When the USN went to war, it was with the F4F Wildcat as their front line fighter. Though perhaps not up to the level of European fighters of the time and certainly unable to tangle with the superb A6M flown by the Japanese navy, it had several positive attributes. One of those was a rugged construction that could take punishment and superior armor protection, where the Zero basically had none. Tactics were developed where the A6M could be dealt with and they were used to fairly good result at Midway.

Starfighter Decals likes to do sheets that are event specific and in this case, it is Wildcats at Midway in June of 1942. All of the options provided are in the blue-grey over light gull grey scheme. Note that light gull grey of 1942 is not the exact same shade as the light gull grey of 1956, though they are close. You want to seek out Light Grey 602 for this color. Most paint companies make these colors in their line-up.

For kits in 1/72, there have been quite a few, but the ones recommended are the Airfix and Hasegawa F4F-4s. You'll have to do some conversions to do a proper -3, but there are some out there from Attack Squadron and from Quickboost. The Hasegawa kit will benefit from the True Details cockpit/gear well set as well.

Wartime USN planes never have been very flamboyant and these are all pretty standard stuff though there are differences.

The first five are F4F-4 versions as follows: Edward Bayers of VF-6, Jimmy Thatch of VF-3, Art Brassfield of VF-3, E.S. McClusky of VF-3, and Steven Groves of VF-8. Most of these shot down Japanese planes during the battle.

The other two options are Marine planes with VMF-221 based on Midway island. The first is Marion Carl's plane and the other was flown by Roy Corry Jr. Both were awarded the Navy Cross for there actions.

October 2018

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