I don't usually build 1/72 fighters, but I received this model as a gift from Bernard (@lis), so I moved it to the top of the queue. Bernard recently bought a B-24 on Ebay, but the American vendor didn't ship to Europe. I managed to help get his kit through the US Postal System and then shipped to Poland. I was glad to help and didn't expect anything in return, but the Wildcat was very thoughtful and much appreciated.

I won't go into a bunch of background on an aircraft that is widely known. I always thought the only difference between the F4F Wildcat and the FM Wildcat was the manufacturer. The F4F series was manufactured by Grumman, while the FM series was built by General Motors. I was surprised to find out that there were several differences between the FM series and the F4F series. The Wildcat was essentially obsolete as a first line fighter by 1943. Grumman shut down production of the Wildcat in 1943 so they could build the Hellcat. The Navy realized that the Wildcat could still be a viable weapon in the Atlantic where the air threat was less, especially as a sub hunter flying off small carriers. General Motors continued to build Wildcats, starting with the FM-1. It was identical to the F4F-4, except that the machine guns in the wings were reduced to 4 and racks were added for two 250 lb. bombs or six 5" rockets. The FM-2 was optimized for short carriers by adding the more powerful Wright 1820-56 engine and increasing the size of the tail to handle the additional torque. In British Fleet Air Arm service, the FM-1 was known as the Martlet Mk.V and the FM-2 was known as the Wildcat Mk. VI.

The kit is very nice and comes complete with PE and masks. The only thing I plan to add to the kit is an Eduard set for the interior. Today I started prepping the interior parts to receive the Eduard parts, but managed to dodge a self-inflicted wound. More on that in the photos. Tomorrow I hope to get some assembly and painting done. Cheers everyone, and thanks again Bernard (@lis) for the kind gift.

6 attached images. Click to enlarge.

I’m glad that You enjoy kit @gblair☺️

Thanks, Spiros (@fiveten) and John (@johnb). Now that my workbench is clean, it is a lot easier to work on stuff.

Thanks again, Bernard (@lis). The model is much appreciated and hopefully I can do it justice.

This is a nice start back into airplanes George (@gblair). And Arma seems to make some very nice models. I look forward to seeing what they produce in the coming years.

I know what you mean about 1/72 fighters, they are typically too small for my tastes. However, there are some nice ones out there and they do have their uses, especially if you want to do a diorama where their size will be an advantage. That was nice of you to help Bernard with the B-24 and nice of him to ofer the FM-2 in return. This should be a nice pleasant build for you. Thanks for sharing.

A very nice start, George @gblair
The PE seat is definitely an improvement over the original one.
I did build this same kit, except not the expert version, just over one year ago and it builds up quite nicely, for sure you will get much more out of this kit than I did.

Thanks for stopping in, John (@johnb) and Csaba (@pikofix). I have my high power glasses ready to deal with the small PE. You really can't miss with a Wildcat of any mark. I just watched the newest Midway movie for the 4th time, so I am also pumped up by the Wildcat.

Very nice seat!

PE parts are challenging always