F4F & FM Wildcat in Detail & Scale

Book excerpt: Detail & Scale published volumes on the Wildcat in 1988 and again in 2000. This new work combines all of the content of those early works into the most comprehensive book on Grumman’s only aircraft to serve on the front lines from the first to the last day of World War II. F4F & FM Wildcat in Detail & Scale includes many new photographs, many of which have never been published, along with over three dozen line drawings, artworks and full color aircraft profiles. The book begins with a comprehensive developmental and operational history of the Wildcat, and follow that with an all-inclusive chapter on the various U. S. Wildcat variants. Every variant of the Wildcat is covered, including the XF4F-2/-3/-4/-5/-6 and -8 prototypes, the single example of the F4F-3S Wildcatfish floatplane, and the F4F-3/-3A/-4/-7 and FM-1/-2 operational variants. Both the French G-36A and the British Martlets & Wildcats each have their own chapters which provide wide-ranging coverage of these two programs. A comprehensive chapter on Wildcat Details, long the hallmark of the Detail & Scale brand, follows. This chapter contains nine sections covering the cockpit, windscreen and canopy, engine and cowling, fuselage, landing gear, wings, armament, external stores, and tail details. Complete coverage of almost every square inch of the various variants of the Wildcat is provided through more than 150 high resolution photographs (90 in full color). The comprehensive details chapter is followed by a colorful look at the paint schemes and markings used by the Wildcat during its operational life. Changing Navy directives for camouflage treatments and markings are provided that chronicle the history of one of the longest operational periods of any WWII combat aircraft. As with all Detail & Scale books, the final chapter covers the modeling history of the Wildcat, from the early kits that are now only collector’s items, to the gamut of kits that have been available for past half century. The most popular scales of 1/144th, 1/72nd, 1/48th, and 1/32nd are treated as separate sections and the available models in each are reviewed. F4F & FM Wildcat in Detail & Scale is the most comprehensive book on Grumman Wildcat ever produced, and this updated and expanded version features 112 pages, more than 245 high resolution photographs (80 in color), 22 full color profiles and 22 drawings.