F4F-3 Wildcat 1/48 Eduard

Ever since RV Petral found the wreck of USS Lexington along with the TBDs and that one Wildcat I have been wanting to model those planes who's crews made history.

Using the Fundekals on the Eduard -3 Wildcat built Lt. Gayler's plane. To depict the 'cat in its last moments above water opened up the life raft compartment as someone had taken the plane's raft. Using a Tamiya saw it was very easy to open the compartment and then close it all up with sheet plastic.

By taking my time before the glue set, it was pretty easy to adjust the alignment and placement of the landing gear so it sat correctly. These were far less of a hassle than the Hobby Boss Wildcat gear.

Will post photos of finished kit but I unfortunately dropped it last night as I was going to snap pictures. Luckily nothing got lost even as a tire snapped off.

And yes, after building it learned the plane should not have shoulder restraints. Always learning is my motto when building.

Here finally are photos of the completed kit. I tried to open the cowl flaps but didn't get aggressive for fear of snapping one off and then looking really stupid fixing it. The bomb racks are a neat feature of these early Wildcats thus making them some of Grumman's first Bomb Cats.

Tom, the shoulder restraints did come off with tweezers. Thanks.

Final thought. Overall this kit came out okay but I think I can make it better. So I just may build 3-F-5 again since the Midway dual combo also comes with these markings and a -3. As for the -4 in the kit, Fundekals Atlantic markings are its destiny. Now back to the TBD-1.

6 additional images. Click to enlarge.