The Grumman F4F-4 over Casablanca Building the Tamiya 1/48 Wildcat
By Michael R. Muth
Introduction
For an airplane that started its life as a biplane and later lost a Navy competition to the Brewster Buffalo, the Grumman Wildcat ended up doing quite well as a fighter during World War II. From the skies over Wake Island, Midway and Guadalcanal to the cold seas off Norway and the North Atlantic and finally fighting Japanese airplanes over Okinawa, the Wildcat and its RAF variant Martlet provided yeoman service for the U.S. Marines, the Fleet Air Arm and the U.S. Navy during World War II.
THE CAMPAIGN
While a lot has been written about its valiant struggle against Japanese aircraft early in the war, little has been written about the use of the Wildcat during Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa in November, 1944. For three days, Navy Wildcats of VF-9 and VF-41 (CV-4 RANGER), VGF-27, VGF-28 and VGS-30 (ACV-27 SUWANEE), VGF-26 (ACV-26 SANGAMON) and VGS-29 (ACV-29 SANTEE) battled the French over the skies of Casablanca. Flying an assortment of Curtiss Hawks 75As, Dewoitine 520s, Douglas DB-7s, Martin 167 Baltimores, Loire 451s, Potez 63.11s and miscellaneous transport aircraft, the French Armee de l'Air and Aeronavale mounted an aerial defense to the attacking aircraft launched by the U.S. Navy in support of the invasion.
The Wildcat pilots found themselves up against CGII/5 'Escadrille Lafayette,' flying the Hawk 75s. The Escadrille was formed during World War I by American volunteers to fly for France before the United States declared war against Germany. Most of the Navy pilots expressed mixed feeling about flying against the French and in particular against the 'Escadrille Lafayette', who they viewed as natural allies. Many of them had thrilled to stories of the Americans who had fought and died for France during the First World War. Wildcat pilots claimed 26 destroyed and five probable kills during the three day period of hostilities from November 8, 1942 to November 10, 1942.
Chuck August (VF-41) had been shot down and was a POW of the French for a brief period of time. At the cessation of hostilities he was able to examine Cazes airdrome where one of the French pilots related to him following: "You certainly did a good job. It should be a lesson to us. Of course, we might have done the same to you if we had the chance, if we had the leadership, if we had the cause. Look over there. Look at those planes. Isn't it a tragedy? Beautiful machines and they never flew." August went on to observe: "These French pilots didn't seem enthusiastic about fighting the Americans or fighting for the Vichy government, but they were hurt that they had been vanquished so quickly." The journal of GCII/5 perhaps sums up the French position best: "The blow seems very hard; it looks now as if we risk seeing disappear too many persons to defend a cause which each one knew he must abandon at the proper time."
THE KIT
I build WWII aircraft in 1/48 scale. That made the choice of which kit to use simple, the Tamiya Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat. The kit comes molded in two light gray sprues of plastic. There is also a sheet of clear plastic for the canopy (two pieces), landing light, lower windows (two), gun sight and approach light. The decal sheet has markings to complete any of four different planes, none of which were used in Torch. This kit comes very close to 'falling together'. Very little sanding or filling is necessary.
A couple of hints when making the kit. First, in spite of the well-organized and laid out instructions, do not attach the radio antenna and the rudder until the kit is almost finished. They are very delicate and the plane requires a lot of handling during its construction. They can easily break off. The antenna can be painted separately and easily attached at the end of construction. The rudder can be inserted during painting without glue and can be removed until the end for gluing.
Second, the landing gear installation should be put off until after the plane is painted. I don't know when most people paint their airplanes, but just in case, paint it before attaching the landing gear.
Third, do not glue the nose and the engine to the fuselage prior to installing the landing gear. This means that they shouldn't be attached prior to painting. This isn't a problem, since the camouflage line on the cowl can easily be done separately and the fit of the cowling is very good. The reason for not gluing the cowl and engine when the instructions indicate is that it is a touchy business getting the landing gear in position. By leaving the cowling off, you can go through the hole in the front of the fuselage that the engine will fit into and maneuver the landing gear struts into the attaching holders located on the firewall.
The cockpit assembly is a thing of simple beauty. The parts are nicely engraved and fit together easily. The only alteration that has to be made to the kit to maintain accuracy centers around the floorboard. The kit has a solid floor, which was used on a later version of the Wildcat. The F4F-4 had the floorboard built so that the bottom windows were visible when the pilot looked down. This is easy to do by simply cutting out a portion of the floor. (See Photo 3). Remember to attach the control column to the floorboard before the seat assembly is attached. The assembly fits into the fuselage through the use of channels to provide simple positioning. The only slightly tricky part is making sure the headrest stays in position when the rest of the cockpit is slid into place.
