Mr Goodwrench Goes to War – Eduard 1/48 FM-1 Wildcat
My latest attempt at model building is this 1/48 scale Eduard FM-1 Wildcat. Of the six or so different paint schemes, I chose this one representing VC-1 stationed on the USS Block Island (CVE-21) in 1943.
On May 29, 1944, Block Island was torpedoed and sunk off the Canary Islands by U-549, making her the only American carrier sunk in the Atlantic during WWII. Six of her Wildcats were in the air when she was hit and all of them had to ditch when they ran out of fuel. Only two pilots survived.
This is the first Eduard kit that I have built, and I was impressed. Some may say the kit is overengineered, but I would rather have more detail than less. Perhaps the only somewhat infuriating part of the build was gluing the microscopic formation and position lights in place.
The kit also came with PE parts for the seatbelts, instrument panel and cockpit sides, which were all installed by me. Some of these parts were extremely tiny, which provided me an opportunity to get into the swing of building a naval aircraft and swear like a sailor.
I did have to resort to some putty and styrene card to fix a fitment issue with the sides of the engine cowling. Other than that, everything fit together rather well.
Speaking of cowlings, the kit came with parts for three different cowlings and included a rudder for what I presume is a FM-2 Wildcat. Added to that were bombs (not used), bomb racks, and drop tanks (which, as you can see, I did use because I like the look of them), plus several variations of windscreens.
At first, I was going to build the Fleet Air Arm version, but the three-tone white-gray scheme called to me and that's what you see hear.
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- 1. Judging by the landing gear configuration, these are Avengers
- 2. By U.S. Navy photo NH 106576, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=6338946
Fantastic build, Greg!
What a beautiful Wildcat!
Thank you, Spiros @fiveten
Great result on this Wildcat, Greg @gwfabian
Also the interior looks really nice.
Thanks, John @johnb. I like the interior details Eduard put into this kit.
Dang it, you made me jump over to Scalehobbyist and buy one. Part of the reason is that I have a Hobby Boss FM-1 that's missing the cowling... one of the extras with the Eduard kit should allow me to finish that with a bit of tweaking.
There could be a couple of other parts in the Eduard kit that you can use, @wyvern1965.
Thank you for letting me know! I ordered one last night. Any leftover usable parts I'll use to upgrade my HB 'cats.
Lovely build Greg. I do like the Wildcat in that three tone scheme. Nice one 👍
Thanks @thom, she does look rather fetching in this two-tone gray scheme.
Hi Greg yes two tone my fingers seem to hit random numbers on my tablet 🙄 doh!
Nice work, Greg. The Wildcat is the best Eduard kit that I’ve built to date.
I'm tempted to try another one of their kits, @j-healy.
Good result, Greg, I get the impression that these Eduard kits are not so easy builds as some people would have us believe.
It really wasn't that bad, @chinesegeorge. Like I mentioned in the article, fiddling with the navigation/formation lights was the worst part of the operation. I'm getting too old to mess around with microscopic clear parts...
Looks great! I'm a fan of the Atlantic schemes - this one looks nice with the 3rd color (medium gray).
Great FM-1. That Atlantic paint scheme has always been a favorite of mine, and you did an awesome job on your Wildcat.
I've herd nothing but good things about this kit, and your build confirms everything I've read. I'm definitely going to have to pick one up at some point. Beautiful work Greg.
Thank you! This is a very good kit.
Excellent - looks good in that Atlantic scheme. Now I have to get one to go with my FM-2.
Thanks, and have fun with your FM-2!