Reviewed by Rodger Kelly
 

HyperScale is proudly sponsored by Squadron

More Wildcats from Custom Aeronautical Miniatures (Cam Decals) but this time they are in 1/48 scale and designed to fit the superb Tamiya F4F-4 kit

• F4F-4 Bureau number 3319 of VMF-223 as flown by Captain Marion E. Carl on the island of Guadalcanal in 1942. Finish and markings are typical of early war Wildcats. Blue grey over light grey with national insignia in six places and individual aircraft number (2) in white on the cowling and fuselage and in black on upper surfaces of both wings. Carl’s 16 kill scoreboard of rising sun flags is also included.

• F4F-4 Bureau 3941 of an unnamed training squadron in the continental U.S. in mid 1943. Finish is the tri-colour sea blue/intermediate blue over white with the short-lived red surround to the national insignia (in four places). Individual markings are in white and include a 4 for the cowling and a larger G4 for the fuselage.

• Wildcat V JV435 of 890 Squadron Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm flying off HMS Atheling in 1945. Finish is dark slate grey/extra dark sea grey over sky. National insignia is the modified smaller blue and white roundels in six places with a blue and white fin flash. Individual markings are single white letter S along with Royal Navy and serial number in black.

• F4F-4 Bureau number 02124 as flown by Lieutenant James Swett of VMF-221 in 1943. Finish is as per Carl’s aircraft. Markings are 77 in white on the cowling and fuselage with black 77 on the wing tops. The words “Melvin Massacre” in white are applied to either sides of the base of the rudder.

Stencil data is minimal but then again, there wasn’t all that much on the 1 to 1 scale version either. What is included though is the tiny F4F-4 in black for the rudder as well as the word NAVY and the Bureau number for the fin. Thanks Cam Decals, it’s the little details like this that make your model look complete.

The placement guide is a single-sided A-4 sized sheet that shows left hand side profiles of each aircraft as well as smaller top and bottom views of each aircraft’s wings. The stiff cardboard header also shows the same side profiles but this time they are in colour. The placement guide also has limited colour notes as well as a list of references. The guide advises that the “Wildcat V is similar to the F4F-4 without the two outboard guns”. There is a bit more to it than that. If you are contemplating the Wildcat V option add Scale aircraft Modelling Volume 23 number 10 (December 2001 issue) to the reference list. Pages 674 to 677 of that issue contain an excellent article by David Batt that will guide you through the conversion.

The decals themselves have been printed by Microscale. They are sharp, clear and in perfect register. The tiny F4F-4s and Bureau numbers are perfect and need strong magnification to read – nice stuff! The decal sheet, placement guide and Stiff cardboard header are all packed in a clear plastic zip-loc bag.

All up, this is a nice sheet from the guys at CAM Decals.

The only issue I have with it is that the blue used for the national insignia is a little light. Whilst it looks all right on the scanned image of the decal sheet that you see here it looks too light on the original. Perhaps it is an attempt to represent the fading that they would have no doubt suffered but I’m not sure that it looks right. I have compared the national insignia markings to sheets from different manufacturers. Whilst the others were darker and pretty close to one another these ones are completely different.

Your choice!

Recommended.

Thanks to Brookhurst Hobbies for the review sample.

CAM Decals are available online from their website at http://www.camdecals.com and from Brookhurst Hobbies

CAM Decals 59 page 2002 color catalog of decals and resin parts is also
now available through the CAM Decals website

Review Copyright © 2003 by Rodger Kelly
This Page Created on 19 February, 2003
Last updated 14 August, 2003

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