marineA4

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Hi everyone,

Just wanted to post and share some pics of my latest project I'm getting ready for Bomber event in September.

I purchased the kit from my good friend and flying mentor Barry aka U2Fast, which he had as a second kit laying around. Kept on bugging Barry till he finally let go, which almost had to pry it off his hands to put it in my truck. Sorry Barry! I'll take good care of it, promise.

Ever since I went to the flyin that Bomber Field had last month just opened up my mind to having another warbird. Ever since I was a kid I thought about putting one together but just never got around to it, and the narrow landing gear just kept pushing me away from the project.

So far i've added some panal lines to the fuselage and started putting on rivets. I've basically just fooled around with it to see how she looks and so far its been taking shape.

Kind of hard to tell in the pics but you can slightly tell the rivet heads and the panal lines which was done by laying tape and spraying a few coats of primer.
Also painted the landing gear and the wheel well with silver. Really gave it a nice touch.

I'll keep panaling and riviting along till it gets ready for a paint job. Hopefully Mr. Don Yocky can take up the painting. Trying to decide yet on what scheme. I'd like to do the traditional blue but that is a common color. Would not like to the the Butch O' Hare paint scheme cause too many of those are modeled after. I will keep looking about for some good paint schemes.

I thought the Austrailians had Wildcats during the Pacific Theater but i've not been able to locate a single photo of one. If anyone knows please chime in.........

Regards,

u2fast

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lookn good. now if i can just get my hands on that big german one i wont miss this one as much. barry

marineA4

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Barry,

That big one should be cool. That sucker is big brother..........I'm sure it will look really good in the air.

I'll keep posting some pics as I progress.

rrudytoo

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Orlando,

Semper Fi, Bud! I was an A4 engine mechanic during my time in the Corps back when we loaded our muskets from the muzzle. Sheesh, it's hard to believe it was THAT long ago! I spent time at Cherry Point with both H&MS-14 and VMAT-203 with a stint with H&MS-11 in Da Nang between those two assignments. This was from '69 to '72.

What was your affiliation to the Skyhawk and when were you in?

Take care, Orlando, and nice job with the Wildcat. Marion Carl would be proud of you!

Al

marineA4

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Hi Al,

LOL! I get that question asked alot. Here is the whole truth behind my login name (MarineA4).

Back when I was a kid, I had an uncle who was stationed at Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico. At the time it was a Navy Installation. He was assigned to the squadron there (Dont remember the squadron) where he flew out of. As a kid growing up in Puerto Rico and living close to the International Airport (Airforce Reserve Station also) I got to see many military jets fly around. But on the weekends my uncle would come and pick me up and take me to Roosevelt Roads Navy Station and I got to sit in the A-4 Skyhawks and fire them up and do little maintenance things. I remember sitting on my uncles lap and and applying throttle to move the airplane up and about from the base and taxiways.

Ever since that and up till today I just been so intreged with the A-4. While living in California I would see them everyday at El Toro MCAS.
The love and passion I have towards the airplanes probably exceeds how much I love my wife. (I hope she does not read this or I'll be in trouble, LOL). I just seem to have a thing for A-4's and ever since being a kid and getting to taxi them up and about the airport I guess has stuck with me ever since.

I really admire those men and women who worked on them and flew them. Especially respect those whole saw action in Vietnam. I've heard many stories about the A-4 in action, and have been great.

Thats as narrative as I can explain without having to type a book here.

Regards,

rrudytoo

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Hi Orlando,

I agree that the A-4 was a special bird. Known by several knicknames, "Scooters", Heinemann's Hot Rod" and the like, I just knew them as Skyhawks. I got a backseat card which qualified me to fly in the twin-seat TA-4F/J but I never got the opportunity. That would have been a real rush!

As genuine proof of just how versitile and lethal this little plane was, the Navy's Top Gun School used them as adversary aircraft with high output engines against the then state of the art F-14 Tomcats. Though the Skyhawk was designed in the very early fifties it still gave the best we had fits in a tail chase. That's a fine testament to Douglas Aircraft and the plane's designer, Ed Heinemann.

Take care, Bud. Semper Fi.

Al

Chad Veich

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No Australian Wildcats that I'm aware of but the British used them as the "Martlet". I'm kind of partial to this one, owned and flown by The Fighter Collection in England.



Some others to consider as well.




And quite possibly one of the least authentic camo jobs currently flying on a Wildcat, the CAF FM-2. Still, it would be scale.

warbird51

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This is an FM-2

marineA4

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Al,

Yes, the A-4's are totally awesom. On my next project I'm planning on doing an A-4. I'll for sure send you a few pm's and see if you have some photos you could share.

Regards

marineA4

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Chad,

Thanks you very much for the pics. Very cool looking shots. That desert camo paint scheme looks totally bad $ss. Too bad its an FM-2.

I dont know why I thought Austrailia had Wildcats. I must be out of it...........

Think I narrowed it out to the typical Navy paint scheme.

Thanks again for the photos. Soon as I get more done i'll post some pics.

Cheers,

marineA4

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Warbird51,

I actually considered doing a paint scheme as shown in your pic. I'm still a little ways away from doing any painting but soon as I get to that point i'll post a few options to go with.

