Bristol Siddeley -- Hercules Engine

Airfix 1:72 Grumman Martlet Mk.IV

When Aifix announced their new 1:72 Wildcat, I was really excited. And I bought the first one that came into my local hobby store. I nearly built it right away, and really enjoyed the build. With the exception of the scissor landing gear that needed a bit of work to clean up to get the right fit.  

I was also excited to hear that the Martlet was coming later the next year. I decided on this build however that I would try building it with the wings folded. This was an interesting option, and seeing how well it would work. Plus I thought the Grey-Green camouflage would look very interesting.

Excellent cockpit detail

The first time I built this kits (Wildcat) I had troubles with the landing gear frame.

Most of is not all the parts needed to be cleaned and many didn't fit properly at all,

I thought this would be easier the second time around. Sadly I was mistaken, with this kit

being produced so much the molding was worse the second time around. I cannot

recommend this kit to a beginner.

I painted the over all cockpit, XF-26 Deep Green.

This was a fun change from the usual XF-71. 

The fuselage didn't fit together properly at all. So I 

filled in the large gaps with styrene shims. And sanded

the fuselage smooth. This solved the problem.

I tried a new putty, "Citadel Liquid Green Stuff" Which

I've become very fond of. I works excellently on smaller

gaps and dries quite quickly. And sands to a very smooth finish. 

More Styrene added to the cowling. 

Shorter wings have been added.

When you build the folded winged version, watch out

for these ejector pin marks.

This was a mix of Tamiya XF-50 Field Blue, 

and XF-82 Ocean Grey. At about a 50-50 mix.

It's and unusual color, as in some photo's it's quite Grey, 

And other times it's a nice deep blue. I felt that I had 

properly obtained this color.

I had an idea for masking the green, and I decided to 

give it a try. I just thin strips of electrical tape which was 

easy to bend. After this was all applied a liquid masking agent would 

be used to easily fill in the color.

Humbrol Maskol. This worked out really well....

... for the most part. For some reason I can't figure, the Maskol 

ate away at some of the blue. Thankfully I had plenty of blue left 

over to patch this up. 

 Tamiya XF-81 RAF Dark Green.

I decided to pose the canopy opened, and wanted to

add a bit more detail. I found these spare seat belts. 

I found this picture online, which shows a Martlet, 

with a rectangular mirror on top. I really liked this

addition and since I had one, I decided to add it as well.

I used too much solvent, and it ate through the decal,

Sadly I had to remove them, thankfully I had spares.

A piece of Scotch tape pressed over the decal, easily 

lifted. Got the rest on the second try.

The Spares aren't are vibrant in their color, but they worked really well.

I glossed the model and added a panel line wash. I was worried about the next step, attaching the wings. They don't really "Fit" into place.  There's a bit of a guide but nothing really secure. The instructions do give you a good guide, but I found the most security in using a bit of Superglue.

I'm really, really thrilled with the final result of this kit. the folding wings are a bit complicated but they really work quite well. I don't think however that I'll be building another one of these. The scissor landing gear is terrible, and fussy. And the problems I had with the fuselage were annoying. I'm not saying in the least that this is a bad kit. Far from it, it's just not a kit I'd really care to build a 3rd time around. And again I cannot suggest this kit to any beginner. Unless they were to build it with the wheels up and the wings folded down. 

 A fantastic companion for my Wildcat.