Grumman F4F Wildcat 1/72 Scale Model

American F4F-3 - This is a model of a Marine fighter that flew from Wake Island against the Japanese invasion of December 1941. When the U.S. entered WWII, the Wildcat was the Navy's primary carrier fighter, recently replacing the F2A Buffalo in that role. The F4F-4 version of the Wildcat was introduced in early 1942. It had folding wings to make it easier to use the plane on aircraft carriers. Wildcats helped earn the victories at Midway and Guadalcanal before the Navy started replacing them with F6F Hellcats in 1943. Export versions were provided to the British starting in 1940, and they called them Martlets. Some were also purchased by Greece but then diverted to the British after the Germans invaded Greece in April 1941. Grumman began turning over Wildcat production to General Motors in 1942 in order to focus on producing Hellcats. The Wildcats built by GM were given the designation of FM, instead of F4F.

More Photos: Left, Right, Top, Front Angle Left, Front Angle Right, Rear Angle Left, Rear Angle Right, Above Left, Above Right

American Aircraft of World War II, David Mondey

Battle of the Coral Sea, Chris Henry

The Cactus Air Force, Thomas Miller

Carrier Clash: The Invasion of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Eastern Solomons, August 1942, Eric Hammel

Carrier Strike: Battle of Santa Cruz, October 1942, Eric Hammel

F4F Wildcat in Action, Don Linn

F4F Wildcat in Detail and Scale, Bert Kinzey

Facing Fearful Odds: The Siege of Wake Island, Gregory Urwin

Fire in the Sky: The Air War in the South Pacific, Eric Bergerud

The First Team: Pacific Naval Air Combat from Pearl Harbor to Midway, John Lundstrom

The First Team and the Guadalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from August to November 1942, John Lundstrom

Given Up for Dead; America's Heroic Stand at Wake Island, Bill Sloan

"A Glorious Page in Our History"; The Battle of Midway, June 1942, Robert Cressman

Guadalcanal: The Definitive Account of the Landmark Battle, Richard Frank

Midway 1942, Mark Healy

Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan; The Japanese Navy's Story, Mitsuo Fuchida

Miracle at Midway, Gordon Prange

Pacific Alamo; The Battle of Wake Island, John Wukovits

Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy (w/CD), Carl Smith

Royal Navy Aces of World War 2, Andrew Thomas

The Siege of Rabaul, Henry Sakaida

U.S. Navy Fighters of WWII, Robert Lawson

U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard Aircraft Camouflage and Markings Vol. 1, 1911-1945, Thomas Doll

Wildcat Aces of WWII, Barrett Tillman

Wildcat: The F4F in WWII, Barrett Tillman

Wildcats Over Casablanca: November 1942 - Operation TORCH, John Lambert