Tamiya 1:48 Wildcat F4F-3 Conversion (Complete)

Thanks silentbob! You may want to hold your praise till I get the wings put back on. =D I still have some tricky waters to navigate. I have managed to dodge one bullet. Mounting this P&W engine onto the Tamiya kit fuselage...everything went according to plans. How 'bout that!

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The first thing that had to go was the mounting circle originally meant for the Tamiya engine. This gets in the way and pushes the engine too far forward and prevents the cowl from attaching. I also bevelled it down to ensure it's fit. The four drilled out holes you can see in previous pictures are for the bolts mounting to the rigid brackets around the back casing of the engine. I used brass rod that I bent one end down (like an "L") to lock it in place on the inside of the gearbay. I slid the rod one at a time through the brackets and glued them in place with CA. The mounting ring gave me some trouble. I couldn't keep a perfect circle with the plastic rod I was trying to use. Ultimately, I had to snip it and shorten it to get a proper fit after double checking and I settled for reattaching it by taking a slightly larger rod and carefully drilling a hole through the middle of it. Then, with a little Tamiya ETC I glued them back down and made a tighter fit. I also made use of the "coupler" part to help fix it to the back of the gearbay. A couple of extra drops on the other points of the mount and voila!

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

One small concession I had to make was also in some part a blessing was to spread a little white glue onto the backs of the intake manifold as it had to press up against the kit fuselage in order to properly fit the cowl onto it. This will get covered by the exhaust circling around. The fit and security of all of this was surprising. This bad boy isn't going anywhere. Those brackets are working harder than I gave them credit. Also noteworthy, is all the same brass wire, which is pretty stiff stuff, is also adding to supporting the backside of the engine. It never occurred to me that my wiring would ever actually help support a structure like a resin engine. In the future, I might consider leaving a little bit of extra length and drill out some holes to pass the brass through and lock down on the other side to keep them stuck for sure. So that was curious to learn.

I think the hard part is over now. Firewall is complete...virtually...engine is mounted. Now there is really just the task of connecting all these wires and dropping in a couple of extra wires and hoses that were too delicate to place earlier. Now to touch on what JayJay mentioned earlier, I do have to admit this. There's three wires that I have absolutely no clue where they go. So they will be mysteriously snaked around the top side pretending to belong somewhere. And then there's no way to be 100% sure, but I'm betting there's about a dozen or so smaller leads and wires that the books don't show or mention. And it's not like I've got a Wildcat in my kitchen with me. =]

That's that for now! 

Saying "wow" seems like an understatement...but I can't think of anything else to say.  This is blowing me away.  I can't wait to see more of your amazing work.

Aaaaaahh. Sorry I misunderstood. =P Yeah, I always reference books and pictures of the actual aircraft from the day and not the restored aircraft pics. I don't even start a build until I find every picture I can to help me make my build as acurate as possible. But you're right about some of those hoses and wires...it looks like a rat's nest some times.

  Thank you BV for the scratch building tips.  I will use this valuable info for sure. What I meant in my post is that I don't know what wires to what or where certain interior parts need to go or even what they look like so I guess that kind of information comes from pictorial books, unless one actually worked maintenance on the real thing.

Thanks BK. That'll be a fun build to see them on for sure. 

Jay Jay, my very first adventure with scratch building my own parts started out with Hobby Boss' 1:48 Avenger actually. My reasoning was no matter how awful it looked, it was going to get closed up anyhow. =] Thinking back on it, it was pretty bad.

Just start at the beginning. Work an area: cockpit, radio set up, etc. and start making shapes that best approximate the scale and gross dimensions of your object. Then refine and detail. And repeat! Before you know it, you're rocking and rolling. You'll learn stuff on the way. One thing I can pass on is to consider sanding or cutting or what have you before releasing a part from the tube or strip etc it's coming from. For instance, I was making dials for the radio setup in a Pacific Mustang I'm still trying to tie up. The dials were too small to grasp and refine. So I worked one end of the plastic tube, sanded them into shape, made my grip notches around the circumference with a dull exacto blade, and with a sharp one I released the part from the plastic tube I was working with. Much easier! Stuff like that you'll pick up on your own. But that one trick helped me to work in much smaller detail than I'd previously been successful at.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The other thing that sped me along was Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. It's like welding with plastic. I use to be so messy with CA. I'm still not so hot in certain tight spots with delicate parts, but if I can make it with plastic...it's Tamiya ETC all the way. That first Avenger had globs of CA trying to stick to itself in the radio compartment. It wasn't pretty. 

