Arma Hobby 1/72 F4F-4 Wildcat Operation Torch!
By Matt Bittner
Overview
I have an affinity for the Grumman Wildcat. This is my third Wildcat build and I have plenty more in the stash. Since I won't build them as British, it kind of makes for a boring shelf with everything in blue-gray/gray, but the next one I work on will probably be a -3 conversion so will be a yellow-winged bird. I definitely wanted a blue-gray aircraft with meatballs in the insignia, so Starfighter Decals to the rescue (although the Arma Expert release also has an aircraft with meatballs). You can see in my First Look what markings this Arma release comes with.
Construction
I've typed this numerous times and this is no exception: as with most aircraft models, construction starts in the cockpit. Out-of-the-box the detail is really well done and applying the decals really makes everything stand out. Sure, you could always add more and/or do more to the interior: for example, I drilled out the lightning holes on the bulkhead behind the pilot, even though in the end - with the canopy closed - you can't really see that. But if you left the canopy open, then everything can be seen better. Since I decided on closing the canopy I opted for the decal set belts. If I were to open the canopy, then I would either print the 3D parts that you can download from Arma, or use aftermarket seat belts. Since this release doesn't package the 3D parts direct (but does include a QR code to download the files), nor provide anything photoetch, then you're on your own for providing these details. I primed the cockpit black then sprayed it with Vallejo interior green, followed by multiple washes and dry brushing to bring out the detail.
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The next stage of instructions has you glue the finished cockpit and the firewall - after painting, of course - to the starboard fuselage half. It's imperative you remove any paint from all surfaces to be glued together. Trust me on this. Now there are two pieces of the landing gear that must be glued in prior to gluing the fuselage halves together, again after painting and any weathering you want to accomplish. Since the instructions call for the firewall and interior of the wheel well to be aluminum, I used Vallejo's Metal Color Aluminum on it and any other part that was to be aluminum. For these two pieces of the undercarriage, they're to be the underside color and for that I used Hataka. Pay very close attention to the instructions as it shows where and how these two undercarriage pieces are to be positioned.
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Construction now turns to the engine and all its areas. Aside from any ignition harness and wiring, the engine is very complete. With proper painting and adding the provided decals it truly looks excellent. Once again, and with all things Arma, pay very close attention to the construction sequence and ensure all mating surfaces are cleaned from paint. The pieces behind the engine are glued together after painting and then glued into the starboard fuselage half. Finally, now that all the parts are added into the fuselage half, both halves can be glued together. Have I mentioned how important it is to ensure all mating surfaces are clean?
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I decided to read the excellent article from Marcin Ciepierski on how to better the F4F-4 kit and using his advice, modified the kit wings and the opening in the fuselage for their tab. I'm not sure what I did wrong, but I ended up having to fill gaps on the wing root on the top. But thankfully I was able to restore all the panel lines and it came out just fine. Unfortunately when I was cleaning up the fuselage where the rudder was to attach, I sanded away the small nibs that represent the hinges to the rudder. I ended up restoring those with small pieces of sprue, so another area you need to be careful. Finally, I also followed Marcin's advice - and followed the instructions - when working on the landing gear, especially the two parts that create the upper part of the center of the landing gear. Use the jig now provided (Arma didn't have this jig when they released their first FM-2 models) and then save it for later. Like I typed, even though it's now included with all the F4F-4 kits, it didn't come with the FM-2 kits so it's best to hang on in case you ever work on those.
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Even though the undercarriage is now assembled, the entire assembly is best left off until the end. There is a piece that covers part of the joint of the main assembly (A10) that some might think would be best to add before painting, but that means putting the entire landing gear in place prior to attaching that part. I had zero issues when I added it after painting - no gaps, no fuss. The example I built didn't carry the external fuel tanks in the images I found so I left those off. I also left off the wing-tip pitot tube until final assembly. What you don't want to leave off are the cooler covers on the underside of the wing; those are best attached prior to painting. Since this was to be a closed-canopy model, those pieces were attached after masking.
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Major parts painting was accomplished with Hataka paints. Even though I use their airbrush-ready acrylics, I still thin them a little more with not only their thinner, but I also use Future (or whatever equivalent you have on hand) to not only thin, but also give the paint "strength". I've found using this mixture I tend to have zero tape lift-up of paints. Especially when I prime (this time with Stylnrez gray primer).
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Because I wanted an earlier -4 with the "meatball" red centers and a striped rudder - and I already finished a Hasegawa Wildcat as an Operation Torch bird - I again used a Starfighter Decal sheet I had in my stash (but unfortunately now out of print). I used this sheet earlier with my Hobby Boss build, so used the numbers and small decals from the same sheet for this build. Unfortunately Starfighter didn't have big enough fuselage roundels and since I already used the wing roundels in the Hobby Boss build, I ended up using the decals from the Arma Expert F4F-4 set which also includes an aircraft that flew with "meatballs". I felt the spacing between the fuselage numbers and the dashes too great straight off the Starfighter decal sheet, so I cut everything separate and applied each number and dash by themselves. You can see the starboard side of the actual aircaft on this page.
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Once all decals were on and settled, then another coat of gloss (Quick Shine) was sprayed on the model prior to enhancing the panel lines. I'm not a big fan of making these extremely dark but do feel they need to be brought out in some way. The Vallejo Model Wash for Grey Armor, 76 524 Blue Grey I thought was perfect: not too light and not too dark. So that was added to all the panel lines with a thin brush and then wiped away when it spread outside of the panel lines. For the control surfaces I used Vallejo's Dark Gray wash to bring those out just a little more. In the "actual" photos this aircraft was pretty clean so that's where I stopped weathering, although I did lighten the Hataka upper Blue Gray a little with white and sprayed it into some of the upper surface panels and along the fuselage spine. I definitely did not want to over do it.
Unfortunately after looking at it closer, I put the aerial wire (which was modeled with EZ Line) in the wrong place leading to the fuselage. Since I consider this model done, I won't fix it and consider it a whoopsie and do better for my next Wildcat. And there are plenty more I want to build.
Conclusion
I truly enjoyed working on this model and once I remember every mating surface must be cleaned, it will be one of the best models to work on. Since the Wildcat is one of my favorites, there are plenty more Arma Hobby builds in my future.
Huge thanks to Arma Hobby for supplying the review kit as well as Starfighter Decals for the aftermarket markings.
