Does anyone know if 1/48 scale decals are available for the F4F-3s stationed ON Midway during the battle? The closest I can find are for the carrier-based Wildcats . . . Thanks.
www.history.navy.mil/…/faq81-1.htm
This could be a start. It seems to list all units at Midway during the battle. Looks like 7 F4F-3s were land based with VMF-221. Anyone else know if there were any other Wildcats land based during the battle?
Thanks, f8sader. I came across this early in my research and have since found a few sources that give BuNos and aircraft numbers (e.g., the Midway Action Report), although there are a few discrepancies. I’m thinking that I may have to either piece together the appropriate markings or create them on a printer. I thought I might resort to a carrier-based scheme and that the SuperScale sheet 48-1032 might give me Jimmy Thach’s plane from the Yorktown, but the markings appear to be from an earlier plane, possibly when he was on the Lexington.
Here you go. Hannants is in the UK, but they are fast and reliable. Or maybe the set is available from someone in the US.
Uh, those are for the Wake Marine squadron, VMF-211, not 221.
search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt=AivK0DkW9vinrsLs.kMXe0abvZx4
If you click on the first picture in tthe upper left corner, it is labeled as June of '42. It appears that all you need is some oversized national insignia and black numbers. The rudder may have had red and white stripes, but seem to have been painted over.
I had seen the Wake Island set - one thought I had was to cobble together VMF-221 markings from it. I forgot to add that I’m planning to use the JPS F4F-3 conversion with the Tamiya -4 kit but had forgotten that the Midway carried-based planes were -4’s so those schemes are off the table for me if I want to use the conversion.
Sorry about that. [:(DD]
Somehow I misread “Midway” for “Wake.” Dyslexia, anyone? [:|]
Just in case you did not use the link above, here is the photo of one of the surviving F4Fs on Midway after the battle. All you will need is some black numbers (Yellow Wings Decals makes just what you need) and some National Insignia of the appropriate type- Two things in this photo stand out to me:1) the freshly overpainted rudder; and 2) the wheel hubs are in Blue Gray and not Light Gray as is often portrayed. The latter seems to be peculiar among F4Fs of that time and place.
Check out these F4Fs from VF-3 at Kaneohe in late May shortly before they were embarked upon USS Yorktown
Thanks for suggesting the Yellow-Wings decals, stikpusher. Coincidentally, I took Gordon Prange’s "Miracle at Midway out of the library today and it contains the same photo of the damaged F4F-3. Apparently, it was flown by Capt. John Carey who made the now-famous radio call “Tally-ho! Hawks at Angel’s twelve!” when he spotted the first wave of Japanese aircraft headed toward Midway. Not long after, he was shot in both legs and crashed into a revetment during landing. I’m guessing that there are few if any other photos of VMF-221 Wildcats during the May-June 1942 period. Simulating the painted-over tail stripes and red centers of the stars would be a nice touch.
Wow, so thar makes it a bit of a histricly significant aircraft. Thats a great piece of knowledge to learn.
I’m a big fan of number/letter decal sets. Unfortunately Superscale does not make them anymore. But you get a few sets of those of the type you need, and you can do any aircraft that you wish pretty much.
As a last resort you can go to an art supply store and get rub on letters and numbers. Either apply the directly to the model or to a clear piece of decal paper and coat them for protection. Directly applied to the model:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v300/waynebaker/Models/9b43b221.jpg
Thanks Wayne. I had used rub-ons back in the day (about 40 years back) but had never heard of applying them to decal paper. Good to know!