One more In Progress - F4F-4 Wilcat

I got the Hobby Boss 72 scale Wildcat maybe 6-7 years ago when I first came back to the hobby.

I had completed the F4U-1a Corsair in VMF-214 (Blacksheep Squadron) colours from their 2 tours in 1943.
I had also competed an F4U-4 Corsair from VMF-214 Blacksheep tour on USS Franklin in March 1945.

Tragically, the 70th anniversary of the attack on USS Franklin is coming up on March 19. Over 700 dead and many more wounded. Not widely known, after the Blacksheep finished their tour in the Solomon's, they trained for about a year to be a Marine carrier squardon to help stem the kamikaze tide. They flew their first 12 sorties on March 18th, losing one pilot as PoW, strangely enough in the camp camp as Pappy Boyington. On March 19, they launched 12 more sorties just before their ship was attacked. They had to land on other carriers upon completion of their mission. Imagine, 24 hours in combat, that's all they got for a year of training, along with over 30 dead - pilots and ground crew.

So upon reading Bruce Gambles book "The Black Sheep: The Definitive Account of Marine Fighting Squadron 214 in World War II" , and learning of the first VMF-214 tour in the Solomon's when they were called the Swashbucklers, I decided to model an F4F-4 Wildcat to finish the collection.

Here it is ready for primer and paint, with its later cousins.

Upcoming Projects 2015

I have a few just about ready for paint, however I do not paint my standard model master grey enamel in the house, waiting for positive temps to go out in the shed. Otherwise Cathy would kill me for stinking up the house. Paint booth did work for crap. Not enough CFM.

Coming up - 3 aircraft

Tamileri (Tamiya rebox of Italieri Hurricane Mk 1- Thanks Chris for putting that one on your swap list). I saw this and realized I had never done a Hurricane before. Coupled with the IPMS Canada 50th Anniversary decal sheet for Sqd Ldr Johhny Kent (Canadian) Hurricane from Sept 2, 1940 when he was a flight leader with 303 Polish Sqn, it was a lock.

Hasegawa Hawker Typhoon Mk 1b Car Door. I started this one a few years ago but ran into trouble with the seams for the cockpit insert. So with new found aircraft skills, I repaired and completed it.

Revel ME-262. This is not a great kit, many seam problems and gaps. However it was a perfect quick build to prepare me for the Tamiya ME-262 that i also have in the stash. Learned more seam skills and will be a great paint test bed. This one had raised panel lines which i engraved to be recessed. I used my plexi glass cutter (Thanks John K) with the metal tape lengths for a guide (thaks  Steve F). Didnt turn out too bad, we will see what it looks like painted.