When assembling the engine, a small rubber cap is inserted to allow for a free spinning propeller. The antenna and rudder are attached after all of the painting is done and after all of the other parts, including the canopy, are glued. A piece of ceramic wire between the two acts as the aerial.
PAINTING
I used a mixture of water-based acrylics and enamels. The interior zinc chromate green from Model Masters was airbrushed onto the aircraft's interior.. The engine was painted using Model Masters Steel and then given a wash of diluted black paint. The main colors of gray and blue-gray were Aero Master Warbird acrylics. The colors matched nicely with the color chips contained in The Official Monogram US Navy and Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide. I chose to do the majority of airbrushing after the wing assembly was attached to the fuselage. The cockpit, wheel wells and the engine hole in the nose area are all stuffed with wet tissue paper to protect them during the painting. After airbrushing on a light gray, the blue gray was added. The rudder is not glued yet, but only attached by its locating tabs. (See Photo 9). The walkway on the wings was done at the very end, after the photos were taken. After everything was done, I sprayed the model with Testors dull overcoat.
DECALS
I had decided to do the airplane flown by Lt.(jg) Charles Alfred 'Windy' Shields, black 41-F-22. This was the only real area where I had to go outside of the materials provided in the kit. By some careful cutting I was able to use the '22' and '41-F' from the kit. For Operation Torch, a yellow surround was painted outside the usual blue circle underneath the wings and on the fuselage. The tops of the wings were not supposed to have the yellow surround since it was intended primarily for ground recognition. Due to the speed of the decision regarding the yellow surround, there were a lot of variations.
I was unable to find any photos showing Windy Shields' Wildcat, but that wasn't unusual since he was shot down after claiming two victories, a Dewoitine 520 and a Hawk 75 with two probables (another Hawk 75 and a Douglas DB-7). He had gone to Chuck August's aid when August's Wildcat was being hammered by two French Hawks of the Escadrille Lafayette. After driving off the French, Shields was eventually shot down and briefly a prisoner of the French.
The large roundels with the yellow surrounds make for a striking looking airplane. The only real decals that I could find that were made for a Torch Wildcat were from the Ministry of Small Aircraft Production. Their Torch decals were for another plane from VGF-29, but the code numbers and letter were easily cut away and replaced with the Tamiya black '41-F-22'. A lot of setting solution was necessary in order to get the fuselage roundel to settle down properly. This has more to do with the size of the roundel and shape of the fuselage than the decals. No setting solution was needed for the wing roundels. There were no Hamilton-Standard propeller decals in either the Tamiya kit or the MSAP sheet. Unfortunately, a look in my spares box also came up dry.
CANOPY
If there is any area in which this kit is lacking, it is with the canopy. The rear portion is too small to allow it to rest in the open position so the cockpit interior can be viewed. The best bet here would be to get the aftermarket canopy available from Squadron. I started out using Squadron's but sliced through it and ended up using the kit canopy. To paint the canopy, I used Fast Frames. This is a vinyl material that sticks to the canopy where the frame is. It is not a decal or a mask. You airbrush the frame first in interior zinc chromate, let it dry and then add your top color, blue gray. The frame is then removed from its backing material and placed in soapy water. It is then attached to the canopy. It is tricky getting it to fit exactly on the raised frame, but a little practice makes perfect, or in my case, near perfect. Two sets of frames come in each package and you are also given masks for the belly windows as well as extra strips.
CONCLUSION
It is hard to exaggerate what a nice kit Tamiya has produced. Wildcat decals are easily available and the standard U.S. Navy color schemes used throughout the war allow for a variety of possible aircraft. The Torch markings are unique and allow you to make an airplane that was flown by the U.S. Navy against the Escadrille Lafayette in WW II! It gets you thinking about Lufberry, Hall, Thaw, McConnell, Prince - . . now, where did I put Eduard's Nieuport 17 kit?
SOURCES
Richard Dann, Walk Around F4F Wildcat (1995) ISBN 0 89747 347 7
John M. Elliot, The Official Monogram US Navy & Marine Corps Aircraft Color Guide, Volume 2 1940-1949 (1989) ISBN 0 914144 32 4
John W. Lambert, Wildcats over Casablanca (1992) ISBN 0 9625860 4 8
Barrett Tillman, Wildcat Aces of World War 2 (1995) ISBN 1 85532 486 5
Tom Cleaver, Ferocious Felines Internet Modeler (June, 1999)
FAQ Naval Historical Center