This is truly an amazing build.

I wanted to do this kind of scratch-building with my 1/48 Avenger but don't even know where and how to start. I guess I'll get a book on it for referance and go from there. Something I've never done before .

Excellent tips and tricks here. I'll be using the exhaust tips for sure on my Kingfisher build. This is just a super build you have here.

BK

Finally back with enough content to actually have a post. The busiest part of my year is finally coming to a close and life begins to become more enjoyable. Still plenty to do...but definitely more enjoyable.

Cranking out an engine!

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

So, I'm finally getting this Wildcat to a point where I can address the Vector Pratt & Whitney engine I'm dropping in. Any time you change the script it usually means the fit is going right out the window without some adjustments. Luckily, for this kit it wasn't so bad. The JPS replacement cowl ring for the -3 series without a carb scoop goes on like a charm. No real surprises with this part.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

A few touch ups here and there...some CA to fill some gaps..sanded and smoothed...and voila. =] I have sanded the interior of the cowling down very thin so I can make use of "denting" the outside as seen in the warping of these sheets of metal after continous removal and replacement from servicing the engines. This worked out much better versus cutting and sanding on the exterior surface.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

You can see the lighter colored plastic cowl flaps are from the Hobby Boss kit. I had a small issue with sanding that bit down a little too much and caused me to have to redo them. Since I'm already robbing more than a few parts from this kit, I figured I'd measure it out and give it a shot...wouldn't you know it's a pretty good match. =] A little Tamiya ETC and done. I'm glad I did it too because originally I was going to leave the flaps closed, but that would further limit seeing what little of the exhaust was going to be visible anyhow. So it worked out. The interior cowl flaps were addressed with thin brass sheet. I'll leave it right here for this point as the space for all of this is very tight with the engine just barely squeezing in there. I'll string up these flaps after the fact once I've got  the P&W engine secured. The intercooler scoops went on without too much fuss either. I have the original Tamiya kit part side by side with the updated and corrected version for Butch O'Hare's Wildcat. A definite improvement.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Here's an intermediate shot of what's going on underneath the gearbay.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

And a quick assessment of how all of this is coming together.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

 I may have a shape issue with regard to the bottom of the fuel tank. I've recently seen some where that this tank slants up to the back of the tank. I suppose I'm fine with what I've got for now. It won't ruin anything about this particular build, but just a little FYI for anybody out there following that ever plans to scratch out this part. =]

The Exhaust Manifold

A quick step by step process of how I went about this. Last time I did it with brass rod and soldered it all together. This time around I tried to do it all in plastic. I started with a plastic rod that I shaped into a curve using a lighter. This was fitted together into a plastic tube using the same process...very slowly heating the tube so I can get the curve just right without having to over work it. I'll double check the sizes for these later on. It was all joined together with Tamiya Extra Thin Cement. A couple of intermediate parts were heated and mashed down to give it extra width and were bent with the mashing to provide the last stage before the kit parts Tamiya molds as the exhaust tips. I drilled these out and sanded them thinner to bring them a little closer to scale. A smaller plastic rod makes up the manifold connecting to the engine. A little sanding brings everything looking a little cleaner...a little Milliput makes it all connect together and makes it a happy exhaust manifold. I love this stuff. All it took was just the tiniest bit to smooth around my edges that were a little fussy. None of this was too bad. Took some patience and a lot of double checking to see that everything matches up. Totally worth it!

