Thomas Lund Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Hi Guys I've gotten hold of a Trumpeter Wildcat (late)... does anyone know if it has the parts to do an Early version (and what is the difference anyway??) Scalemates says that the Early and Late kit has new parts compared to the original, but exactly what I couldn't find TIA Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oyoy5 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Non folding wing is one difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 What about the retool of some shape problems from years ago. What do you look for on those boxes? mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oyoy5 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Yes the Wildcat late are retool from the original F4F so you are good there for sure.... mpk and Ryan 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Which Wildcat? -3 or -4? I am assuming it is a -3 Late as I don't think they ever offered a -4 Late. If that is what it is, the difference is mainly the cowling. An early -3 has an intake on top of the cowling while the late -3 has two intakes inside the cowl at about 11:00 and 1:00 o'clock. Other than decals, I don't know if there is many other differences. Both early and late are fixed wing, 4 MG armed. I can't get to my early kit right now to see if they made any engine detail changes (I doubt it). Might have a different prop. But definitely does not have both parts in the box. This is a kit of about early Guadalcanal era. The Early -3 was pre-war to Midway era. mpk and LSP_K2 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Lund Posted January 28, 2021 Author Share Posted January 28, 2021 Hi Ray, yes it's a -3 I managed to find some documentation in Squadron Signals Walk-around. In there you can see the BuNo ranges that had the different cowls. It seems that the early is VERY early, so for instance O'Hare and Thach's planes were Late -3's. Anything before BuNo 3970 were early mpk and Rick Griewski 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_K2 Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 1 hour ago, LSP_Ray said: Which Wildcat? -3 or -4? I am assuming it is a -3 Late as I don't think they ever offered a -4 Late. If that is what it is, the difference is mainly the cowling. An early -3 has an intake on top of the cowling while the late -3 has two intakes inside the cowl at about 11:00 and 1:00 o'clock. Other than decals, I don't know if there is many other differences. Both early and late are fixed wing, 4 MG armed. I can't get to my early kit right now to see if they made any engine detail changes (I doubt it). Might have a different prop. But definitely does not have both parts in the box. This is a kit of about early Guadalcanal era. The Early -3 was pre-war to Midway era. Weren't you working on some sort of conversion, Ray, or am I thinking of someone else? mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 Yes, I am. A FM-2 conversion of the -4. Researching the new Master Details Wildcat firewall as we speak. phasephantomphixer, Kagemusha, mpk and 4 others 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Troy Molitor Posted January 28, 2021 Share Posted January 28, 2021 I was always intrigued about picking up a Trumpeter -4 but concerned I'd end up with one of the early flawed releases some how. Were the flawed kits only relating to the early -3 somehow? Love the tall tail of the -4. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John1 Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 3 hours ago, LSP_Ray said: Yes, I am. A FM-2 conversion of the -4. Researching the new Master Details Wildcat firewall as we speak. Ooohh.... any details you can share with us? I’ve always had a thing for the FM-2. Please tell me you’ll be selling these. mpk 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 (edited) 1 hour ago, John1 said: Ooohh.... any details you can share with us? I’ve always had a thing for the FM-2. Please tell me you’ll be selling these. Here is my neglected WIP thread, but I should get going on it again soon. Edited January 29, 2021 by LSP_Ray Geez, helps if I put the link in... Kagemusha, LSP_K2, phasephantomphixer and 3 others 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LSP_Ray Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 2 hours ago, Troy Molitor said: I was always intrigued about picking up a Trumpeter -4 but concerned I'd end up with one of the early flawed releases some how. Were the flawed kits only relating to the early -3 somehow? Love the tall tail of the -4. Tall tail is the FM-2. Most produced Wildcat of the war. I don't know why Trumpeter didn't do that one. phasephantomphixer, LSP_K2 and mpk 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D Bellis Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 3 hours ago, Troy Molitor said: I was always intrigued about picking up a Trumpeter -4 but concerned I'd end up with one of the early flawed releases some how. 7 hours ago, Ryan said: What do you look for on those boxes? The original tool was never released in the US. Yes, a few folks in the US/Canada got them from Asia before the retool, but those examples are very few and far between. Given that whole fiasco happened going on 18 years ago now, getting one of the first batch by accident seems unlikely. Have a look here for more info: http://kits.kitreview.com/f4f432reviewbg_2.htm HTH, D mpk, phasephantomphixer and Troy Molitor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mkd1966 Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 58 minutes ago, LSP_Ray said: Tall tail is the FM-2. Most produced Wildcat of the war. I don't know why Trumpeter didn't do that one. I don't know either Sir - but I'm sure glad that you're working on a conversion... I build my models based on warbirds past and present - and I believe all of the Wildcats that are currently airworthy are all FM-2's except maybe 2... I'm looking forward to watching your progress... Thanks for what you're doing... Mike LSP_K2, phasephantomphixer and Troy Molitor 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phantom2 Posted January 29, 2021 Share Posted January 29, 2021 12 hours ago, LSP_Ray said: Which Wildcat? -3 or -4? I am assuming it is a -3 Late as I don't think they ever offered a -4 Late. If that is what it is, the difference is mainly the cowling. An early -3 has an intake on top of the cowling while the late -3 has two intakes inside the cowl at about 11:00 and 1:00 o'clock. Other than decals, I don't know if there is many other differences. Both early and late are fixed wing, 4 MG armed. I can't get to my early kit right now to see if they made any engine detail changes (I doubt it). Might have a different prop. But definitely does not have both parts in the box. This is a kit of about early Guadalcanal era. The Early -3 was pre-war to Midway era. Hi! The very first -4 kits had a rectangular, solid floor, and a incorrect cowling, the corrected kit have the "H" shaped floor and the corrected cowling. The -3 (pre-war solid wing) was issued later and have the correct cowling, cockpit floor AND the radiators in the cowling (which are missing in the -4). Stefan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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