Forum member Gil Hodges shared his work on this stunning F4B-4. I read recently that one pilot said this plane was a “sheer joy” to fly. If it flew half as good as Gil’s model looks, I certainly believe it! Great work, brother!
This is the old Hasagawa kit. I put a Lone Star resin cockpit into it. The markings are based on one in the center of the “In Action” book.
The kit is quite good for its age (early to mid 70’s mold). The worst thing is that there’s a VERY tough seam to fill that runs along the bottom of each wing, about 1/4″ IN from the trailing edge! It has to be filled, sanded smooth, AND you either have to maintain the “scalloping” or come back and add it back in after sanding everything flat!
The Lone Star cockpit is ok. The molding is good. The fit is marginal to good. If you like to scratchbuild, I suggest doing that instead, as you can build an interior as quickly as all the work to make the resin fit correctly, especially at the top along the cockpit coaming. However, if you’re averse to building a cockpit, the Lone Star set is nicely detailed and has everything you need (and a bit more).
The colors are all Model Master enamels, except for the silver, which is Floquil Old Silver. The decals mostly came from the spares box, except for those on the vertical tail and the US NAVY on the wing bottoms, which are kit decals. Rigging was done with floral wire, blackened with a permanent marker. The prop is Alclad Chrome, over a base coat of MM gloss black enamel. The prop logos are from Archers Dry Transfers.
