Academy Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat in 1:72 scale
Hello there. This Wildcat is my second airplane model and a lot of fun to build. I'm mainly experimenting with techniques and learning…watching a lot of YouTube videos and reading as much as I can.
One thing I learned? If you're using a rattle can, make sure you didn't absent-mindedly put a clear cap on a can of white spray paint! Instead of the final dull coat, I blasted the model with gloss white enamel!
Wrong cap...oops! 🙁
All is not lost, however...
The thing that struck me when I saw the pics was that it would make an excellent candidate for a diorama of a downed Wildcat in a jungle in the Pacific somewhere. Later on, you could remove the canopy, bend back the props and put it a nice over-grown patch of foliage. Jus' thinkin'...
(save that base, though...I like that).
I was definitely a bit heavy-handed with the weathering!
On the Wikipedia page for the Wildcat there is a photograph of several F4F-4s on a rocky strip on Guadalcanal. I have considered making a small patch of that for this one's base.
Also, if you have a Hobby Lobby or a Michael's nearby, those routed wood pieces are $2.99 a pair.
I kinda like the way it came out. Looks like one of those Franklin Mint or Corgi display pieces only with some realistic weathering applied. Another great thing about this hobby is not all accidents are bad. Nice work Brandon.
I dunno, Seamus...most of MY "accidents" are pretty bad.
(and I make 'em quite regularly) 🙁
As you said Brandon, a bit over weathered but still it looks like a well used plane based somewhere in the Pacific.
Well done mate, as Seamus stated some accidents work really well.
Brandon,
Looks good. Don't sweat it. The mistakes you make today you will not make tomorrow. Do you think all good modelers never make mistakes? Give me a break. If I had a nickel for every FU I've made I would be a millionaire
I've mixed up the tops on the Tamiya liquid cement and decal softener bottles before now, I couldn't understand why the cement wouldn't work! Your model turned out ok in the end, Brandon, good job.
Oh my gosh, I thought I was the only person to do that! I couldn't figure out why my decal letterings were not "snuggling down" over the rivets (locomotive model)...no matter how much Solvoset I brushed on...then noticed it was brush on liquid glue.
The plane looks fine, every project you complete is better than the one before.