Hey guys,
A little while back i scored trumpeter’s Yellow Wing (early) wildcat on a 50% off deal. I do like the yellow wing variants but i am in the back of my head still wondering what obvious external differences there are between an early and late wildcat apart from the telescopic gunsight. Guess i would also have to order myself a different engine cowling? What else is really different?
Thanks alot,
Richard
Other than the cowling, the biggest thing would be eliminating the wing fold joints - early F4F’s had fixed wings. Some of the early prototypes also had spinners and cuffed propeller blades.
Mark
Also, the F4F-3 had 2 .50 cal mg’s per wing (4 total), while the F4F-4 had 3 (6 total)
Mike T.
You can do an F4F-3 in camo scheme. VF-3 flew the -3 in the battle of Coral Sea when Butch O’Hare got those five Bettys and saved the carrier.
Also the Wildcats on Wake Island were -3s. All of those had the gray blue camo and stars with the red dot.
I believe these late -3 Wildcats did not have the tube gunsight and had that prop hub with a squared off shoulder. I’m not sure about the cowlings, looks like there were a lot of variations of this model in service.
Here’s a shot of O’Hare’s F4F-3 (A Google Image search should turn up some more):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:WildcatOHareclouds.jpg
Here’s a couple more late -3s:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:USS_Lexington_Wildcats_April_1942.jpg
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:F4F-3_new_pitot_tube_of_later_model.jpg
They’re not both late-model Dash 3s…Note the difference in the earlier Lexington F4F-3s and later one you linked, that being the lack of the carburator-air intake scoop on the upper cowl…
Hmmm…
Looking at the replies (thanks a million btw.!) i kinda think that without ordering aftermarket stuff it would be hard to fashion a late f4f-3 from an early one.
It was just a wild thought that crossed my mind when i first posted and i already thought it would be a no go…[:)]
Nevertheless i love the yellow wing cats and in no way am i dissapointed, just wanted to make sure if i had options or not. Appreciate the help from you history buffs each and every time[y]
Richard
Hobby Boss makes a late F4F-3. It comes with the markings for Butch O’Hare’s aircraft at the battle of Coral Sea. I haven’t built it yet, but it looks like a nice kit compared to my Tamiya F4F-4.
I did notice the cowl differences. I was trying to show the variations. Neither aircraft has the tube gunsight of the earlier. The Squadron “In Action” book has a long list of different variations of the -3 with diagrams and pictures (7 different diagrams with serial number cutoffs and a bunch of pictures, all -3s).
It doesn’t look like there was just an early and late version. It was a progression through a number of changes. It also appears that the external scoop on the cowl came and went, then came back through the changes (I think the last -3s had the -4 cowl which did have the external scoop). The tube gun sight went away and stayed away after the very early builds though. The later builds all had four cowl flaps along the top sides as well. The earlier builds just has two.
It seems like this aircraft could be a rivet counters nightmare. 
Dave,
One quick historical correction to your first post.
Butch O’Hare didn’t get the 5 Bettys at the Coral Sea. The event occured, earlier in '42, in an attack on Bougainville, in the Solomons.
Since, if I’m not mistaken, all aircraft at the Coral Sea were carrier based, there wouldn’t have been any Bettys there.
In my CAF days, my squadron had an FM2 Wildcat that was painted to represent O’Hare’s F4F-3. I spent many an airshow telling the story and explaining the aircraft differences.
All early Wildcats had Curtis Electic props fitted with cuffs for better cooling.
You’re right Mike. It was during the earlier carrier strikes to take some pressure off Australia. I believe the Bettys were flying out of Rabaul.
I always thought those FM-2s got little respect. There were guys making ace flying them from Jeep carriers, while the new Hellcats and Fleet carriers were getting all the glory. Plus they did the less glamorous job of close support and softening the beaches for the island invasions.
Were you with the National Capital Sqn? I was with the B-29/B24 Sqn for many years, starting in '90, spent two years on "FiFI"s flight crew (98-99), until '06 when I “shipped over” to the Great Plains WIng…
Hans,
I was a COL in the Old Dominion Squadron.
Well, get back in, Colonel!!
Me and the rest of the GIBs from our “FiFi” days… (That little guy on my right shot down a MiG-15)
I did the yearly membership for a while, but finally had to go Life Member after doing the math… It’s cheaper, lol…
(See: “Hammer’s SO Cheap That:” thread in O&E hooch…)