F4F-4 Wildcat help

Someone else built the same kit on another forum (picture below) and posted a restored wildcat in that scheme.  If this can help any further with paint help

I did some reading and believe I figured it out. This appears to be an Atlantic theater aircraft. Essentially the topside would be Dark Gull gray and underside would be white. Not the blue gray used in pacific.

Did you know that the Wildcat was the most successful fighter in WW2?

Yep, that model, that kit are for the Atlantic. I had the good fortune to see that 'Cat fly at Reno back some years ago.

Here's a site that I have found to be pretty reliable, not contradicted by anything else I've read.

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/jinxx1/Wildcat/F4FColors.html

As far as the first ones in the Pacific, I painted up a bunch, some for Lexington at Coral Sea (pretend they are -3s), and some for Hornet on April 18, 1942. 

I used MM 205545 Navy Blue Gray over MM 1730 Flat Gull Gray. Others have used Tamiya XF-18 Medium Blue for the Blue Gray. I think it's a little green.

This works for Midway as well, and up until 1943.

You'll see in the link above that the markings change a LOT, so you kind of have to build around those.

I hope this was helpful.

Bill

Kosmo, I've gotcha covered. I'm sort of a stickler on color and I addressed this in a build I'm just about to wrap up with a -3 Wildcat. I paint pretty exclusively in Tamiya paints with the exception of Alclad for NMF stuff...so if I can convert you for this build it'll be more than worth it. Here's a link to my page:

http://cs.finescale.com/fsm/modeling_subjects/f/2/t/173752.aspx

I believe it's on page 3 when I discuss the color behind the USN non-specular Blue-grey. Simply put, XF-82 is virtually dead on to represent this. I think a touch of Flat Blue XF-8 helps it out a little but your mileage can vary a bit depending on how you're pushing the weathering. If you have any other question, I'm happy to help. =]