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New Tool 1/48 scale Eduard FM-2 "Wilder Cat" kit number 11175 * FINISHED *

Started by Louis Gardner · 117 ≡ · ↻ 1 year ago

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Louis Gardner said 1 year, 3 months ago:

This is a brand new kit that an VERY good friend picked up for me at the recent IPMS show in Texas.

I wanted one of these from the very first instant I found out they were going to be released by Eduard. The box art is a good indicator of just how nice this one is...

This is a close up showing the surface details. It is like this throughout. Excellent.

These are the FM-2 specific parts trees.

Instruction booklet is very detailed and well written.

It comes with pre painted photo etch parts.

a masking set... nice touch !

Decals to make any number of planes. It's going to be a HARD choice to determine which one I build. Please follow along and I'll know more about this later. I have to make a decision about which one to build because it makes a difference as far as which parts are supposed to be used during the assembly.

Also not all of the FM-2's had rockets. It was a feature introduced during the production run, and often retro fitted to aircraft in the field.

So check your references about this before committing to using the rockets or not. Personally they look cool... and I have never seen a Wildcat model built with rockets under the wings before.

One can always just add them, and I'll bet that 99 percent of the people wouldn't know anyway.

The clear parts are nicely done. This kit has enough clear parts included to make practically any Wildcat. I have a bunch of Hobby Boss kits in the stash and have started building them in my typical "Iron Werke" fashion. So these extra clear bits included in the Eduard kit might come in handy if I make a mistake... which I usually do !

These are the remaining parts included in the box.

Overall I am VERY impressed with this kit.

In fact I'm so impressed with it, that I couldn't resist the urge to get going on with it right away.

So please stay tuned for updates on this one. It should be a fun ride !

Thanks again go out to my friend who was so kind to not only purchase the kit for me, but he sent it to me too.

You're the best.

As always, comments are encouraged.
John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 3 months ago:

This looks like an amazing kit, Louis @lgardner
So much details, together with the masks and PE it should turn into a beautiful Cat with your skills.
Looking forward to it.
George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

Looking forward to your build, Louis (@lgardner). The biggest problem with this kit is choosing which of the many paint schemes to build. Count me in for the ride!
Pedro L. Rocha said 1 year, 3 months ago:

@lgardner
So you’re finally building an Eduard kit Louis? I guess this is the right subject for your taste 😉
I’ll be following along, this is one I will eventually build but on a weekend box
John Healy said 1 year, 3 months ago:

Great choice, Louis. I’ve got one inbound as well.
Eric Berg said 1 year, 3 months ago:

What? You’ve never build an Eduard kit until now, Louis @lgardner? You’re in for a treat.

Check out the current Eduard August newsletter. TC authored a very good and thorough piece on the FM-2 and there’s plenty more info in the issue. Eduard.com
Tom Cleaver said 1 year, 3 months ago:

@lgardner: you won't be able to use the extra clear parts on a Hobby Boss kit. that's because Hobby Boss copied Tamiya, and Tamiya got it wrong about the height of the canopy and the fuselage behind. Compare the canpies from this kit and either a Tamiya or HB kit and what I am talking about will be obvious.

As to rockets, these were associated with the late production FM-2s - essentially the end of the tri-color period and the introduction of overall Glossy Sea Blue.

Also, it appears Eduard has missed that the FM-2 has a full cockpit floor (like the Tamiya kit). That can be resolved with some Evergreen sheet.

Have fun with it - it's going to be a great kit.
David Odenwald said 1 year, 3 months ago:

@lgardner

If the FM-2 is like the Eduard F4F-3 I have built, you will have a blast building the pocket rocket of Wildcats.
Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 3 months ago:

Looks like a wonderful kit, my friend @lgardner! Thanks for the detailed presentation! Looking forward to it!
Louis Gardner said 1 year, 3 months ago:

John vd Biggelaar (@johnb)
Thank you my friend. Yes it is indeed an amazing kit. Tonight I started working on it and I'm finding it out first hand just how nice it really is.

George R Blair Jr (@gblair)
Picking out a paint scheme for this one is going to be the hardest part for me. I have several that I would like to do. I'll probably wait for some Over Tree kits to become available on the market, and then I can build a few more of these. It is an incredible model so far. Thanks ! 🙂

Pedro L. Rocha (@holzhamer)
Yes sir you are correct on both counts ! This is a kit I wanted to get just as soon as I heard they were going to be releasing one. I can see myself building up a few more of these if the Good Lord is willing... I think if you build one you will be just as happy as I am.

