F-4-F Wildcat

[Bulldog]

Did guillow ever produce a Grumman Wildcat Kit in any scale? I know that
Dumas, Diels, etc. still do, but did guillow? As an ex-jarhead I'm all about
blue planes.

[supercruiser]

None, that I'm aware of. They might have made a solid wood model back in the 1950's.

[FLYBOYZ]

IS there any other companies with these scale kits now that comet is gone

[thymekiller]

Oh YES !!!! Which grumman do you want???
How much do you want to spend ????
Not trying to be a smarty pants..... Its a matter of can you build from JUST plans .

Thing is, scale kit makers are fading FAST. Icecycles in a rainstorm. ALL the old plans are out there, but you have to dig for some and you have to improvise. As far as I know, Guillows is the last 12.00 dollar kit you can buy, complete. Period. [Among the first, among the last. I think that says something.]
If allowed by the powers that be [Mark] , I can link you to perhaps 2000 free plans. Easy. No sweat. Stalh, Mooney, Ziac, ect.
Trick is, you have to search, download, size correctly, cut your own wood, and there arnt any instructions. Or canopies, or noses. Generally.
I think I have maybe 30 kit makers on file. Some are outstanding. [Printed esaki, contest wood, everything.] Almost all are currently hobbies gone wild. Of course they can cost 50 bucks for a 20 inch wingspan. Some cost more. Some less.

With Marks blessing, I can point you that way. Comet had at least one Grumman. Can point you that way also...
Hope this doesnt get me in trouble. I have asked before about posting links.

thymekiller

[supercruiser]

thymekiller,
My 2 cents; (1.75 cents after taxes). I would not post a link to other kit manufacturers on this forum. That unwritten etiquette, you know. Send a PM.

[svaughn]

The Wildcat is my favorite WW2 plane!

I love the Guillow 500 series and appreciate how remarkable it is to still have $12 kits available. But I'm not hopeful that Guillow will be adding the Wildcat anytime soon.

There is a an Earl Stahl plan for a Wildcat about the same size as the 500 series. See http://www.theplanpage.com/esp/wcat.htm. I have not built this one. You will have to be a little creative with the plans because when you reconstruct the plan sheet from the 4 tif files, you will find that the left half of the fuselage doesn't quite match up with the right half. I guess who ever scanned it didn't ensure the segments were scanned at the exact same scale. Or maybe the original plans were not actually perfect (no CAD software back then). However, I haven't found a better plan for a Wildcat (I like the 16"-18" wingspan size models).

You can also get a 500 series sized Wildcat from Dumas, but it is more like $20-25. I have not built that one yet either.

When I was a kid, I never heard of Dumas kits so they don't have the nostalgia appeal that Guillow kits have for me. Most of what I built then was 100 and 500 series kits. I hope Guillow continues to offer the 500 series.

I worry about the decline thymekiller describes in these kits. I can't explain why I enjoyed them so much when I was a kid. I was never very good at building or flying them (still not).

I'm afraid the kits are designed for an audience that isn't a good fit for today's kids. Woodworking and propeller airplanes are not as mainstream as they were 30 or 50 years ago. Still my kids (9 and 14) do get excited when I finish a model and we go out to fly it.

This BBS and all the other internet resources may help keep the hobby going. If baseball can adapt to the 21st century, I think balsa and tissue modeling can too.

[FLYBOYZ]

Well I guess I just keep guillows in busness!Can,t go with 50.00 ot 100.00 dallors a tisue kit much as I love them they are cool.Still alot of guillow kits I want do you think sience they took comet we will be seeing new kits.Idid see comet guillows it was a foamie not really interested.I want real balsa wood.