The Fleet Air Arm was the other major user of the Grumman Wildcat during the Second World War, having placed orders for the airplane as soon as it was adopted for the U.S. Navy in 1940; known as the "Martlet" during most of its Royal Navy career, the first 80 taken on charge beginning June 27, 1940, were Martlet Is originally ordered by the French Navy; these aircraft entered squadron service in October 1940, with 804 Squadron where they replaced Sea Gladiators. A Martlet I of 804 Squadron became the first U.S. aircraft in British service to shoot down a German aircraft in the Second World War when a Ju-88A-4 was intercepted over Scapa Flow on November 27, 1940.

The Martlet II, which was ordered directly for the Royal Navy, became the first folding wing Wildcat, and the first to carry an armament of six .50 caliber machine guns. These aircraft proved their worth on their first cruise aboard H.M.S. "Audacity," when the six Wildcats aboard the Royal Navy's first escort carrier shot down one Fw-200C Condor on September 20, 1941, while outbound to Gibraltar and later shot down an additional four on the return voyage before "Audacity" was herself sunk by a U-boat.

The 220 Martlet IVs were the next aircraft built specifically for a British order; they were the equivalent of the U.S. Navy's F4F-4, with the exception that they were powered by a Wright GR-1829-G205A-3 Cyclone, rather than the Pratt and Whitney T-1830-86 Twin Wasp that was used in the F4F-4. The Martlet IV had a lower performance than the Twin Wasp-powered F4F-4.

Among the more memorable operations the Martlet IV participated in was Operation Torch, the Allied invasion of North Africa, with two squadrons operating from the British fleet carriers HMS "Illustrious" and HMS "Formidable." Martlet IVs also operated from HMS "Victorious" during her Pacific deployment in the Solomon Islands in 1943, during which time they provided the combat air patrol for the task group formed by "Victorious" and USS "Saratoga" during the invasion of New Georgia.

Tamiya's Wildcat kit needs no introduction to modelers. In this writer's opinion, it is one of the best plastic model kits ever released, and certainly the best of Tamiya's newer World War II kits, with regard to overall accuracy and production quality. While there are numerous aftermarket resin cockpit sets and other items for this kit, a model built straight out of the box will be more than acceptable to most modelers - all the rest is "gilding the lily."

The main change from what is provided in the kit is to change the cowling, which is shorter in chord on the Martlet IV than on the F4F-4 and replace the engine. I used a Cyclone from an old Monogram T-6 for my replacement engine in this model.

The modify the cowling, the modeler needs to put off the rear portion of the cowling, at the leading edge of the cooling flaps. With the fuselage assembled, one need only glue this ring into its position on the nose, then putty over all the flap engraving and sand smooth. Then sand off the upper lip intake on the cowling, and cut out the two cooling flaps in the upper rear of the cowling.

Additionally, the Martlet IV uses a different prop from that supplied in the kit. I used a prop from an old Monogram Dauntless that was in the spares box, as it was the right size.

Once these modifications have been made, you now have a Martlet IV ready for painting.