Nice quick kit. Nice detail and you could add to this and make it very detailed. I was in the mood for a ww2 plane like the wildcat so I started this yesterday. Applied primer and base coats, doing my aluminum base coat in cockpit and will cover with interior green/black and then pick and sand spots to the aluminum base.
Because I have the attention span of a gnat…HB F4F-3 wildcat 1/48.
- Thread starter Ron2
- Start date
A bit more. Tried dry brushing gauges, unstuck at dry brushing, got frustrated and then noticed they don't really stick out very much. Cant find any spare decals that will work and "a man on a fast horse isn't going to notice" so im about ready to button this up.
Attachments
Added a seat belt. For some reason this fuselage reminds me of a cartoon fat lady in heels.
Attachments
Jakko
Well-Known Member
It's because the guns are staggered in the wing, so that the ammo bin for the outboard gun can be behind that for the inboard gun.
Yes it just looks odd. Is that an actual pic of the plane?
![Pampers Sensitive Baby Wipes, Clinically Proven, Fragrance Free, Unscented, Water Based, Hypoallergenic, Multi-Use, Hand Wipes 336 Wipes Total (6X Flip-Top Packs) [Packaging May Vary]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41KLBHu9CAL._SL500_.jpg)
Jakko
Well-Known Member
I think so, but I'm not knowledgeable about about F4Fs to say for sure. But if you think this looks odd, try a P-47
That doesn't look odd to me. The difference between the xtended barrels seems out of scale to me. It's more of an asthetic thing because the second barrel disappears.I think so, but I'm not knowledgeable about about F4Fs to say for sure. But if you think this looks odd, try a P-47
View attachment 188908
Bob T
Well-Known Member
Great photo, and so many questions...I think so, but I'm not knowledgeable about about F4Fs to say for sure. But if you think this looks odd, try a P-47
View attachment 188908
Clearly the wings were designed to handle the weight of all that ammo, but still, how much did it add to the plane's weight?
How many rounds is a full load, and how long would it last in combat?
What happens if someone forgets to latch that wing panel?
Thanks for sharing...
You betcha! Can't wait to see it from other angles. The colour combo is way cool.
Would be right at home on the Gridiron!
Jakko
Well-Known Member
The wings are the strongest major part of any aircraft — their whole reason for being is carrying its entire weight, after all
These two need answering together: 425 rounds per gun, making 3400 in all. The weight of .50-calibre ammo varies per type, but apparently, one round with link weighs 5.184 oz, or 147 grammes. That means 3400 weigh 500 kg, making 250 kg per wing.
Incidentally, the roll rate of these aircraft increased as they shot off more of their ammo, because of the decreasing the mass of the ammunition in the outer wings.
Rate of fire per gun is 750–850 rounds per minute for an AN/M2 .50-cal. Browning, so each gun has about half a minute's worth of ammo. Since, IIRC, you can only fire all of them or none of them at a time, that means a P-47 has about 30 to 34 seconds' of firing time, depending on the actual rate of fire of the guns.
I assume it would open once the wind catches it. The pilot had better hope this happens while getting up to speed on the runway, I suppose
I've always found it amazing that pilots were in combat with. 30 seconds of ammo. What's really weird is that even the bombers gunners only had about 30 seconds of ammo which is why they were taught to shoot sparingly and only when in absolute danger… until staff sergeant Arooth came into the picture- this is all US info. As a typical American I don't know the practices of the others, well I believe the British had the same philosophy based on what I've read in 303 squadron.The wings are the strongest major part of any aircraft — their whole reason for being is carrying its entire weight, after all
These two need answering together: 425 rounds per gun, making 3400 in all. The weight of .50-calibre ammo varies per type, but apparently, one round with link weighs 5.184 oz, or 147 grammes. That means 3400 weigh 500 kg, making 250 kg per wing.
Incidentally, the roll rate of these aircraft increased as they shot off more of their ammo, because of the decreasing the mass of the ammunition in the outer wings.
Rate of fire per gun is 750–850 rounds per minute for an AN/M2 .50-cal. Browning, so each gun has about half a minute's worth of ammo. Since, IIRC, you can only fire all of them or none of them at a time, that means a P-47 has about 30 to 34 seconds' of firing time, depending on the actual rate of fire of the guns.
