Thought's on Hobby Craft's Wildcat

[Adrian A.]

Hi Guy's,

I just picked up a Hobby Craft F4F-4 Wildcat at Hobby Lobby. I'm not really a Wildcat

fan but I just couldn't resist the $ 23.99 price tag, and it wasn't even on sale! The last Wildcat I built was the Revell 1/32 in the early seventies.

I've gotta tell you, this is a great kit!!

This is the first Hobby Craft/Trumpeter kit I've bought, but it won't be the last.

I've read all about this kit (& other Trumpeter offerings) here & on other sites - the good & the bad - and nearly passed it by. If it hadn't been for the price, I probably would have.

I'm glad I didn't!

From what my untrained eye can tell , it looks like a really nice kit. Of course, I'm basing my observations on my previous experience with Revell/Monogram & Hasegawa.

To me, the detail is outstanding! I've never seen a kit as detailed as this; surface detail, engine detail, vac (?) canopy that's really nice, PE hinges for the rudder, etc., gun detail in the wings and more.

I can't wait to get started on it. My Airfix 1/24 P-51D (& I was pretty impressed with that one too.) may just have to wait a few more month's.(Yes, I'm that slow! I like just taking my time on them, most of the time. It's the fun of building them.)

It's been a year of firsts for me. I returned to the hobby, found LSP, found some old kits on ebay I'd been searching for for a long time (unfortunately, I paid through the nose for a couple of them but that's ok - they're mine now) , discovered (to my pure joy) the many upgrade/resin kits/sets available to help out some of my old 'friends' (they didn't exist when I stopped) , bought my first truely 'modern'/'detailed' factory kit and found that soon Trumpeter will release a new P-38 (my favorite aircraft).

It's almost like I feel 15 years old again! (& that was a good while back).

It's been a great year and it's not quite over yet. (Good thing I'm getting a bigger house!)

I only have one main gripe on the kit - the clear cowling. I'm really gonna hate painting it. I wish they had included two - clear & regular.

Now, if I can find some decent color shots of the engine & cockpit so I know how to paint them correctly, I'd be a happy camper. (Any help on this?)

And finally, because I really don't know a whole lot about Wildcats, can anyone point me in the right direction for an "Aces" decal sheet for it?

Thank's!

 

Best Regards,

Adrian A.

[P-40]

I haven't seen their Wildcat, but I have their P-40 and 105 and their canopies really are nice. They're not as thin as a vac, but they are a huge improvement over the old Revell canopies, they seem to be a lot thinner and the framework is a lot more subtle. For the clear cowl, you could try painting 1/2 or 2/3 of it on the outside and inside which will still leaves some of the clear cowl to show off the detail of the engine, you could add some plastic strips for framework inside the cowl also. The Detail & Scale book on the Wildcat is pretty nice.

[LSP_Ray]

There are currently two sets of decals now available I know of, one from Cutting Edge and the other from Eagle Strike:

 

Cutting Edge Wildcat Decal Sheet

 

Eagle Strike Wildcat Decals

 

There is also an old Microscale set, long out of print.

 

If you are not going to use the kit decals, I would definitely be interested in Marion Carl's "Black 13." every other decal manufacturer persists in doing "White 2" as Carl's - a plane he never flew! I have the Eagle Strike set, and (I think) the old Microscale set and would be willing to give you your pick of the markings in trade for the Carl markings.

 

As for books, there is the aforementioned D&S volume, as well as Squadron-Signal's Wildcat in Action and a Wildcat Walkaround that has some good engine shots.