Wildcat model with basic colors painted, top being US Navy Grey, bottom being US Dull Sea Grey. Wheels, landing gears, propeller and engine block are painted by hand brush. Clear canopy was painted over since its molded frame were too large for its scale, since cockpit had no detail, no modeling assets were lost.

Rollover : Initial masking stage, grey primer layer sprayed on model. Bottom area already spray painted Dull Sea Grey, preparing top area painting in US Navy Grey.

As previously noted, Britain's Fleet Air Arm supplied with Wildcat (renamed Martlet) fighters diverted from French batch order. Technically, these were not US Navy F4F versions, but the Grumman G-36 variant which became UK Royal Navy's first high-performance monoplane. Martlet was first American aircraft to shotdown Axis plane when German Ju-88 medium bomber was brought down on 25 December 1940 near Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands - Scotland. Scapa Flow was United Kingdom's main naval base in WW1 and WW2, base closed in 1956 when Royal Navy moved to Portsmouth in southern England. Royal Navy "Martlet" and "Wildcat" fighters - www.history.navy.mil/photos/ac-forn/uk/ukac-m/martlet.htm

PC games such as Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator and IL2 Pacific Fighter can project some first-person experience on aerial combat and aircraft handling. To increase aerial combat experience authenticity, Aircraft Skins (camouflage and squadron codes artwork) can be downloaded and readily integrated within the game. For US Navy Wildcat and Fleet Air Arm Martlet fighters, possible sites listed below:

(French) L'atelier de peinture, skins et templates : Grunman Martlet F4F-3 - pavlac.free.fr/skins/skins_f4f-3.html

AvHistory : Preserving and Exploring Aviation History through Flight Simulation - www.avhistory.org

Combat Flight Center - www.combatfs.com

NetWings - www.netwings.org/library/CFS2_Skins/Other/index-7.html

Sim-Outhouse Combat Flight Center - www.sim-outhouse.com

SIMviation - www.simviation.com/cfs2aircraft11.htm

Inset : Wildcat in process of weathering, panel lines highlighted with black pastel powder, sprayed layer of matte clear coat to seal in pastel. Next stage is weathering via black paint wash for surface details and crevices (excess paint removed via thinner-dipped cotton swab).