I assume it would open once the wind catches it. The pilot had better hope this happens while getting up to speed on the runway, I suppose
Landing gear for this plane is quite complicated but the kit made it fairly simple. Four different parts. Had to do a minor repair on main gear. Initially was going to go with a dull aluminum but ended up with polished. Coming together nicely and I'm very happy with the paint job. No decals as of yet. Getting the small black stripes was more complicated than I would have thought, wrong word- it was difficult judging where to place the tape as I painted the yellow first, taped over same day, applied the black base, taped over, and then applied the aluminum all in same day. So trying to discern where to place the last bit of tape was hard because everything was getting lost in the black paint. Not sure if this makes sense.
Attachments
Edbert
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2024
- Messages
- 3,121
Can always put some medium gray dots on it and close the canopy...job done!
Edbert
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2024
- Messages
- 3,121
Another thing odd about the P-47...
Those gun "barrels" are not the actual barrel of the M2, they are hollow tubes with the barrels inside. I do not think any other USAAF fighters did that.
Were they attached as a heat shield?
Edbert
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2024
- Messages
- 3,121
Fully loaded with 8 @ .50s it was about 325 pounds. The Jug could carry two 1,000 pound bombs though, so MG ammo was barely noticed, except as Jakko mentioned the roll-rate was likely felt.
The term "the whole nine yards" is typically attributed to the belts of MG ammo, 27 feet of it. Many variables involved, but basically 30-seconds was all you got, they trained to fire short bursts, because (if on-target) that was often all it took, and if you missed you conserved.
It would be part of a pre-flight check, and visible to the pilot since the leading edge would stick up. If missed it would be a major problem.
Edbert
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2024
- Messages
- 3,121
Depending on specific load-out, German pilots might only have 60-something cannon shells loaded. Thinking of the Mk108 (30mm) which had a very low ROF to begin with.
Edbert
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 16, 2024
- Messages
- 3,121
I'm not positive, I think it was a cold-shield (opposite idea) but also blast protection.
Jakko
Well-Known Member
TBH, there was not all that much to choose, given how limited the space is in an aircraft. The main thing that made the USAAF stand out was keeping machine guns for the whole war (and into Korea) when everybody else — including the US Navy — had long decided that cannon with exploding shells were more effective. (The US Navy then kept the machine guns anyway because of, IIRC, a lack of suitable cannon produced in the USA.)
Here's a teaser. Unfortunately I have had a mishap that I cannot fix without it becoming a major strip down and do over and I'm not going to do it. Hopefully it's not that noticeable. I had to fix the rear wheel assembly, the plastic shaft was so thin it ended up breaking. I used a tiny piece of brass rod for the new shaft. Also, had a slight mishap painting the propeller this morning. I painted them a beautiful polished aluminum, went to paint the tips white and accidentally got some overspray on one of the blades. I thought no big deal I'll hit it with some aluminum after finishing the tips in yellow. There was such a big difference with that particular blade and the others so I stripped it down and started over. I wish I had taken a pic but it was glaringly obvious that the blade had been touched up. I was very surprised. I think it shows how important the base coat is with the metal finish. Anyway I hope you like where it is so far. I'm out of town for the weekend so I'll be back to the bench to wrap this up next week.
Attachments
Total OOB. I wanted the polished aluminum look and this is the best I've ever gotten. Used AK black base and tried a bottle of ammo metallic lacquer polished aluminum that i had bought some time ago and never used. Very impressed with this. Combo. I painted all the striping vs using the decals and was happy with the results. No weathering as I wanted a factory fresh look- ok did hit the exhaust itself with some staining but nothing else. Hope you enjoy.
Attachments
Nice! Quite agree about the colour combo. And the polished aluminium is brilliant. 
Could they have made the landing gear any more complicated?!
Could they have made the landing gear any more complicated?!
They actually did a great job of making a complicated landing gear simple to assemble. I think it was three parts total.Nice! Quite agree about the colour combo. And the polished aluminium is brilliant.
Could they have made the landing gear any more complicated?!
kevin
Well-Known Member
Thats a good looking build.
