Reviews : Academy US Navy F4F-4 Wildcat

Like any of Academy's vintage 1/72 kits, it has its plusses and minuses. The cockpit is just a seat with stick, and pilot. No interior bulkheads/wheel well/firewall, just an open cavity in the fuselage. The canopy is a single piece, and a bit thick. The simplified engine is somewhat buried within the cowl, so looks ok for the scale. Surface detail is ok. The only options you get are either to use/not use the drop tanks, or build wheels up (it includes a display stand if you build it in-flight). If you build it wheels down, the landing gear is fairly well-detailed and sturdy. There is only one marking option, that being the box art example. It makes for a nice, simple build if made OOB, but a little scratchbuilding and/or some resin aftermarket would kick it up a notch. A tentative recommendation.

This is one of Academy's little box kits. These are very basic kits and generally go together with little fuss. The kit comes with 4 gray sprues and 1 clear sprue. Parts are nicely engraved with recessed panel lines. Detail is lacking especially in the cockpit. There is no instrument panel and the seat is just a slab with no detail. You have only have the choice of closed canopy which is fine since there is nothing to see anyway. Kit has the option for extended or retracted landing gear. The kit also comes with a stand for inflight posing which is a nice touch. Decals are typical Academy, very thick and require lots of coats of setting solution. Overall good representation of a Wildcat. Good price too.

This model is not up to the standards of other Academy kits I've built, but considering the price, I wasn't expecting it. It's pretty simple: there's not cockpit to speak of, only one marking option, and there's a big empty space inside that you can plainly see through the canopy and wheel wells. On the plus side, it goes together very easily, and it's a clean, neat little model once it's done. The landing gear assembly is a bit tricky, but if you get it right you'll be blessed with wheels that actually spin. For Wildcat fans I'm sure there are better kits available, but for the rest of us this is a pleasant and stress-free build.

For the price this is a great kit. All details are engraved with no raised lines. The cockpit is essentially nonexistant, with only a seat, control stick and pilot. No panels, boxes, etc. Of course, the canopy opening is rather small on these. The canopy is too thick to pose open. The engine is two piece, but cylinders only with no magnetos or other details. Cannot be posed with wings folded. The decals are simple and offer only a single option. Having said all that, it looks great and is easy to put together. For the price of a fast food combo you have a fun model. Not a lot of challenge, though, unless you count sanding.

This kit was an easy,fast build. The fit on the various parts was good and very little sanding was required. I didn't need to use any putty at all to fill gaps after assembly.There was no cockpit detail, but they would not be visible through a small canopy anyway. The landing gear was pretty good, but you can see right up into the fuselage interior when assembled with landing gear in open position. Overall, this is a good little kit for the price with good detail on the fuselage and wing surfaces.It would be an excellent kit for a beginner, without a lot of parts and not a lot of skill needed for assembly.

Easy kit to build, no flash, good detail on the panel lines and rivets. There are some discrepancies between the model and the actual aircraft, however for the price not a major issue. There are larger scale, more detailed models out there if those things bother you. My son built it, and it served it's intended purpose of helping him build skills, and enjoy the hobby. I would recommend the kit for the novice builder. A beginner could build this, but they would need to be very patient and be careful with the small parts.

This is an okay wild cat there is good detail on the plastic and the fit is pretty good. However there is not much of a cockpit except for a pilot you can glue to the cockpit wall. I had some problems with the decals and it took me lots of decal setting solution to make them stick on. The landing gear is nicely detailed and is okay when it comes to its sturdiness. But hey you get what you pay for. overall though I did not especially like it.

The Academy F4F is a nice little model. Nice moldings on all the parts, no flash to be seen and i don't remember any ejector pin marks. The cockpit is non-existent, just a chair and pilot figure. You have the choice of gear up or down, a nice stand is included. Fit was very good and i didn't need any filler, only some sanding. I chose to use decals from my spares box to make a nice F4F. Buy one, it's a fun build.

This kit was an easy build the details on the fuselage are not the best but good enough. The model I built has the gear up. This was the part that worried me there is nothing to attach the wheels to when doing a wheels up model you have to glue the wheels to the sides of the wheel wells and don't push too hard when doing it or the wheels will fall in. My kit turned out fine and sits well on its stand.

Fun model, I built mine while watching Midway (1976), and only realized afterward that the camo scheme and decals Academy gives you is for the Atlantic squadrons! Oh well, the movie is full of inaccuracies anyway. It took me three days start to finish, and it was a good time. It's cheap, easy to make it look good, and not a huge investment in time. Definitely recommend.

Fairly easy build. Wheels and prop spin. Option to build with wheels down or up with display stand. Only issue was that two of the decals had misaligned printing ( there was white overprint beyond the blue border on the large stars. Not perfect, but at this price, I can't complain. Complements my collector plate well. Will upload a picture later.

Had not built a model in years and decided to get back into the hobby. Compared to my memory of models from the 1970s this was a whole lot better. Great detail on the parts and very clean. The landing gear was a bit tricky but after some fiddling it all went into place correctly.

This was my first Academy product, and I'm pleased. Good detail, solid plastic, relatively easy assembly. The base leaves a little to be desired but I don't usually expect much from included display bits. Solid model, will buy more Academy aircraft.

The only problem I had with this little guy was fragile landing gear. After struggling a bit with the struts I dropped the assembly on a hard surface and irreparably damaged th gear...had to build it in in flight mode.

Nice little kit. If you are looking for a weekend project, or just something on the side while you are working on a bigger project, this is it! Parts fit well, were clean, and went together easy.

Nice model of the famous WWII Pacific war Grumman Wildcat. The 1/72 scale kit is small but nice to build and it is good discount price.

Simple, straightforward build with good parts fit and easy paint scheme. Kit includes a nice stand as well. Big bang for the buck.

Even with the very, very basic cockpit. And the fairly deep panel lines. This is over all a very nice. And pretty fast build.