Arma Hobby 70048 - 1:72 F4F-4 Wildcat - Model Kit

Plastic model kit of the American F4F-4 Wildcat fighter in 1:72 scale

The F4F-4 was the most widely used version of Grumman's fighter in the first half of the Pacific war – with folding wings and six heavy machine guns. Arma Hobby kit 70048 renders it on the tooling introduced with set 70047 and lets you build one of two aircraft from 1943.

The model keeps the characteristic Wildcat features: the barrel fuselage, the Twin Wasp radial cowling, the narrow-track landing gear retracting into the fuselage and the finely reproduced airframe surface with rivets and panel lines. This is the standard boxing – plastic sprues, a clear sprue, decals and instructions.

The decals cover two options: F4F-4 number '5' of VMF-111 'Devil Dogs', USMC, Western Samoa, spring 1943, flown by Sam Folsom, and F4F-4 'F29 Sandy' of VF-11 'Sundowners' at Henderson Field, Guadalcanal, 1943.

What's in the box:

• Two plastic sprues with the airframe parts
• One clear sprue
• Decals for two marking options
• Illustrated assembly instructions

Kit specifications:

• Scale: 1:72
• Catalogue number: 70048
• Manufacturer: Arma Hobby
• Assembled length: approx. 122 mm
• Assembled wingspan: approx. 161 mm
• Skill level: beginner/intermediate

Please note: glue, paints and modelling tools are not included. The model requires assembly.

Building the model:

The build involves no photo-etched parts, so the kit works well as a relaxed weekend project or as a first encounter with this manufacturer. We suggest painting and finishing the cockpit before closing the fuselage halves. It is worth taking care over the alignment of the cowling and the landing gear legs – the Wildcat's narrow-track undercarriage has a distinctive geometry that shows on the finished model.

Both aircraft wore the scheme typical of US naval aviation in 1942-1943: Blue Gray uppersurfaces over Light Gray. Land-based machines from Guadalcanal and Samoa often showed heavy wear – scuffed wing walkways beside the cockpit, exhaust staining and dust. We recommend applying the decals over a gloss coat to reduce silvering, and finishing the model with a satin varnish. Painting masks and photo-etched sets matching this kit are available separately if you want to add detail.

Tools you will need:

• Sprue cutters for removing the parts from the sprues
• Modelling knife or scalpel
• Files and sanding sticks for cleaning up gate marks
• Plastic cement (e.g. Tamiya Extra Thin Cement)
• Precision modelling tweezers
• Brushes in a range of sizes or an airbrush
• Model paints (acrylic or enamel)
• Gloss varnish for decalling and satin varnish for the final finish
• Decal setting solution
• Wash for picking out panel lines and details

About the aircraft – Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat:

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was the standard carrier fighter of the US Navy and the US Marine Corps in the first half of the Pacific war. The stubby, barrel-fuselaged monoplane was no record breaker, but it made up for it with a rugged structure, cockpit armour, self-sealing fuel tanks and unusually heavy gun armament.

The F4F-4 of 1942 introduced two key changes: folding wings, which allowed many more aircraft to be carried aboard a carrier, and an armament increased to six 12.7 mm heavy machine guns. Power came from a Pratt & Whitney R-1830-86 Twin Wasp radial of 1,200 hp. One characteristic feature remained the manually retracted landing gear – the pilot had to turn a crank dozens of times after take-off.

Against the Japanese A6M Zero the Wildcat was outturned and outclimbed, but American pilots developed a team tactic known as the Thach Weave that played to its strengths. Aircraft of this type fought at Midway, over Guadalcanal and on convoy escort duty, and served with the Fleet Air Arm under the name Martlet.

Original aircraft specifications (F4F-4 Wildcat):

• Crew: 1
• Length: 8.76 m
• Wingspan: 11.58 m
• Powerplant: Pratt & Whitney R-1830-86 Twin Wasp radial engine of 1,200 hp
• Gun armament: 6 x 12.7 mm Browning M2 heavy machine guns in the wings
• External load: provision for 2 x 100 lb bombs
• Maximum speed: approx. 515 km/h
• Service ceiling: approx. 10,400 m
• Range: approx. 1,240 km
• Distinguishing features: folding wings, manually retracted landing gear

About the manufacturer – Arma Hobby:

The Arma Hobby brand is run by a Warsaw team that has been publishing plastic kits since 2016, after years of producing resin accessories as Attack Squadron. Design and tooling are carried out in Poland, supported by CAD and by scanning preserved museum aircraft. Modellers value these kits mainly for their very fine surface detail – rivet lines and panel joints – as well as thin trailing edges and carefully made transparent parts. Decal sheets are printed to a high standard with good colour registration. The range covers 1:72 and 1:48 and falls broadly into two families: Polish aviation, led by the PZL P.7a, PZL P.11c and TS-11 Iskra, and Allied WWII types. Kits from this manufacturer have collected awards in industry polls, including Model of the Year at the Nuremberg fair. A separate line of development is the pairing of injection-moulded sprues with 3D-printed parts and downloadable print files.