FineScale Modeler – October 2019

More at http://www.FineScale.com

18 FineScale Modeler October 2019

Correct details and add missing panel lines to Monogram’s 1/48 scale Wildcat

BY JAMES GREEN

Amp up that

old kit

M

any of us have older kits in our stash

that we haven’t built simply because

there is always a newer, better engi-

neered kit of the same subject available that is far

easier to build. But I contend that there is still a

lot of modeling satisfaction to

be had in that old plastic!

Take Monogram’s “authentic

quarter-inch-scale” Wildcat,

first released in 1961: Its outline

and shape are correct, but it lacks detail and has

heavy, raised panel lines and rivets covering it

that lack scale fidelity. It also suffers from the

toy-like working features such as the folding

wings and rolling wheels. And other than a pilot

and instrument panel decal,

there is no cockpit interior to

speak of.

So, to take advantage of this

old kit’s strengths, I decided to

Go online to see how James painted his

Wildcat: http://www.FineScale.com/

Monogram-Wildcat

Determined not to let

Monogram’s classic, slightly

clunky Wildcat get the better of

him, James turned a sow’s ear into

a silk purse with some needed

updates and detailed paneling.