Aircraft Pictorial #4: F4F Wildcat

It is a truism that one goes to war with what one has and the United States Navy was fortunate to have a carrier borne fighter that was capable of holding its own against those of the enemy that it faced. It was not very fast, it was not the most maneuverable plane in the sky, but it had three very useful capabilities. It had good armament, it was able to dive well and it was able to take punishment and bring back its pilot.

Classic Warships has chosen the Wildcat for their fourth Aircraft Pictorial and have done a superb job on it. Thanks in part to the excellent archives of Grumman, the book very much lives up to the pictorial part of things by presenting a goodly number of high quality period photographs that fill the landscape pages of this edition.

We get to look at the history of the aircraft in its development along with the modifications made to it throughout its rather long production run and full wartime career. All of the interior and exterior aspects of the aircraft, including changes made during production and those linked to different 'dash' numbers are covered with photos and a description of the area in question. This includes a set of technical drawings on the aircraft as taken from the aircraft handling book. There is a section on the various camouflage schemes and also one near the end of the book on the very late war geometric patterns carried by Pacific fleet light and escort carrier groups. A full listing of carrier units that flew the plane is also included.

 This is one that is a must have for the serious modeler and for the enthusiast alike. A book I can highly recommend to you without reservation.

July 2012

Review copy courtesy of Classic Warships Publishing. They have a full selection of Nautical titles you will like. When you shop there, say Modeling Madness sent you.

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