John Healy (@j-healy)
I agree with you. This is an excellent model so far. I'll bet you are just as excited to get going on yours too. The hardest part will be to decide on which one to build... 😉

Eric Berg (@eb801)
It's true... This is my very first Eduard build. I have been collecting a lot of them over the years. It also seems they are getting better with each new release. Their 109's, FW-190's, Spitfires, Hellcats, Mustangs, Zeros, and now these Wildcats are all excellent looking models in the box. I have purchased several of each of these kits I just mentioned in the past. In "Ye Olde Stash" I have some of their early stuff like P-39's, Tempests, MiG-21's, and even a Bf-108 Taifun, but for some odd reason I have always shied away from building any Eduard kit. I had always read where they were a "fiddly" build.

But when this FM-2 came out, I couldn't resist the urge any longer and took the plunge. So far I am very pleased with what I'm seeing.

I did read the August edition at the Eduard website. There's a lot of good stuff going on over there. Thanks for the heads up.

Tom Cleaver (@tcinla)
Hey Tom,
Good to hear from you. I looked at the clear parts to see for myself what you were talking about. Spot on. As far as the full cockpit floor in the FM-2, so far I have not seen any pictures that show this. I'm not doubting what you say, I just have not been able to find anything yet. I'd like to see a photo so I could better know how to fabricate the floor. So far everything I have looked at do not show these areas in good enough detail to allow one to make the proper corrections. How are you coming along with yours ?

Also, your article for the Eduard website was a very good read. I'm having a hard time putting down your Chosin Reservoir book. Thank you again for sending it to me along with the decals for the F4F-4's.

David Odenwald (@kahu)
So far this build has been a very good one. Overall I am quite impressed with it. Hopefully the ride will continue to go well. Now I need to go and find some wood and knock on it for good luck, since I have just jinxed myself...

Spiros Pendedekas (@fiveten)
Hello there my friend. Yes sir this is a wonderful kit. I'm glad to hear you enjoyed the photos.

Please stand by everyone... I have an update coming up next.
Louis Gardner said 1 year, 3 months ago:
Ok as mentioned above, here is tonight's update on the "Wilder Cat"

After studying the destructions, I went to work on the cockpit. I like to assemble things first, and then paint them since it makes for a stronger glue joint. You might wish to paint your parts first. This works for me. It seemed odd how the pilot seat height adjustment / mounting rails were supposed to be assembled just by looking at the instructions... They also looked fragile, so I used a Tamiya razor saw to carefully cut them off the plastic trees. This worked out very nicely.

So I assembled the rear cockpit bulkhead, by gluing it to the cockpit floor (the part with the rudder pedal troughs), then I added the pilot's seat armor plate. This assembly sequence showed me exactly where the seat mounting adjustment slides were supposed to go. The seat adjustment slides were glued on next...

Adding the seat was simple after this.
1. Hand crank

2. Oxygen bottle
The Oxygen bottle was cleaned up and readied for painting Green. I decided to use the instrument panel that is lacking the actual gauges. This part is molded specifically for the photo etch parts. There are two of them included in the kit. One has a hand crank and the other does not. Otherwise they look identical.

I chose the one that has the molded on hand crank. Otherwise this part would be represented by a two dimensional PE part. I think the molded handle looks better.
1. Fuel tank
On the other side of the IP, the rest of the fuel tank was glued in place. This part gets the cockpit side consoles glued onto it next.

I wanted the cowling to dry sufficiently, so I assembled it next. The sprue attachment points are very small and that is a good thing. These engine cowling parts were ready to assemble in a few minutes of work.

Overall I can say I am VERY pleased with how this FM-2 kit is going together. Now I have to decide on which set of markings I will use... and soon, for it makes a difference as to which parts are needed for assembly in a few steps.

As always, comments are encouraged.
Thanks for stopping by.
George R Blair Jr said 1 year, 3 months ago:

Interior is moving right along, Louis (@lgardner). I am interested to see how all of the interior parts go together.
John vd Biggelaar said 1 year, 3 months ago:

An impressive start, Louis @lgardner
Looking forward to see that interior getting together.
Tom Cleaver said 1 year, 3 months ago:

@lgardner: Hmmm... I just did a little research on the FM-2 cockpit and found a pretty definitive statement over at Arma Hobby regarding their 1/72 FM-2 stating there was no cockpit floor. This is strange since I recall many conversations when the Tamiya kit came out (which does have a full cockpit floor) that this was an FM-2 cockpit. However, those guys at Arma are definitely among the best researchers out there, so I will take back that statement. Too bad I didn't get up on the wing of that FM-2 that visited Planes of Fame when I had the chance.
Spiros Pendedekas said 1 year, 3 months ago:

Excellent start, my friend @lgardner! Looking forward to your next steps!