Thanks again for the photos everyone.

Chad Veich

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If you mean this one it is actually an 805 squadron Martlet III which is the equivalent of an F4F-3. The computer image I posted above is really not all that accurate. I believe Hasegawa made a plastic kit in these markings at one time which would be a good source of color and marking information should you decide to do this one.

rrudytoo

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Orlando,

Sad to say but the only picture I have of an A-4, TA-4, actually, is posted below this message and it would be no help to you at all. Sorry. BUT, if you do decide to do a build on a Skyhawk, trust me, I'll be staying in touch.

Al

warbird51

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I can help if you want to use this scheme. I am the crew chief on this FM-2 Wildcat and I have lots of detail shots and can take more.

Wayne

Spychalla Aircraft

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Chad,

My friend Pierre is just about finished with a model of that "Least Authentic Camo Job Wildcat". It is really good looking. He plans to fly it this weekend, weather permitting. Check it out. Leo

Chad Veich

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Leo,

Your buddies' model is very well built and finished. Here is what the CAF was attempting to achieve by the way. I think they missed by a substantial margin.



A funny side note. When this Wildcat emerged from the paint shop with this scheme they had originally reversed the colors on the RAF fin flash. The British warbird afficianados threw a fit! Almost as bad as some modelers putting the star and bar on upside down on a US aircraft!

rrudytoo

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And we see this way too often for my liking. How does one biff this after spending so much time building the plane in the first place? Takes all kinds.

Al

marineA4

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Nice pics guys! Look forward to hearing how the maiden goes on the camo Wildcat. Looks really good.

Sorry i've not posted. I can only work on one airplane at a time since I only have one table. Had a minor incident that i've been repairing on my F-16. Soon as she is done i'll go back to working on the Wildcat. The fuse is pretty much and moving on next to the wings.

Regards,

Spychalla Aircraft

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Pierre Deschenes flew his new Wildcat this past weekend. It is the Jerry Bates design built from a Spychalla fiberglass Fuse, Cowl, and Canopy. Robart Gear. Zenoah G-62 for power. Paint is Testors ModelMasters over glassed surfaces. Finished weight is 33 lbs. Pierre's first flight was 12 min. The airplane was honest and flies like it is on rails. Faster than Pierre expected. He flew most of the first flight at 1/2 throttle just to get comfortable with it. At the end of the flight the RH gear started to droop. It was thought to be losing air so he decided to land. The gear came down and he made a soft touchdown with flaps, but then the RH gear folded and it did a skid to a stop. Cause was some pins had fallen out of the gear strut so it colapsed. No harm done. Here are some photos. Congratulations to Pierre after this 4 year build. Leo

carlbecker

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Another very nice Wildcat. Congrats to Pierre for a well done model and maiden!

Chad Veich

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So then I guess Pierre wins the dinner waiger then eh Leo? Congrats to him on a very fine Wildcat.

BobH

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Congrats on the flight. Just when I was thinking about building one and using Leo's fuse I discover that he no longer makes them. waaaaa

Spychalla Aircraft

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Chad: Yes, Pierre wins dinner for he and his wife on me. He had the first flyable Wildcat done between the 2 of us. It is a wager that I won't mind paying off on. He really deserves it.

Bob: Yes, I retired the fuse mold after 35 sold. It was cracking up on the edges making it very difficult to make good parts. That together with Robart's gear never working well just didn't make it worth while to build a new mold. So it is something for the history books now. The amazing thing is that somewhere there are 35 of these things and you rarely see them. I only know of about 6 that are flying. I do still make the cowls and canopies if you want to build a wooden one. Cowl sales were easily over 100 in the past 14 years. You rarely see the wooden version either. It is just surprising to me. Leo

BobH

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Leo, a bud of mine (Carl B) is flying your fuse with the Robart gear and a Saito 450. I hafta say its a very impressive bird. One seldom seen but an excellent flyer. I'm contemplating building the wooden one along with another friend so I may need to get one of your cowls

makmov

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Interesting.

I have been looking at building a Wildcat. It is one of my all time favorite planes. When Istarted looking it seemed like that wasn't going to happen. Ihave been having trouble find stuff. Ifound Jerry Bates plans and a couple short kits but no one has replied to my emails so it all seemed a bit sketchy if these people are still around, parts, short kits. Iwould still like to build a Wildcat and in the market for a new plane to replace the one my dog ate.

Irealize it will be a lot more money to build a Wildcat and it's been hard to find stuff, and finding all in a one stop shop is impossible.

Other condiderations on my list

TFGiant Corsair
Ziroli Corsair
Ziroli Zero
Ziroli AT6

Iam leaning too the Zero because of it's good flight characteristics, and that was the type of plane my dog ate:a Zero.

I have read that the Wildcat is pretty good too since it's a near shouder wing plane, it'sjust been complicated figuring outwho has what what is available plans, kits, prices, andso far have not got response from venders other than Ziroli, which Iam comfortable with.And Iknow I wont have any problems with a TFkit.

What is the problem with the Robart LG?isthere a solution?

Iam not looking for a lot of brain damage.