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Primed and painted with Alclad's Exhaust Manifold and some Tamiya NATO Brown to give it a little more character and lighten up the color.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Next up, mounting this P&W engine and figuring out where all these hoses and wires go! =]

Thanks for following. 

Wow - very nice !  A lotta detail in that little package.

Chris

Thanks guys. The fun part is about to come next with getting these wings on and the engine fitted. Then the PAINT! =]

That work looks SOOO good and that engine.....WOW !!! This is amazing stuff.

BK

Impressive, Britt!

Aaaaand finally! Paint!

I'm happy to get this section wrapped up. There are just a couple of knick knacks to tie up in some later steps, but this is pretty much it here. Next will be the engine ring, intercoolers, and matching up the engine to kit fuselage...then hooking up all those damn wires and hoses! =]

Here's where I'm at.

I made my own Grumman Grey based off of FS36440. After reading around, I've found this to be a close place to start. Here's how I mixed it up.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Here's everything dressed up. 

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

This is the actual color of the Bronze Green I mixed. Without brightening the photos, it shows a truer color. The Eduard PE has placards for this area. You may notice the "Grumman" nameplate behind the seat and the Dataplate on the bottom of the firewall. Nice additions.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Here's the fuel tank fixed to the bottom of the cockpit floor...the glue is even still wet =P

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

And here's how it all fits into the fuselage. I'm actually quite happy with how all this turned out. I wasn't 100% convinced I'd get everything right on the first go around.

Firewall and Cockpit - done.

Thanks Toshi. I am aspiring to do so. =] It seems there's always that one hang up that keeps me from pulling off exactly what I aim to put together, but I suppose that's what keeps me coming back, right.

Progress is slow, but she's coming along. Lately, I've had just enough time to sort out one component and size up how it's going to fit. Here's where I'm at...

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

I plan on thinning out these marked off areas with a dremel so that they will bend a little more easily when I'm poking at them. I've noticed how the panels on Wildcats would bow out along forward top of the wing root. In the past, I've tried my hand at doing this by carving away at the surface, but I've never been able to sand it back down appropriately. So, I've come up with this idea to leave the surface relatively pretty and scrape free while still putting in whatever warping I see fit to include. More to come on how this worked out. I also removed the forward part of the cowl that included the carb scoop since this series of Wildcat didn't have one. The JPS conversion set has included the proper replacement. =]

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

I went ahead and built the landing gear now so I could paint everything together. I corrected the fuel pump found on the center drag link supporting the landing gear. The detail looks a little soft right now with the light glaring off of the white styrene, but after a coat of paint and some weathering, this will work a whole lot better. A hose will come straight from out behind the firewall where the fuel tank is stored and will fit onto this later. I also added some PE fittings that will run the brake lines through this area. I think I will just get all of everything attached now with the gear bay and mask it for painting the fuselage. I don't want to try getting in there late in the game when it's dark and closed up and break something down the road. Some very minor modification was done here and there to various bushings and joints to add a bit more life where it was lacking.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Here I built up the armor plating in front of the oil tank and have it attached to the engine mount as well as a mount for a conduit that ran some of the engine's electrical needs.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

This is how it's going to fit up with the rest of the firewall.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The rest of the plumbing with the harness to help with the mounting of all this. The part in the top right frame is the linkage for what is the throttle I believe. I've been getting in the habit of making things easier for myself by leaving a little something to work with like the extra bit of length from the stretched styrene you see. Instead of clipping this part off immediately, I can use the length to grab it with a pair of tweezers to help with fitting where it goes and priming/painting and so forth. Just some piece of mind for those who need it. =] Consequently, following the snapping of that picture...this part shot out from my tweezers and landed behind me without making a sound. Searched for about 5 minutes and gave up. I got lucky when I began picking all this up and found it on the floor. Took one more picture just to show you how tiny it is...from the safety of my hand. =P

That's about how this section is going to break down. Just a few odds and ends to attach in the way of hoses and wiring. Then, prime and paint!

Your unique style falls into another genre of modeling, pro modeling.  I'm astounded!

Toshi

I want a video of your firing up that engine!!

