Tamiya F4F-4 Wildcat in 1/48 White 2 of VMF-223. Flown by Captain Marion E. Carl U.S.M.C at Guadalcanal 1942
got the wire on. Not the best. It's to thick, but I'll leave it and use it as a guide. I've got a long way to go in scale modeling. I'm happy with this project.
I'll call this finished except for the wiring. The EZ wire I have is a little to thick for my liking, so I'll be ordering a thinner size. I've got a long way to go in modeling to get where I'd like to be, but I'm very pleased how this cat turned out. I learned a lot on this project. Thanks to my friend Joe who walked me thru a couple of mistakes I made that I thought were fatal ones, but he snatched me from the jaws of defeat and the mistakes were corrected.
Here is my current ongoing project. One of my favorite aircraft of all-time. An F-4F-4 Wildcat in 1/48th scale from Tamiya. "White 2" was one of two Wildcats known to have been flown by USMC Ace Marion Carl while at Guadalcanal. He racked up 19 kills and was awarded the Navy Cross for his actions during the first year of the war. He fought in the early, dark days of WWII. Along with other pilots, they held the line against the formidable Japanese Army and Navy air forces. The Wildcat was the front line Navy/Marine fighter against the Zero and held its own until the Hellcat began appearing in the Pacific. It took me awhile to figure out this FSM page and how to load pictures, but with the help of Joe I think I've got it down now. I've been out of modeling for several years, but recently started up again. I want first of all to give credit where it's due. (Joe) Lawdog114 has been tutoring me for quite sometime on my modeling development. I have come a long way in 5 months under his auspice. He is very supportive, but at my request, has been blunt and utterly ruthless with his advice. I asked that he'd be tough on me, so in return I would learn good basic modeling skills and develop myself into an average to above average modeler. He has cut me very little slack and in return I feel my skill level and confidence is quickly building. I am learning what it takes to be a good modeler . It's more than just glue and assembly. There is much more to modeling than I ever thought. The one important thing I have learned from Joe beyond his skiil level, which I consider to be at the highest level of modeling is to have a vision in your head of the build, study the aircraft and the man who flew it, have a lot of patience, and never get discouraged to the point of quiting. I decided early on I wanted to mainly build WWII military aircraft from pilots who had achieved ace status. I call Joe the "Ace Maker" This aircraft, of a true Marine Corp hero is well over 50% complete and I'm happy so far with it's progress. I hope to be on my way to many modeling projects. Modeling and FSM have become very addictive to me and I enjoy looking at other FSM projects and following other builds.