of the fuselage. Two single-seat biplane designs followed, the F2F and F3F, which established the general fuselage outlines of what would become the F4F Wildcat.

 

In 1935, while the F3F was still undergoing flight-testing, Grumman started work on its next biplane fighter, the G-16. At the time, the U.S. Navy favored a monoplane design, the Brewster F2A-1, ordering production early in 1936. However, an order was also placed for Grumman's G-16 (given the navy designation XF4F-1) as a backup in case the Brewster monoplane proved to be unsatisfactory.

 

It was clear to Grumman that the XF4F-1 would be inferior to the Brewster monoplane, so Grumman abandoned the XF4F-1, designing instead a new monoplane fighter, the XF4F-2. The overall performance of Grumman's new monoplane was considered inferior to the Brewster Buffalo. The XF4F-2 was marginally faster, but the Buffalo was more maneuverable, so the Brewster aircraft was judged superior and was chosen for production.

 

After losing out to Brewster, Grumman completely rebuilt the prototype as the XF4F-3 with new wings and tail and a supercharged version of the Pratt & Whitney R-1830 "Twin Wasp" radial engine. Testing of the new XF4F-3 led to an order for F4F-3 production models, the first of which was completed in February 1940. This modernized aircraft met a lot of international interest, and several orders were places.

 

Even before the Wildcat had been purchased by U.S. Navy, the French Navy and the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm (FAA) had ordered the Wildcat, with their own configurations, via the Anglo-French Purchasing Board. The F4F Wildcat (initially known in British service at first as the Martlet) was taken on by the FAA as an interim replacement for the Fairey Fulmar, a two-seat fighter with good range but at a performance disadvantage against single-seater fighters. Navalized Supermarine Spitfires were not available because of the greater need of the Royal Air Force.

 

The FAA's F4Fs also pioneered combat operations from the smaller escort carriers. Six Martlets went to sea aboard the converted former German merchant vessel HMS Audacity in September 1941, proviing highly effective convoy escort operations. The British received 300 Eastern Aircraft FM-1s as the Martlet V in 1942–43 340 FM-2s as the Wildcat VI and finally 120 GM-built FM-3s (known in FAA service as Wildcat VII), the final evolution of the Wildcat and originally designated F4F-8 by the US Navy.

 

100 F4F-8 were delivered as fighters, plus 20 more as photo reconnaissance aircraft with a different equipment. This final incarnation of the Wildcat featured a new teardrop canopy and a lowered spine, which improved the pilot's field of view considerably. The FM-2’s enlarged fin was kept in order to ensure directional stability.

The F4F-8 revered to the 14 cylinder powerplant, a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94. In order to improve survivability and allow fast dashes over hazardous territory, the engine was augmented with a water/methanol booster system that could temporarily raise output and performance. The exhaust system was also modified, exploiting the exhaust gases for additional thrust. This measure, plus a new four blade propeller, improved the speed envelope by ~20mph (30 km/h), top speed now almost reached 370 mph and rate of climb was also temporarily amended.

 

The F8F-8 fighter received an improved armament of four 20mm cannon in the inner wing sections, which were still foldable. The outer pair of machine guns was deleted. The resulting shift of the aircraft’s center of gravity resulted in a slightly higher rate of roll and compensated for the heavier new guns and their ammunition. Two “wet” hardpoints under the inner wings could hold 1.000 lb (454 kg) each, alternatively six HVARs could be carried under the outer wings.

 

The F4F-8P differed from the fighter in so far that it carried three cameras in the lower rear fuselage, with respective ventral windows. The armor was reduced and the armament consisted of only four 0.5mm machine guns in the inner wings. An additional internal fuel tank and an optional pair of drop tanks under the inner wings allowed the carriage of an additional 255 gal (965 l) of fuel for a total of about 450 gal (1,700 l). With the underwing drop tanks, maximum range was up to 3,000 mi (4.830 km). In FAA service these machines were called Wildcat FR.VII.

 

In total, nearly 1,300 Wildcats would serve with the FAA. By January 1944, the Martlet name was dropped and the type was simply identified as the Wildcat. In March 1945, Wildcats shot down four Messerschmitt Bf 109s over Norway, marking the FAA's last victory with a Wildcat. After the end of hostilities in Europe, the Wildcat was quickly phased out or relegated to second line duties, e. g. as trainers for carrier operations. But even these few machines were soon retired and scrapped.