Incredibly detailed and painted. As others have said, it does look like a real engline. Many kudos for a great job on that power plant.

No worries John. =] But you did have me worried there for a moment. The way I figure it, I'm a young man in this game. At 35 years old, I've still got plenty to pick up on in the way of what was used, where it was used, how it operated, and how it might've varied in a changing wartime environment. So no sweat. I'm always happy to learn something new.

=]

And thanks silentbob33. When I'm done with her, she'll be able to fly at least once! =P

Britt, I think you have the right engine after all and I did not look far enough down in your photos.  Sorry for the confusion. 

John, I think I may have misunderstood what you were getting at. I first pulled up that link on my phone and figured it for the other model they make (being the first picture I included in the last post), but after looking at it a second time it appears to be the model that I purchased...which is the Vector 48007. 

I feel like I missed something. 

Thanks guys. I'm actually getting more and more excited about this build. Once I get passed the gearbay and wings, the rest ought to be a breeze. John T, I actually plan on building Jimmy Thach's Wildcat as a detailed aircraft when I get around to it. I've been creeping on EBay for a while now. lol =]

John, about the engine...I'm actually glad you brought that up. I take my time researching builds and since obviously I've never worked on or flew any of these aircraft, there's still something that's going to escape my attention. So with regard to the R-1830, I took my time looking through everything that's out there and I came up with a lot of references that didn't help me decide which engine belonged to the -3.

I've seen the one below stated as being used in Wildcats, but I haven't seen any other designation with it.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

And then I've seen this one as well with the -86 designation.

e77be2d947cdfe3c4f66b4877d14aa74 by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

What I settled for was based on a Squadron/Signal Wildcat in detail book I picked up a while back where they discuss all the data on the Wildcat. They have the -3 listed as using the R-1830-76 and -86 and -3As with the R-1830-90. These are the pics from the book:

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

They include the two large Distributors as seen on the kit part. So I felt that was the safest route. Also, thanks for the help with the name. Before now I hadn't actually had the proper name for that particular part. I understood it's general function with the electrical component of running the engine, but now I understand it a little better with having the name. 

So have I missed something? I do enjoy accuracy in building these scale aircraft and I'm always happy to have the help and experience of those who know it better.

Outstanding work!  I built the dash 4 last year as Jimmy Thach's a/c, but it was pretty much out of the box, except for the Eduard cockpit PE.  This is just beautiful.

Britt, you may not care, but the engine you have is different from the R-1830's in F4F-3's and -4's, which have prominent distributors on the upper front.  Vector does make that version, here's a link to one at Sprue Bros.

http://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/vec48007.htm

Wright or wrong, the one you've built sure looks good!

Amazing work!  Just amazing!

Toshi

Finding it hard to make time lately. This is one of the busiest parts of my year. I have managed a little progress with the gearbay and engine however.

Since I won't be opening up any of the panels to the gearbay, all of this will have to go together in stages to ensure it fits. After careful study of photos of this area both in original aircraft and refurbished aircraft, I've mostly got all these hoses and wires figured out. Even still, there are a couple of parts that will likely get left out. But the business of activity in there ought to be sufficient. ;)

This is where I'm currently at:

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

After some dry fitting of some parts, I've decided on working mostly from the bottom up.  I'll be putting this together in left and right sections also. Once everything is pieced together, I'll tie it in to the engine's respective parts and places.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

You can see where I've already knocked off a couple of PE parts and had to scratch out some new ones. Boy this stuff is tedious. The lighter color plastic is the engine mount from the HB kit. Tamiya left it out. This part happens to match up perfectly so I'm using it in place of scratching out my own. It's a little soft on detail, but it's not going to be very visible so I'm not particularly worried about it.

On to the Pratt & Whitney R-1830-86 Twin Wasp!

