The final new sheet from Starfighter Decals is this one on Pre-war Wildcats. All of these are yellow wing planes with the rest of the airframe in aluminum lacquer. There are four different options and like the earlier sheet, the recommended kit is the Hasegawa version with the Quickboost replacement wings and cowling that allow the F4F-4 kit to be backdated to an F4F-3. I'll still recommend that the builder include the very nice cockpit and wheel well resin set from True Details.

The first option is from VF-4 and was at the New York City World's Fair display in 1940. This very early Wildcat has a spinner and cowl guns so you'll have to include the troughs for them and locate a spinner somewhere. It would make for a great display.

Second is from VF-42 and has red wing chevrons and the upper half of the cowling in red. This also has a Willow Green tail section and a Neutrality star. This option is not shown.

Next is another VF-42 plane with a lower cowling in blue and the fuselage codes in white, unlike the previous option that had this in black. No wing chevrons and the wings may not have been painted yellow. Your option.

Finally, from the USS Wasp is this aircraft as displayed at the Naval Aviation Museum. In addition to the blue fuselage band and forward cowling, the wing chevrons are in blue as well

The instructions are well done and in full color, providing references for the schemes. There are insignia for two aircraft. All the cowling and wing walk areas will need painted. The sheet does include a second set of blue wing chevrons and the detail striping for the cowling colors. Of course, you can use the kit insignia and aftermarket ones to enable more to be done from this sheet. As with the other sheets, it is beautifully done by Cartograf.

Thanks to www.starfighter-decals.com for the review sample

December 2008

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