 

 

Specifications:

Crew: 1

Length: 28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)

Wingspan: 38 ft (11.58 m)

Height: 11 ft 10 in (3.60 m)

Loaded weight: 7,000 lb (3,200 kg)

 

Powerplant:

1× Pratt & Whitney R-1830-94W 14 cylinder twin radial engine, rated at 1,350 hp (1,010 kW)

normal power and 1,425 hp (1,063 kW) emergency output with water/methanol injection

 

Performance:

Maximum speed: 366 mph (590 km/h)

Maximum range: 3,000 mi (4.830 km).

Range on internal fuel: 1.100 mi (1,770 km)

Service ceiling: 39,500 ft (12,000 m)

Rate of climb: 2,670 ft/min (13.6 m/s)

 

Armament:

4x 0.5 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns,

2x underwing hardpoints (inner wings) for loads of up to 1.000 lb (454 kg) each,

typically occupied by a pair of 108 gallon (409-liter) drop tanks

6x underwing hardpoints (outer wings, typically not used) for single HVARs

 

 

The kit and its assembly:

This one is a tribute build, and a pretty quick one, done in just a couple of days. The original inspiration was a profile that fellow modeler Franclab from Canada had posted at FlickR – and I had a Hobby Boss FM-2 in the stash, bought as part of a lot, without a real plan yet.

 

www.flickr.com/photos/franclab/31126053083

 

I found the idea of a Wildcat with a bubble canopy and other modernized details pretty inspiring, and so I decided to answer the profile with a hardware response.

 

Anyway, I did not “copy” the profile, rather did an interpretation while incorporating as many original details as possible. These mods include:

 

a) A lowered spine; this was made pretty easy since the Hobby Boss kit comes with an almost massive IP fuselage – the dorsal section was literally carved from the styrene.

 

b) A teardrop vacu canopy was fitted and the spine shaped to fit its rim. The piece actually belongs to a Spitfire XVI and comes from a Pavla set.

 

c) A pilot figure, or better just the upper half, since the kit’s cockpit tub is pretty shallow. The weak spot of many Hobby Boss kits is the primitive cockpit, and the figure simply hides this. For the same reason the canopy remained closed, what also made its montage easier.

 

d) Underwing pylons and drop tanks from a P-51 (probably Heller)

 

e) The exhaust system was changed into short, single stubs that exit on the flanks (Fw 190/Hawker Sea Fury style)

 

f) A new four blade propeller was scratched; the hub came from an Italeri F4U (looks a bit massive on the compact Wildcat. Though) while the delicate blades are single resin pieces for an Australian P-51 (from Red Roo Models). The whole things sits on a metal axis that rests in a deep hole, drilled into the massive fuselage of the kit, so that the propeller could spin freely for the beauty scene pics.

 

g) Scratched camera openings/covers under the lower fuselage

 

The idea for a photo recce variant came when I browsed for potential operators, since I wanted to build a whif from the very late WWII stages – and it was “something different” from the usual fighter.

 

 

Painting and markings:

Wanting to keep things realistic, the USA or Great Britain would be the potential operators. At some time, I considered a Dutch machine, but found this to be too far off, and favored an FAA aircraft.

The latter would either be painted Dark Sea Grey/Dark Slate Grey/Sky, all Dark Sea Blue, or Dark Sea Blue/Intermediate Blue/White.

 

I settled for the simple all-blue option – one reason being the FAA “Sabrecat” in SEAC markings I built some time ago, while the classic blue/white livery was already earmarked for another build in the near future.

Another argument for the dark blue livery (FS 35042 from ModelMaster) was a post-war Corsair of FAA No. 1835 Sq. in an exhaustive Sky Models decal set, an aircraft I used as benchmark for the livery and marking details.

 

Most of the decals come from the Sky Models set, only the upper wing roundels were sourced from the scrap box, as well as some additional markings and stencils. Panels were shaded with Humbrol 77 (Navy Blue) and Xtracolor RAL 5008, and the kit received two black ink washes – one before and a second one after shading.

 

After some weathering with paint and graphite around the exhaust stubs and guns, the kit was sealed with a coat of semi-matt varnish, plus some pure matt accents.

 

 

As mentioned above, a very quick tribute build, done in less than four days from seeing the profile on FlickR until the varnish had dried and the model stood on its own feet/wheels (beauty pics took some more time, though). The result looks interesting, especially the unusual post WWII combo of overall Dark Sea Blue with the standard RAF roundels. In fact - especially in the flight scenes - the fictional F4F-8 looks like the offspring between a hot night of a standard F4F and a TBM Avenger?

 

With best regards to Franclab, and many thanks for the inspiration! :D

 

Done