Many thanks to Victory models productions for shipping this Vector resin engine so quickly!! =] I am so excited to get to finally build up this engine. I've been eyeing it for a few years now. It builds fairly easy too.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The instructions aren't so bad. I think I'm missing a part for the wiring harness on top of the pistons. If you refer back to the top of the page with the AM pics you can see they have a separate molding for that part. Anyhow, since I'm not using all the PE from Eduard to detail the Tamiya kit parts, I went ahead and utilized those parts.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Got everything built up. Push rods were added with brass rod. Put down a coat of Alclad Grey Primer...this stuff lays down so well. Alclad Aluminum and The Detailer (BLK) went down next. After some quick masking, a mix of some Tamiya Medium Blue and Medium Grey (1:1ish) set up the color for the propeller reduction box and rear plate. A little Polished Aluminum on the propeller shaft followed with Pale Burnt Metal and Jet Exhaust for the Intake manifold. The Blue-grey was thinned and brushed in between the piston heads for ease of painting, but I suppose this could all be painted separately if one desired.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

A few quick blasts of Tamiya Smoke and some dabs of Black Detailer here and there where it's still needed to make some of this detail pop where appropriate. This was all sealed in Alclad's Light Sheen. Really like this stuff! =] I find plenty of use for it. Here it helps that slight shine seen in the high heat enamel paint used for these engines and it's also good for oil that gets smeared over the surface of aircraft. You'll note the contrast between a flat paint and a slight sheen next to it and it'll make all the difference to your eye. 

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The top of the prop shaft was drilled out as well.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

That's my stopping point for now. I'm very excited about this engine. All that's left mostly is to set up the exhaust manifold and the wiring harness. I waited to do it last because I'm afraid all the extra handling for the fitting that's to come would end up breaking something...sooo.... I'll just wait till then.

Thanks everyone.

Small update today. I've finally managed to get some paint and initial weathering on the cockpit. Since she's an early war F4F-3, the cockpit was painted Bronze Green. There's obviously a little bit of variety in people's interpretation of this color. I'll share with you mine. Based off the FS color chart, 34094 seems to best aproximate this color. With my handy, dandy iModelKit app I can play with some paint mixing variations without actually having to waste paint. I personally only paint in Tamiya paints but the app has literally every single different kind of paint that is or was ever marketed. So unfortunately I'm leaving some of you guys out, but take it from me this app won't leave you high and dry. Here are two that I came up with based on paints that most people would likely have.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

JA Green and Dark Sea Grey. I think I favor this more. It tends to lean into the bluer direction.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Olive Drab and Dark Sea Grey. I made a couple of these just for the sake of incase I was missing one or two paint bottles. This color is a very close second for me.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

JA Green, Dark Grey, and Flat Flesh. This is the one I actually used...on account of I seem to be missing my afforementioned Dark Sea Grey.  I'm happy to use this example as well because it shows just how handy this app really is. Never would I have thought to use a color combo like this. The program doesn't discriminate...it's merely looking at + or - within the RGB spectrum of colors from which it has to pick. So based off the starting color you choose, the computer is selecting a range of colors that swing the pendulum back in the other direction so to speak. The color swabs nearer the top are more likely to bring you where you aim to be. Pretty neat, huh =] One thing to note here is how color changes based on the lighting it's in. So keep in mind the truer (whiter) the light source is the better off your selections will be. The app makes a note of this as well. Paints are pigments and depending on the type of paint they may dry a little lighter than what you intend while mixing.

On to the cockpit.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Just the intial painting and weathering. There are still some fiddly bits to add last so they don't break and plumbing will be last as well.

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

The color you see here is actually a little lighter than what is really there. These pictures where taken with my iPhone 7 and the white balance lightens up the picture some which is changing the color a bit. I slanted these back into a cooler scheme, but it's still not quite doing it justice. I will have some better photos before locking all of this away. 

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

Untitled by Britt Vallot, on Flickr

And here's a dry-fit view within the cockpit tub.

Next, I have to set up some wiring and tend to the fuselage halves and complete the bottom tub before moving onto the gear bay.

Thanks for stopping by. =]

BK

An absoluetly amazing job so far. Will be glued to this build because of the quality and the indepth detail you have put into this WIP.