Eduard's Wildcat F4F-3: A Tribute to Grumman's 'Cat' Legacy on a Custom Deck - stop motion

In this captivating stop-motion video, join me on a journey to assemble the iconic 1/48 scale Wildcat F4F-3 model from Eduard. This legendary American WWII aircraft not only takes flight on a custom-crafted wooden deck but also features a unique twist - two self-designed and 3D-printed engineers, meticulously hand-painted with oil colors.
Watch as I carefully piece together this historical gem, paying homage to Grumman’s ‘Cat’ legacy, which inspired the famous naming tradition of their fighter aircraft. With attention to detail and a passion for model building, I bring this piece of aviation history to life. Enjoy the intricate process, the craftsmanship, and the final result of a Wildcat F4F-3 standing proudly on its bespoke flight deck. Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more model kit adventures!
Music: Stellar Wind - Unicorn Heads
Colors: Allclad II Milspecs
Metals: Albion Alloys
brief history:
At the outbreak of the War in the Pacific, the Wildcat was the main fighter aircraft on the carrier decks of US Navy ships. While the Japanese Zero was faster and more maneuverable, Wildcat pilots still achieved reasonable success in combat with them.
In the early 1930's Grumman company became a major supplier of fighter aircraft to the US Navy with the FF biplane and its successors, the F2F and F3F. Sy 1935, however, the biplanes were reaching their limits and with the XF4F-1 prototype (factory designation G-19) Grumman failed against the can­tilever monoplane Srewster F2A-1 Suffalo in the US Navy's competition for a new fighter. The XF4F-1 prototype was retained as a backup, but at Grumman they realized biplanes had become obsolete, so they redesigned it as an all­-metal mid-wing monoplane, designated the XF4F-2 (G-18).
The fuselage was adopted with only minor changes, the wing employed the newly-developed NACA 230-series airfoil. lt was powered by a 1,000 hp (750 kW) Prall & Whitney R-1830-66 Twin Wasp engine with a single-stage single­-speed supercharger. The 110 gal (415 l) fuel tank was located beneath the cockpit with a 20 gal (75 l) reserve tank behind the pilot's seat. Armament consisted of two .30 (7.62 mm) machine guns in the fuselage and two .50 (12.7 mm) machine guns in the wing. There were also provisions for two lOOlb (45kg) bombs under the wing. A structurally complex undercarriage was adopted from previous designs, which the pilot retracted manually into the fuselage using a crank.
The first flight of the XF4F-2 was made on September 2, 1937, and in April 1938 comparative trials were conducted with the XF2A-1 Suffalo and also with the Seversky XFN-1. Although the Wildcat prototype was the fastest, re­aching 290 mph (466 km/h) compared to 280 mph (450 km/h) for the Suffalo and 250 mph (402 km/h) for the XFN-1, it still did not meet the Navy's requi­rement of 300 mph (482 km/h). And because it lagged behind the Suffalo in some aspects, it was eventually not ordered, while Srewster received an order to deliver 54 units of the production version of the F2A-1 Suffalo. This was because the Suffalo handled better, was powered by less complicated Cyclone engine and had the advantage of a hydraulically operated landing gear. Grumman did not give up, however, and began work on an improved version of the XF4F-3 (G-36).