Wildcat – The unsung hero of the Pacific Theater of Operations
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Those aircraft and crew changed the history in Midway! Outperformed by the Japanese Zero, this aircraft with it ruggedness ally with bravery and tactics achieved the air combat kill-to-loss ratio of about 6:1!
This is an Hobby Boss model in the 1/48 scale, out of the box!
General characteristics (data from The American Fighter)
Crew: 1
Length: 28 ft 9 in (8.76 m)
Wingspan: 38 ft (11.58 m)
Height: 11 ft 10 in (3.60 m)
Empty weight: 4,907 lb (2,226 kg)
Loaded weight: 7,423 lb (3,367 kg)
Powerplant: 1 × Pratt & Whitney R-1830-76 double-row radial engine, 1,200 hp (900 kW)
Performance
Maximum speed: 331 mph (531 km/h)
Range: 845 mi (1,360 km)
Service ceiling: 39,500 ft (12,000 m)
Rate of climb: 2,303 ft/min (11.7 m/s)
Armament
Guns: 4 × 0.50 in (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns with 450 rounds per gun
Bombs: 2 × 100 lb (45 kg) bombs and/or 2 × 58 gal (220 L) drop tanks
Great work Fernando, but some more information would be nice ,Brand , scale etc.
N, 🙂
Hi Neil, this is an HobbyBoss model, and the scale is 1/48. Out of the box model. The only "fancy" thing is the use of Alclad for the first time, in the landing gears and prop! Total rookie! ?
Regards from Brazil
Good-lookin' build...what kit (and scale) is she?
Hi Craig, someday I build another, this one got with the wings outleveled, although I think that I made the things right ?hahaha, but this time will be a Tamiya one.
regards from Brazil
Nice. Except...the Wildcat is hardly "unsung." I sing about it in the shower! 😉
These Hobby Boss Wildcats really look nice ... I especially like the details in the gear wells and engine. The cockpit is very good too. I like how you painted this one... Well done !
"liked"
Ah...what a way to end the day...imagining Professor David Thomas singing songs about the Wildcat. In the shower.
From “Midway...The Musical”...
“I gotta lady,
A perfect little lady”
“She takes me right up to the sky...”
“I got a gal,
Who got six 50 cals”
“Makes me feel that I want to fly...”
“Three hundred miles at twenty thousand feet,
“Twelve hundred horses, don’t know when she’s beat...”
“She’s my wildcat”,
“She’s my wildcat”,
“She’s my Wildcat!”
“I gotta hero,
She loves to eat those Zeros”
Never lets me down on a dive...”
I gotta Grumman”
Who needs a woman”
“She makes me feel that I am alive...”
Twenty eight feet and nine inches of power,
Those enemy planes in lead she will shower...”
She’s my wildcat”,
“She’s my wildcat”,
“She’s my Wildcat!”
I tell you, get it on Broadway, we’ll all be millionaires...
@davidathomas
You've stopped taking your medication ,again haven't you? LOL 🙂
What tune is that sung to by the way ?
That’s the mind of a modeller all over. Think something is crazy and a few seconds later you want to join in.
Any generic Broadway hit, start with a little needy urgency, ascending (good, huh?) into a higher key at the beginning of the chorus, hitting the yearning high notes on “she’s my Wilcat!”
Yep...nurse!
@neil-foster
Great build, Fernando. Loving your work. You’ll like it here.
‘Liked’
Nice clean build - well done!
That is one beautiful Wildcat! Such fine work on the painting, congrats!