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Trumpy F4F-3 1/32 build

Could not find an actual picture but found this in a gallery. Hope this helps.

martlet_c.jpg


Martlet in Libya.

Cheers, Christian B)
 
You just never think of the Wildcat as a "land based" fighter... Thanks for the pic... I have some thinking to do....hmmmmm

How did they compare to German and Italian fighters?
 
Sorry for the delay in updates here !! You are not missing anything, I have been busy elsewhere. Having lost my job recently i have been trying to sort some things out to bring in a little money so i have assembled a couple of Aircraft gun sights that needed attention and sold them on ebay for just under £500 each so thats money sorted this month. I have also had a clear out and added another 20 items of motorcycle spares to the ebay list and have another 3-4 hundred items to go.....lol All this takes time :) I have also acquired a collection of aircraft compasses, All WWII including a Spitfire compass and a Wellington compass and several other cockpit compasses. Some of these are large and heavy and you have to wonder how a Lancaster got off the ground with the observers compass up front :), All these need to cleaned and serviced and then sold on......You know i quite like being unemployed !! it just dosnt leave much time for modelling but things will settle down soon and the old Trumpy Martlet will be a priority ;)

too give you some idea this is a Lancaster observers compass. Because it cant be magnetic it is all Brass and is filled with an alcohol water mix to dampen the compass movement in flight so you can imagine what this alone weighs.

o2b.jpg


This a pilots compass from a Wellington, a bit smaller @ about 5inch rather than 7 inch

P8c.jpg


And i still have another 5 gunsights to finish :)

Sorry this is not about modelling but i feel you deserve an explanation for my lack of build progress here :)
Back soon.!!
 
Not a problem Paddy... I have been on the bricks since June... :( My school system decided that they had too many teachers for the budget and permanently cut close to 400 of us... :blink also think fifty 13 year olds is perfect for a classroom... :hmmm


Hang tough....
 
Just to keep the thread slightly alive here are a couple of pictures of what i have been doing.

PE gun bay and PE flaps.
gunbay.jpg


flaps.jpg



I am only opening the gun bay in the left wing so thats not to bad but there is a lot of work to do with therse flaps. Cant say they are anywhere near ready to fit in the bag .... :laugh:

After a lot of digging about i have found that Desert camo for the Marlet was not stone/ Azur blue. The Marlets in the Desert were originally to be shipped from the USA to Greece. Unfortunately Greece was over run before they got there and the F4F-3's were diverted to Malta where they were taken over by the Royal Navy.They were left in the US marine Corps grey that Greece had asked for and the Navy just applied British markings to them.

MartletIII3876AX746.jpg
 
Hi Paddy

Not to dispute your research but there's more than one version to that story .

I have no idea which is correct. :pilot

more_stuff_007a.jpg


more_stuff_008a.jpg


Sorry about the poor quality picture.

Cheers, Christian B)
 
PE is looking fine, I found the trailing edge really thick once it was all done but if you leave them dropped, guess it wouldn't be noticeable.
 
Some more reading but this looks like good research was done:
http://www.clubhyper.com/reference/wildcatfaaba_1.htm

Particularly since the first photo is definitely one color all around.

Regards,
 
This photo is from a Greek site:
grumman_martlet_1_ax733-k.jpg


and more reading material (OK, I only looked at the photos) can be found here:
http://www.britmodeller.com/forums/lofiversion/index.php/t69532.html

Regards,
 
Thanks guys, I have read all that a couple of times and my feeling is these aircraft were delivered to Gibraltar ( Malta was my mistake) in Factory USN Grey. in early ish 1941. I hear no one wanted to paint aircraft outside in 40 degree's with skins to hot to touch so UK serial no.s and markings were applied and that was it..
However it seems they were re engined and had self sealing fuel lines fitted a year later and at that time on they seem to be in a variety of two tone schemes.No one seems sure if they were left USN grey and had a camo dark sea grey applied over the top to give two tones or what. What does seem unlikely in the first year anyway that they changed colours from one overall colour to another overall colour and Grumman records show they were shipped in USN grey.I cant see that they would be shipped in a UK colour but non std finish to Greece...( Azur Blue) nothing else was shipped from Grumman in that colour.
I think USN Grey is a good bet (especially as these were part of a USN order that was diverted) at least for delivery and first deployment, after that they received a variety of schemes in the field is my best guess.

Next thing will be weathering...Paint, desert sun and sand blasting on start up :)
 
Hi Paddy . Very well done PE flaps. Definitely a lot of tedious work . Great results.

Cheers, Christian B)
 
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